Spitfire!

by Don Patterson

  "Honorary Pilot Officer Winslow," Colonel Harrison started, "as long as you wear the RAF badge you are authorized to be on this base. However, as long as you are on this base you must obey orders and follow regulations. Do you under stand?"

  The 14th Squadron...stood at attention while their newest member walked past.

  "Yes sir! I understand completely!" Harry replied.

  "Very well then. Attention!" the Colonel shouted to everyone in the room. After the group snapped to attention Colonel Harrison finished, "You are all dismissed!"

  Captains Dawson and Simms, Sergeant Pendleton, Harry and Susan stepped out of the office and into the corridor of the Operations Building. There, the rest of the pilots of the 14th Squadron lined the hallway. They respectfully stood at attention while their newest member walked past proudly wearing his RAF wings.

  When Harry stepped out of the building to the field, everyone gathered around the young new pilot officer and cheered. Each one of them congratulated Harry on his honorary commission and a job well done.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE MOST IMPORTANT

  REQUEST

  After the commotion over Harry's promotion faded, Sergeant Pendleton stepped over and reached to shake hands with his young friend. Harry was a favorite with all the pilots and air crews, but Captain Dawson was closest to the boy. Dawson spent the most time with Harry, often with his mechanic, Sergeant Pendleton. It wasn't long before Harry had warmed a soft spot in the burly Sergeant's heart. Together, Dawson and Pendleton taught Harry everything they could about being a pilot and maintaining an airplane. The three of them formed a close friendship, regardless of their differences in age.

  While the hands of the husky but soft-hearted sergeant and the twelve year old boy were shaking up and down, Harry began to apologize.

  "I'm sorry I disobeyed your orders when I let the cat out of the bag."

  Pendleton roared with laughter. Dropping Harry's hand, he grabbed the boy by the shoulder and pulled him close.

  "Don't worry about it, lad," the Sergeant began. "You were caught in a situation where you had to make a decision about what was best for everyone. Colonel Harrison knows what he's talking about. Wisdom is when experience, knowledge, and training all combine to tell you the right thing to do. And sometimes, it might mean disobeying orders. All I request is that you use your head when you make that decision. It's wrong to break rules for the sake of breaking rules. When you defy authority, you run the risk of disappointing the ones who mean the most to you. But if you can show there's a good reason, they'll understand. You did the right thing when it was needed."

  Harry nodded at Pendleton's words. He was relieved the Sergeant understood why he let the cat out of the bag.

  Thinking about Pendleton's request, Harry replied, "I'll follow the rules and make you proud of me, someday."

  A soft smile brightened Sergeant Pendleton's face. Then he started to gently rub Harry's head of thick brown hair.

  "You're wise beyond your years, Harry. We're proud of you already."

  Across the airfield, most of the men had gathered around the fighter planes parked on the hardstand. Harry looked at his RAF wings and then at Sergeant Pendleton. Free to wander anywhere on the base, Harry tugged at Pendleton's arm. Together, the two members of the RAF walked off to join the other pilots and crew standing in front of the Spitfires.

  An hour later, back in Colonel Harrison's office, Susan announced the arrival of a visitor, "Sir, there's a Mr. Tandy here to see you."

  "Tandy?" Harrison asked. "Who is Mr. Tandy?"

  Susan replied, "He says he's from Supermarine." "Supermarine?" Harrison thought out loud. "What would he..."

  Susan interrupted, "Perhaps you can ask him yourself, sir."

  "Yes, of course," Harrison replied. "Send him in."

  The man from Supermarine entered the room and greeted Colonel Harrison.

  "Colonel, how do you do?" he started, and reached to shake Harrison's hand. "I'm Frederick Tandy from Supermarine."

  Colonel Harrison looked at Mr. Tandy with some confusion. The past few days Harrison had been so busy supervising the repairs to the airfield, he had forgotten that Supermarine was sending an instructor to teach the pilots how to fly the new fighter planes.

  "Sir," Tandy responded, "I have been sent here to train your pilots on flying the Spitfire."

  "Oh, yes," Harrison recalled. A smile cracked Harrison's lips while he thought for a moment.

  "Come here, Mr. Tandy," Colonel Harrison said while motioning for Tandy to follow him to the window. "Look out there."

  Through the window, Harrison and Tandy could see almost the entire airfield. Out on the hardstand, stood the three Supermarine Spitfires. Next to the airplanes, the squadron members were gathered with Harry Winslow right in the middle of the group. There, in front of the other pilots, Simms, Gainey, and Hyatt were using their hands to explain some of the Spitfire maneuvers they learned "the hard way". Harrison and Tandy watched the three pilots teach their lessons about the Spitfire. The rest of the men listen intently, completely absorbed in what was being said.

  Harrison turned to the visitor. "You see, Tandy, you're a little late. I already have three experienced Spitfire instructors. Perhaps you could talk with them and pass on a few pointers. I must tell you, they seem to already have it jolly well down. You're welcome to stay here, but I know the lads in the 62nd Squadron really need you."

  Surprised at the situation, Tandy replied, "Certainly, Colonel. I'll talk to your pilots. Maybe I can teach them a trick or two. After that I'll make an appointment with the the 62nd Squadron."

  Mr. Tandy picked up his briefcase and left Colonel Harrison alone in his office. Laughing to himself, the Colonel returned to his desk and looked down at the stack of paperwork.

  The very top requisition read, "Request for delivery of nine Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes with parts." In one quick sweeping movement of his hand, Harrison signed this most important requisition, and placed it in his "done" basket.

  IN HINDSIGHT

  On December 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright changed history. That morning, Orville flew the Wright Flyer, their fragile wood and fabric airplane, over the seaside beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Although it flew for only twelve seconds, the Wright Flyer had achieved the first powered flight of a heavier-than-air machine. Also on that historic day, Orville and Wilbur Wright made three more flights. The longest lasted fifty-seven seconds and covered a distance of 852 feet. Ever since, designers and engineers have tried to improve the capability and performance of aircraft to make them fly faster, farther and higher.

  Soon, military commanders realized that enemy field positions could be readily observed from an airplane.

  The Wright Flyer takes flight at Kitty Hawk.

  In 1909, the Wright brothers supplied the United States Army with an improved version of the Wright Flyer to be used for reconnaissance. Many European countries like France, Germany and Britain developed their own airplanes for reconnaissance as well.

  When World War I started in 1914, airplanes were immediately pressed into service by both sides in order to observe enemy positions. Ironically, no one considered what to do when two opposing enemy planes encountered each other. However, with the increasing number of airplanes being used to spy, eventually the issue would come to a head. At first, pilots carried hand guns and rifles in order to shoot at each other. As the war progressed, machine guns were fastened to the airplanes so that the pilot could better fly and shoot at the same time. From this humble beginning, the combat fighter plane was born.

  Although still made of wood, wire and fabric, the biplanes (two wings) and triplanes (three wings) of World War I were remarkable improvements over the airplanes built just ten years earlier. Using the most powerful engines available (150-200 horsepower), the new fighter planes could carry machine guns as well as a few small bombs. Although primitive by todays standards, these planes represented leading edge technology at the time
and they changed the face of the war forever.

  World War I German "Albatross".

  After World War I, the excitement of international airplane racing contests fueled the need for further advancement in aircraft. As bigger engines resulted in increased speed, so did the need for greater aerodynamic design and stronger materials. Wood and fabric bodies with wings held by wires couldn't withstand the force and stress encountered when engines producing over 1000 horsepower hurled planes faster than 300 miles per hour. Sadly, many racing pilots crashed when the wings or tails tore off their airplanes at high speeds. High speed flight required streamline single wing planes built with metal frames, fitted with metal skin. As racing demanded pilots to fly faster, the newer single wing metal planes became standard. By the end of 1935, even the most advanced wood and fabric biplanes had become obsolete.

  At the onset of World War II, the German Luftwaffe was by far the most superior air force in the world. German technical improvements in aircraft design, much of it learned from airplane racing competition, resulted in the development of single wing fighter planes that could reach speeds greater than 350 miles per hour. When the Luftwaffe lead the German forces into Poland in 1939, the older biplanes flown by the Polish Air Force were no match for the speed and power of the new sleek German fighter planes. In time, the French and Belgium Air Forces, also flying outdated aircraft, would learn the same costly lesson.

  Wary of the remarkable aircraft advancements being made by the Germans throughout the 1930s, British airplane designers continued their research and tested new aircraft designs. In 1935, the British manufacturer Hawker developed a rugged single wing fighter utilizing the 1030 horsepower Merlin engine that could fly faster than 300 miles per hour. To make it more resistant to the stress of this speed, metal skin was used on the wings and front of the plane. A left over from the previous generation of aircraft, the back of the fuselage however, still utilized fabric stretched over an aluminum frame. The fighter was called the Hawker "Hurricane".

  Another British aircraft company, Supermarine, developed what would become known as one of the finest fighter planes ever designed. In 1936, the first Supermarine "Spitfire" prototype was flown by the RAF. The Spitfire utilized a radical elliptical wing design and a more powerful engine to give it superior flight performance.

  By the spring of 1940, England raced to fill squadrons with new Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes in preparation of war. Only by the thinnest of margins were enough Hurricanes and Spitfires produced for the pilots of the RAF to save England from defeat at the hands of the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.

  Although designers hurried to create faster more powerful fighters during the war, it took years to design and produce new types of planes. As a result, the existing designs were constantly updated and improved to provide even the slightest edge over the enemy. Larger engines, and modifications in wing design were often quickly made to increase the speed and effectiveness of existing aircraft on both sides.

  Unfortunately, limitations in the basic design of aircraft are encountered at some point. The Hawker Hurricane, eventually could not be improved upon any further and was all but retired by the end of 1943. However, the more advanced aerodynamic design of the Supermarine Spitfire allowed it to continue in service throughout the duration of the war. By 1945, the Spitfire design had been modified over twenty times to improve the original fighter plane.

  However, by the end of the war, a revolution in aircraft design occurred. Development of the jet engine promised to propel fighter planes faster than any piston engine could. The age of the jet fighter plane was born. After 1945, the piston engine, propeller driven airplane would begin to fade from the rolls of combat fighters. Jet fighters could fly faster, farther and higher than anything ever created before.

  GLOSSARY

  Armistice: A cease fire or end of a war. Veterans Day celebrates the Armistice declared to end World War I on November 11, 1918.

  Blast Pen: A parking area for aircraft surrounded by an earthen fence used to shield the plane from damage caused by an explosion.

  Captain: A military officer ranking below colonel and above lieutenant.

  Distinguished Flying Cross: A medal awarded for heroism.

  Fuselage: The central body of an airplane.

  Hardstand: A hard surfaced area next to an airstrip used for parking planes and ground vehicles.

  Hawker Hurricane: A type of British plane.

  Hedgerow: A row of bushes or small trees that form a fence.

  Intercept: To stop or interrupt the progress of enemy aircraft.

  Junkers Ju 87: A German two-seat dive bomber (also Stuka).

  Lieutenant: A military officer ranking below captain.

  Lorry: An English term for a truck or transport vehicle.

  Messerschmitt 109: A type of German fighter plane (also Me 109).

  Operations Building: The airfield's central administration building.

  RAF Wings: The badge worn by members of the Royal Air Force.

  Requisition: Paperwork or forms used to order supplies.

  Row: An English term for fight.

  Scramble: The immediate launch of airplanes from the airfield.

  Stick or Yoke: The control stick of an airplane used for steering.

  Stockade: Military term for jail or prison.

  Supermarine Spitfire: A type of British fighter plane (also Spit).