Classic Lecture: History of Supermarine by A.N. Clifton FRAeS

Supermarine had a proud design record headed by the Spitfire and Schneider Trophy aircraft. A.N. Clifton, who started as Mitchell’s structures man and ended up, forty years later, as its Chief Designer, gives us the insiders view of the aircraft designed and developed by the company from just before the First World War to the loss of the Supermarine name in 1960. As well as discussing many of the aircraft types designed by the company, Clifton explores how Supermarine’s faced the challenges of the Second World War and the coming of the jet age. He also gives his first-hand assessment of those who played such a key role in the company’s development, most notably Chief Designers R.J. Mitchell and Joe Smith, and plays tribute to the work of the company’s test pilots. A.N. Clifton FRAeS addressed a meeting organised by the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Historical Group on 23 January 1967. The lecture was introduced by J. L. Nayler FRAeS FAIAA, the recording was digitised thanks to a grant from the RAeS Foundation and the podcast was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.