Supermarine Spitfire

Updated: October 2026 – A round, almost elegantly curved wing, a long nose and the singing of the Merlin: the Supermarine Spitfire is the most famous British aircraft of all. As a symbol of the Battle of Britain in 1940 it is part of British identity, and as a warbird it is more present today than any other fighter of its time. Here you learn how the Spitfire came about, how to tell the most important versions apart, what the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight is and how you can fly in a Spitfire yourself.

What is the Spitfire?

The Spitfire is a single-seat, single-engine fighter of all-metal construction with a closed cockpit, retractable landing gear and a liquid-cooled V12 engine from Rolls-Royce. It was designed in the mid-1930s at Supermarine in Woolston near Southampton – a company that until then was known mainly for flying boats and seaplanes. Since 1928 Supermarine had belonged to the Vickers group.

Chief designer R. J. Mitchell had previously designed the racing seaplanes with which Britain won the Schneider Trophy, most recently in 1931 with the S.6B. This knowledge of slender fuselages and powerful inline engines flowed directly into the Spitfire. The prototype K5054 took off on March 5, 1936 at Eastleigh near Southampton, with factory pilot Joseph “Mutt” Summers at the controls. Mitchell himself hardly lived to see his design’s success: he died in 1937, and his successor Joseph Smith took over further development.

The first production Spitfire, a Mk I with the serial K9789, arrived at No. 19 Squadron in Duxford on August 4, 1938 – exactly where one of Europe’s largest warbird collections is based today. Through February 1948, more than 20,000 Spitfires were built, plus the naval version Seafire. A large share did not come off the line in Southampton but at the shadow factory Castle Bromwich near Birmingham, which alone delivered over 12,000 aircraft by mid-1945. The main plant in Woolston was bombed in September 1940, after which production was dispersed to many small sites around Southampton.

From the Mk I to the Mk 24: the versions

Hardly any aircraft was developed as consistently. The versions are called “Mark,” or Mk for short, first with Roman numerals and with Arabic numerals on the late versions. For spotters they can be roughly divided into two families: the Merlin Spitfires and the Griffon Spitfires.

Merlin generation. The Mk I and the somewhat more powerful Mk II fought in the Battle of Britain in 1940, together with the even more numerous Hawker Hurricane. The opponent was mainly the Messerschmitt Bf 109. With the Mk V and the Merlin 45 came the first truly large series in 1941; over 6,000 examples make it the most-built single version. When the German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 outclassed the Mk V, Supermarine responded with the Mk IX, which received a Merlin with a two-stage supercharger. It was built almost as often. The Mk XVI is essentially a Mk IX with the Merlin built under license in the USA by Packard.

Griffon generation. From the Mk XII, Supermarine used the larger Rolls-Royce Griffon. The best-known version is the Mk XIV with Griffon 65 and a five-blade propeller, which reached the front from late 1943. The reconnaissance version PR XIX – unarmed, with a pressurized cabin and large tanks – flew the RAF’s last operational Spitfire mission from Singapore in the Malayan conflict on April 1, 1954. With the F Mk 21, 22 and 24 the Spitfire finally received a new, stiffer wing; the Mk 24 was the last production version.

Version	Engine	Feature for spotters
Mk I / Mk II	Merlin	Battle of Britain generation, one radiator under the right wing
Mk V	Merlin 45/46/50	most-built version, often with cannon in the wing
Mk IX	Merlin with two-stage supercharger	two symmetrical wing radiators, four-blade propeller
Mk XVI	Packard Merlin	like Mk IX, often with cut-down rear fuselage and bubble canopy
Mk XIV	Griffon 65	long nose, five-blade propeller
PR XIX	Griffon	unarmed reconnaissance aircraft, uniform blue-gray (“PRU Blue”)
F Mk 21/22/24	Griffon	new wing, Mk 22/24 with bubble canopy
T9 / TR9	Merlin	two-seater converted after the war with a second cockpit
Seafire	Merlin, later Griffon	naval version with arrestor hook, partly with folding wings

Two-seaters and the Seafire

Two offshoots are especially interesting for spotters. The two-seat Spitfires were mostly created after the war as conversions of Mk IXs for training foreign air forces. Today they are the basis for almost all passenger flights, and several examples fly regularly in Great Britain. You recognize them by the second, slightly raised cockpit behind the pilot.

The Seafire was the carrier version for the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, in action from 1942 and in service until the mid-1950s. An arrestor hook and partly folding wings set it apart from the land version. Airworthy Seafires are much rarer than Spitfires.

The three features that are enough to identify it

As always, final certainty comes from the registration. Airworthy Spitfires in Great Britain carry a civil G- registration, but the historic RAF serial such as “MH434” or “P7350” almost always adorns the fuselage. The BBMF aircraft fly as RAF aircraft directly with their military serials. How to look things up in the British register is explained in British G- registrations.

Spitfire, Hurricane, Bf 109 or Mustang?

At airshows the fighters of the 1940s often fly in a group. The finder helps you narrow it down quickly.

The Hurricane is the Spitfire’s natural partner and is almost always seen with it in the BBMF. The North American P-51 Mustang also has a Merlin and accordingly sounds similar. If you want to tell engines apart by ear, you will find tips in Identifying aircraft types by sound. For more practice with old types, try Spotting vintage aircraft in the sky.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is the reason the Spitfire still flies in Royal Air Force service today. The unit was formed on July 11, 1957 at Biggin Hill as the “Historic Aircraft Flight,” at first with one Hurricane and three Spitfire PR XIXs. After several moves via North Weald, Martlesham Heath, Horsham St Faith and Coltishall, it has been based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire since 1976. It has carried its present name since 1973, when the Lancaster joined. The motto is “Lest We Forget.”

The fleet includes several Spitfires of different generations, two Hurricane Mk IIcs, the Avro Lancaster PA474, a Douglas Dakota and two Chipmunk trainers for pilot training. According to publicly available fleet overviews, these Spitfires are among them:

• P7350, a Mk IIa and, by common account, the only still-flying Spitfire that actually saw action in the Battle of Britain
• AB910, a Mk Vb
• TE311, an LF Mk XVIe with cut-down rear fuselage
• PM631 and PS915, two Griffon-powered PR XIX reconnaissance aircraft, with PS915 having been in maintenance for some time

A serious setback came on May 25, 2024: shortly after takeoff, the Spitfire LF Mk IXe MK356 crashed near Coningsby, and the pilot, Squadron Leader Mark Long, was killed. The RAF then temporarily grounded all BBMF aircraft. The Lancaster returned to the air in summer 2024, with the fighters following gradually later. Which aircraft actually fly in a given season depends on maintenance and inspections – according to public fleet overviews, several BBMF Spitfires are airworthy again, including the PR XIX PM631 (since October 2024) and the Mk Vb AB910 (since January 2026); the exact makeup changes, however.

In summer the BBMF tours Great Britain with displays and flypasts: at big airshows like the Royal International Air Tattoo in Fairford, at memorial events and at smaller air days. The RAF publishes the respective program during the season. For plane spotters in Great Britain: find out about the local rules beforehand, for example in Spotting in Great Britain.

Passenger flights: sitting in a Spitfire yourself

For many aviation fans it is the ultimate dream: flying in the back of a Spitfire just once. In Great Britain that is actually possible. Several licensed operators use two-seat Spitfires for it, mostly conversions of the T9 or TR9 type with G- registrations.

Well-known locations include the grass airfield Goodwood on the south coast and Biggin Hill south of London – the airfield where the BBMF’s history also began in 1957. Some providers also fly from other airfields in England, Wales, Scotland and the Channel Islands. Depending on the package, flights last from a few minutes to a good hour and lead, for example, to the chalk cliffs of Dover, to Beachy Head or over historic fighter airfields. Depending on the provider, aerobatic maneuvers are possible; there are also formation flights with a second warbird or a chase aircraft for friends and family.

If a passenger flight is too much for you: many providers and museums also offer sitting in the cockpit on the ground. For spotters the passenger flight operation is a gain anyway, because the two-seaters often take off several times on summer days – a more reliable chance of a flying Spitfire than some airshows.

Airworthy Spitfires today

According to common overviews, around 240 Spitfires survive worldwide, of which about 60 to 70 are airworthy (as of 2025). The focus is clearly on Great Britain, but individual aircraft also fly in other European countries, the USA, Canada and Australia. The number fluctuates because airframes are restored, sold or grounded after damage.

Duxford. No place is as closely tied to the Spitfire as IWM Duxford. The first production Spitfire arrived here in 1938, and today several restoration shops and warbird collections are based on the airfield – including, according to reference works, airworthy Mk Is. At the airshows in Duxford Spitfire formations are a fixture. The spot IWM Duxford describes how to get there and where to stand.

Old Warden. At its flying days the Shuttleworth Collection shows historic aircraft from many decades, including fighters of the Second World War. The spot Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden introduces the grass airfield.

More dates. Airshows in Europe gives an overview of events where warbirds appear. You can place how special your sighting is with Judging how rare a sighting is.

Spitfires in museums

Static examples are much easier to plan around. The Spitfire is a centerpiece of many British aviation museums, for example in the RAF Museum London at Hendon and the RAF Museum Cosford (spot info). Spitfires also stand in the exhibition at Duxford. Before your visit, check which exhibits are currently on show – museums occasionally swap aircraft or send them for restoration. If you want to work on old aircraft yourself, you will find ways in through Volunteering at aviation museums.

Photo tips specifically for the Spitfire

The Spitfire is hardly larger than a modern sport aircraft and often flies tight turns in displays. With a few tricks you get more out of your pictures.

Photographing airshows bundles general tips for the day at the display line.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

The North American T-6 Texan, known as the Harvard in Great Britain, often flies at warbird shows in RAF colors – but the radial engine gives it away immediately. And if after the Spitfire you are looking for the next generation of British fighters, you will find it in the Hawker Hunter.

Conclusion

The Spitfire is more than a fighter: it stands for the Battle of Britain, for a whole era of British aviation history and for engineering that was pushed further and further over twelve years of production. From the Merlin-powered Mk I to the Griffon-powered Mk 24 it changed enormously and still remained recognizable at first glance. For spotters it is Europe’s most accessible warbird – thanks to the BBMF, Duxford and passenger flight operations, the chances of a flying Spitfire in Great Britain are good on every summer weekend.