Corgi Aviation Archive Collector Series AA33908
Supermarine Spitfire Diecast Model
Supermarine, Prototype, Eastleigh, England, 1936

1:32 Scale		Length		Width
Supermarine Spitfire		11.25"		14"

The Spitfire was designed by R.J. Mitchell and at first things didn't go well. Despite Mitchell's tremendous skills it was originally designed to meet the Air Ministry's demands for a new generation of fighter aircraft to replace the ageing existing aircraft designed around the twin gun, open cockpit biplane, the specifications being issued by the Air Ministry in 1931 and annotated F7/30. Mitchell's original design was for a low cranked monoplane with fixed undercarriage and of an all metal construction with open cockpit and two machine guns in the forward fuselage sides and two mounted in the wing roots, all synchronized to fire through the propeller arc. This aircraft, designated the Type 224, was flown for the first time on 19 February 1934 in the capable hands of "Mutt" Summers, the chief test pilot for Vickers and Supermarine. The performance of the aircraft was however far lower than anticipated and the cooling system regularly failed. Despite experimentation with new designs submitted to The Air Ministry in June 1934 under Specification 425a based on the original F7/30 his plans were still turned down. Mitchell however persevered and developed his original plans still further by designing the new fighter with thinner elliptical wings and a smaller span, a stressed skin construction and a faired cockpit with Perspex cover – this was known as the Type 300. A new engine, the Rolls Royce Merlin, 27 liter PV-12, was to be installed and the Air Ministry, now impressed formalized a contract on 3 January 1935 with the official specification written to suit Mitchell's design being designated F37/34 as a short appendix to the original F7/30 Specification. By early March of 1936 the prototype, K5054, had completed the ground trials and engine run-up tests and the necessary Aeronautical Inspection Directorate's Certificate had been issued and so The Spitfire was ready for the first flight. There has been much debate upon the exact date that this flight took place although the Spitfire historian Alfred Price uncovered a hand written report of the expenditure on the Spitfire programme dated 29 February 1936 amounting to 14,637 pounds on which is hand written "flown 5 March 1936". Bearing in mind that Reginald Mitchell was such a stickler for detail, and the fact that he would have attended the Board meeting on 2 April 1936 at which this certification was presented, it can be taken that the Spitfire's first flight was on 5 March 1936 at Eastleigh. This has now been confirmed by the discovery of an original file, thought to have been destroyed, which reveals that the first flight lasted just 8 minutes starting at 4:35pm. Once again the pilot for the new aircraft's first flight was "Mutt" Summers and in his usual apparent manner he stepped from the aircraft and tersely conveyed to the assembled crew that he had found no problems- then he added " I don't want anything touched" – and so the first official Spitfire was born. Over the next three days a further three flights took place, all piloted by "Mutt" lasting 23 minutes, 31 minutes, and 50 minutes during which time he flight tested the aircraft with a variety of stalls and steep turns to fully explore the flight characteristics of this unique aircraft. Over the next few months further trials were carried out with no major problems and K5054 was delivered to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath for official trials on 26 May 1936. The Air Ministry were so impressed with this new fighter aircraft that prior to the full test programme being completed they issued a contract for 310 Spitfires on 3 June 1936.

Supermarine Spitfire

© Copyright 2003-2024 The Flying Mule, Inc.

Corgi's 1:32 scale Mk I and Mk II Spitfires are large scale models loaded with features. Moveable parts characterize this mold—the control surfaces, speed brakes, radiator vent and landing gear are all moveable with metal hinges. The canopy slides open, the side entry hatch folds down and the radio compartment hatch also opens. Fine details are hidden beneath these movable surfaces—the cockpit interior, pilot figure and radio equipment are beautifully rendered, as are the machine guns located beneath removable covers on each wing. The three-piece engine cowling is also removable, and beneath it is a finely detailed V-12 Merlin engine.

© Copyright 2003-2013 The Flying Mule, Inc.

Corgi Aviation Archive Collector Series

The Corgi "Aviation Archive" range presents highly-detailed, ready-made diecast models of military and civilian aircraft. The vast Aviation Archive range has become the standard by which all other diecast airplane ranges are judged. Each Corgi model is based on a specific aircraft from an important historical or modern era of flight, and has been authentically detailed from original documents and archival library material. Famous airplanes and aviators from both military and commercial airline aviation are all honored.

Corgi "Aviation Archive" diecast airplanes feature:

• Diecast metal construction with some plastic components.
• Realistic panel lines, antennas, access panels and surface details.
• Pad printed markings and placards that won't fade or peel like decals.
• Interchangeable extended/retracted landing gear with rotating wheels.
• Poseable presention stand to display the aircraft "in flight".
• Many limited editions with numbered certificate of authenticity.
• Detailed, hand-painted pilot and crew member figures.
• Authentic detachable ordnance loads complete with placards.
• Selected interchangeable features such as speed-brakes, opened canopies and access panels.
• Selected moving parts such as gun turrets, control surfaces and swing-wings.