From www.mirror.co.uk
Too bad he did not live long enough to see the fruits of his efforts prosper.
18 February 2006
MY FATHER.. MR SPITFIRE
DESIGNER'S SON ON THE BIRTH OF AN ICON
By Nick Webster And James Moore
ON AN early spring afternoon a group of men - huddled in coats - watch a unique plane howl across the English countryside.
In its eight-minute maiden flight test pilot Mutt Summers will slam the experimental all-metal craft up to 370mph.
For the first time ever the legendary Spitfire, scourge of Hitler's Luftwaffe, has taken to the air.
As it lands, creator RJ Mitchell rushes over to ask the flier his impression. "Don't change a thing," says Summers breathlessly, over the dying engine.
Satisfied, Mitchell turns towards his colleagues. It is 1936. A little over 12 months later the designer will be dead, killed by cancer. He will never see his creation, favourite of the Few, fire a shot in anger.
As the 70th anniversary of the Spitfire's first flight approaches, his 85-year-old son Gordon reveals to the Daily Mirror his father's story
Gordon says: "When my father attended that flight of the prototype he knew he was probably dying. But he was determined to put everything he had into that plane.
"And it's a good job for us that he did. Without the Spitfire we would have lost the war.
"And without my father there would have been no Spitfire. When I first saw it fly I thought it was the most beautiful aircraft I had ever seen." It was in 1934 that Mitchell was asked to design a new fighter.
Germany was re-arming and the Hawker Hurricane was no match for the Messerschmitt 109. The Air Ministry ordered the design of a new plane.
Made entirely of metal and much faster and more manoeuvrable than its counterpart, in 1940 the Spit was to turn the tide of the war.
Mitchell wanted to call it the Shrew - but was vetoed by the bigwigs. Gordon says: "My father thought the name Spitfire was a bit silly. But it didn't curb his enthusiasm to get the aircraft perfect.
"I remember him talking to my mother, Florence, excitedly about it and he worked relentlessly on his designs, putting in very long hours.
"He was a humble man and the first one to credit the rest of his team. He was a good listener too. But he had a short fuse. And when it came to the Spitfire he wouldn't take no for an answer. It was as if the fact that he knew he might only have a short time left spurred him on.
"He couldn't have known what lay in store for the country but his illness focused his mind on making the Spitfire perfect."
Mitchell had been diagnosed with bowel cancer in 1933. Gordon says: "Though he went through an operation to remove it, they said there was a good chance it would come back. If it did, they said, they wouldn't be able to do anything.
"He never told anyone - even his closest colleagues didn't know the level of what he was going through."
In the months after the maiden flight Mitchell's cancer returned and in June 1937 he died. He was 42. He would never know his plane would eventually win the Battle of Britain, saving thousands of lives.
Nor would he see the Spitfire become a national icon.
Immediately after that first flight, the Air Ministry ordered 310 of the planes. More than 23,000 were made, of which around 50 survive. But after the war its inventor's name faded into obscurity.
Gordon says: "The word Spitfire has entered our culture from beer to cars and yet many people don't know the name of the man who invented it.
"But while Sydney Camm, the inventor of the Hurricane was knighted my father got no honour."
Reginald Mitchell, a shy man who spoke with a stammer, seems an unlikely hero.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent on May 20, 1895, he was one of five children of Herbert Mitchell, a school head-teacher turned master printer.
As a child Mitchell loved playing with model planes and went on to study engineering. Years later when a job came up at aircraft builder Supermarine he jumped at it.
He was 21 when he joined the firm but rose quickly to become chief engineer. At the small Southampton company Mitchell concentrated throughout the 1920s on designing ever-faster sea planes.
Under his guidance the company would win air speed award the Schneider Trophy an unbeaten three times, retaining the cup permanently for Britain.
He hit an air speed record for a sea plane of 407mph with the Sb6. It became the model for the Spitfire.
Retired biologist Gordon, who lives near Cheltenham, Glos, says: "He used to take me to the works and you could see how much everyone respected him. He had a real streak of genius."
Gordon is launching a campaign to have the airfield where the Spitfire first flew - now part of Southampton Airport - named after its inventor.
He says: "There is Liverpool John Lennon airport so I don't see why we can't have an airport renamed after someone who helped save the nation. My father was a modest man but he would have been delighted with his plane's role in World War Two."
After the spectacular success of the Spitfire the Air Ministry asked Mitchell to improve their bombers.
The result was a plan for the B12/36, 100mph faster than the workhorse Lancaster. Such a plane could have prevented many of the losses suffered by Bomber Command.
Gordon says: "Ironically my father's designs for a fast bomber were lost in a raid on the Supermarine factory after he died.
"I heard him once say to my mother: 'How fine would it be if my little Supermarine company could produce the country's front-line fighter and their front-line bomber.'
"I often imagine how if that bomber had been made it would have helped end the war sooner."
My dad said Spitfire was a silly name
He only had a short time - it spurred him on
features@mirror.co.uk
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Cheers to The Spit!
Robbie
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