This is the Supermarine Spitfire Owners’ Workshop Manual from famed publishing company Haynes.
It’s a 160 page book full of detailed illustrations and information on one of the most famous fighter aircraft in world history – the legendary WWII-era Spitfire.
Above Video: This is a feature length documentary about the Supermarine Spitfire, it goes into fine detail about the iconic aircraft, and shows a lot of historic footage of it in the air, and in dogfights, in the Second World War.
History Speedrun: The Supermarine Spitfire
There can be no denying that the Supermarine Spitfire is one of the most recognizable aircraft in aviation history – it’s a machine whose very design encapsulated Britain’s fight for survival during the Second World War – and the Battle of Britain in particular.
Conceived in the mid-1930s by R.J. Mitchell of aviation firm Supermarine, the Spitfire emerged directly from Britain’s urgent need for a modern, high-speed interceptor. Mitchell’s earlier Schneider Trophy seaplanes had provided the design DNA – an aerodynamic, stressed-skin monoplane with thin elliptical wings that reduced drag and offered excellent lift at high speeds. The prototype first flew in 1936, and by 1938 early production examples were entering RAF service.
When WWII broke out in Europe, the Spitfire joined the Hawker Hurricane as the backbone of Fighter Command. While Hurricanes bore the brunt of the Battle of Britain due to their sheer numbers, the Spitfire handled Luftwaffe Bf 109s with its superior climb rate, tighter turning circle, and 1,030 bhp Rolls-Royce Merlin V12. Its performance at medium altitudes made it the darling of RAF pilots, and its graceful handling became legendary not just in the RAF, but among pilots around the world at the time.
Constant development produced more than 20 major marks and dozens of sub-variants. Later Spitfires adopted two-stage supercharged Merlin and Griffon V12s producing over 2,000 bhp, pushing top speeds beyond 440 mph and ceilings above 40,000 feet.
Armament evolved from eight .303 machine guns to combinations of 20 mm Hispano cannon, heavy machine guns, bombs, and rockets, turning the Spitfire from an interceptor into a true multi-role fighter.
These ate the Supermarine Spitfire F Mk XIIs of the RAF’s 41 Sqn. Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.
Spitfires served across every major theatre, from North Africa to the Pacific. They flew from Royal Navy carriers, escorted bombers deep into occupied Europe, and even faced Japanese Zeroes in the Far East. Production totaled over 20,000 between 1938 and 1948, making it the only British fighter built continuously before, during, and after WWII.
The Spitfire became a national icon during the Battle of Britain, immortalized by Churchill’s words and the gratitude of a civilian population who looked skyward and saw the distinctive outline of the elliptical wing aircraft holding the line against the seemingly endless onslaught of the Third Reich’s Luftwaffe.
The Supermarine Spitfire Owners’ Workshop Manual
This is the 160 page Supermarine Spitfire Owners’ Workshop Manual from Haynes, a company that produces some of the best owner’s manuals in the world for cars and motorcycles, and more recently began venturing out into producing manuals like this one – a detailed illustrated history of an historically-significant vehicle.
This book was written by Dr Alfred Price and Paul Blackah. Price is a full-time aviation historian and writer who served as an aircrew officer in the RAF until 1974 – he’s one of the world’s leading experts on the Spirfire.
The Supermarine Spitfire Owners’ Workshop Manual is a 160 page book full of detailed illustrations and information on one of the most famous fighter aircraft in world history – the legendary Spitfire.
Paul Blackah joined the RAF in 1976 and trained as an airframe fitter. Starting in the 1990s he was posted to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and he’s now one of the most knowledgable vintage aircraft restorers in the world. He played a crucial role in the recent restoration-to-flight of the Messerschmitt Bf109F “Black 6.”
This manual is now available on the official Haynes Amazon store here. It makes excellent reading, and it’s a great conversation piece to leave out on a coffee table or mantelpiece.
Images courtesy of Haynes
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
