The Spitfire marks 70 years
The Supermarine Spitfire, a plane that became an emblem for the British and Canadian air forces in the Second World War, marked its 70th anniversary Sunday.
Five Spitfires flew in a V formation above Southampton in southern Britain, 70 years to the minute after the first flight.
Decades after he was the chief test pilot for the plane, 93-year-old Alex Henshaw called the Spitfire a thoroughbred.
"Very, very accurate assessment because with a thoroughbred racehorse as you know, if it's got a tender mouth it'll respond or it will reject it or resent it. And a Spitfire was exactly like that. If you treated a Spitfire badly, it would tell you."
More than 20,000 Spitfires were built, and it fought as a fighter, fighter-bomber and reconnaissance plane for many Allied air forces.
Fourteen RCAF squadrons flew Spitfires, and many Canadian pilots â as well as flyers from Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Czechslovakia and other countries â flew the planes in British squadrons.
A Canadian also helped out with a critical part of the design.
Beverly Shenstone was an aerodynamics specialist who helped create the thin, elliptical wings that gave the plane both speed and elegance.
For historian David Watley, Sunday's ceremonies prove that the Spitfire holds a special place in military history.
"The Spitfire had that certain something, it had the edge. It was the airplane that the British pilots had great confidence in and the Germans were afraid of."
The Spitfire is associated with Britian's victory over the German air force in the Battle of Britain, although it went on flying all through the war and for many years after.
"Of the 103 Canadians who flew in the Battle of Britain between July and October, 1940, 23 lost their lives while 30 others paid the supreme sacrifice later in the war," the Department of National Defence website says.