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With its sleek, graceful design, instantly recognisable by its thin, aerodynamically advanced elliptical wings, the Superrnarine Spitfire was the creation of R. J. Mitchell, an aeronautical creative genius. His fighter was to become not only the most important Allied aircraft of World War II, but the most famous British fighter in history. Mitchell's design for the Spitfire was so fine that everyone who ever saw it, flew it, or fought in it was captivated for eternity. When American Eagle Squadron ace Jim Goodson transferred from Spitfires to fly his 4th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolt, he said it was like moving from a sports car to a truck.
"I fell in love with her the moment I was introduced. I was captivated by her sheer beauty; she was slimly built with a beautifully proportioned body and graceful curves just where they should be ... " so said Lord Balfour, Britain's under Secretary of State for War in 1938, not of his wife but of the Spitfire. A sentiment echoed by generations of aviators and enthusiasts ever since. In the hands of an experienced pilot it was nearly invincible, and even legendary Luftwaffe leader Adolf Galland, when asked by Goering what he needed to overcome the RAF, replied "Give me a squadron of Spitfires!"
Gerald Coulson's majestic painting captures a pair of Spitfire Mk I s at dawn high above the clouds over southern England in late 1940. An iconic tribute from the artist to the greatest fighter aircraft of all time.
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