The man who developed the Spitfire
Mitchell only lived long enough to see the prototype Spitfire fly. It's perhaps a tribute to the design that it was capable of infinite development. Mitchell left behind him a team led by his Chief Draughtsman, Joe Smith, who was more than capable of doing the job. In all, there were 24 variants of the Spitfire. As one historian noted: 'If Mitchell was born to design the Spitfire, Joe Smith was born to defend and develop it.'
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Joe Smith
The Spitfire Society |
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