Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE, FRAeS, (1895 – 1937) was a British aeronautical engineer. Between 1920 and 1936 he designed many aircraft, including light aircraft, fighters, bombers and flying boats. He is best remembered for his work on a series of racing aircraft, which culminated in the Supermarine S.6B and an iconic WW2 fighter - the Spitfire.
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Between 1920 and 1936, Mitchell designed 24 aircraft including light aircraft, fighters and bombers. As Supermarine was primarily a seaplane manufacturer, this included a number of flying boats such as the Supermarine Sea Eagle, the Supermarine Sea King, the Supermarine Walrus and Supermarine Stranraer.
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The S.6B was a British racing seaplane developed by Mitchell to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931. The S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of the racing seaplane" and was the last in the line of racing seaplanes developed by Supermarine that followed the S.4, S.5 and the Supermarine S.6. The S.6B won the Trophy in 1931 and later broke the world air speed record. The technical skill that led ultimately to the design of the Spitfire was developed through the experience RJ Mitchell and his team gained in the evolution of the Schneider Trophy seaplanes.
Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE, FRAeS, (1895 – 1937)
Aeronautical engineer
Photo: Unknown/Wikimedia • Believed to be in the Public Domain (Age - Copyright expired)
Many of the technical advances in the Spitfire had been made by others: the thin elliptical wings were designed by the Canadian aerodynamicist, Beverley Shenstone, and shared some similarities with the Heinkel He 70 Blitz; the under-wing radiators had been designed by the RAE, while monocoque construction had been first developed in the United States. Mitchell's genius was bringing it all together in the Spitfire.
Mitchell was awarded the CBE in 1932 but although diagnosed with Cancer continued to work. He died in 1937.
As for the name of his Aircraft. Mitchell is reported to have said....
"Spitfire was just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose!"
Source: http://primaryfacts.com
Images: Believed to be in the Public Domain or used with permission
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