The Spitfire is the most famous British aircraft of all time. Although less numerous than the Hawker Hurricane, it is remembered as the sleek, thoroughbred fighting machine that turned the tide during the Battle of Britain. The Spitfire was among the fastest and most maneuverable prop-driven fighters of World War II, serving in virtually every combat theater.

Supermarine designer Reginald Mitchell created this small, graceful, elliptical-wing fighter with eight guns in the wings that were able to fire without being hindered by the propeller. The immortal Spitfire thus became not merely one of the best-performing fighters of all time, but also one of the best-looking. Although never employed as a long-range escort, the Spitfire was a champion in an air-to-air duel. Spitfires routinely dived at the speed of sound, faster than any of the German jets.

A carrier-based version, called the Seafire, was a winner in its own right, serving valiantly on convoy routes during World War II. The Seafire 47 was even used in the early stages of the Korean War, before it was replaced by more modern jet aircraft.

Pictured here is a 1:48 scale replica of a Supermarine Spitfire Mk. Vb fighter that was piloted by Pilot Officer Donald Kingaby, who was attached to No.92 Squadron, then deployed to RAF Biggin Hill, England, during July/August 1941. Pre-order! Ship Date: October 2026.

Historical Account "The 109 Specialist" - A clergyman's son, Donald Ernest Kingaby joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in April 1939 at the age of 19. He was called up when war broke out in September. In June 1940, he was posted as a sergeant pilot to 266 squadron. He had less than a month's operational flying with it (during which he did, however, damage two Ju88 bombers and a Me110 twin-engine fighter) before being transferred to 92 squadron in September. The squadron was an outfit congenial to his own temper, renowned for its fighting prowess if not for its smartness of uniform and deportment when not in the air. Like Kingaby a large proportion of its pilots were auxiliaries and did not take kindly to what they saw as unnecessary discipline. This had not the slightest effect on a fighting efficiency which gave the squadron its 100th combat victory by October 1940..

By this time the Battle of Britain proper is generally reckoned to have been over as the Germans switched their bombers to night attacks on Britain's cities. But the daylight offensive was continued by their fighters and set Fighter Command new and difficult problems, involving its aircrews in often long climbs and fruitless chases of a much more elusive target than that which had been presented by the bombers. Thrown into the thick of this less rewarding form of combat Kingaby soon demonstrated his superb skills as a pilot, shooting down four enemy aircraft, of which three were Me109s, in the second half of October. In the next month he shot down six Me109s, four of them in a single astonishing day, November 15th.

This prolific scoring continued into the new year when Fighter Command went onto the offensive with its sweeps over the continent. This was by no means a fruitful period for many RAF pilots - and losses were rather high - but with a dozen more kills to his credit Kingaby was soon being referred to by the press as the "109 specialist".

In October 1941 he was commissioned and taken off operations so that his experience could be put at the service of a training unit. But by March 1942 he was back in the conflict with 111 squadron. By this time a new adversary had appeared, the Focke-Wulf 190, the most formidable interceptor to be fielded by the Luftwaffe to that date and a match for the Spitfire V. But Kingaby took it in his stride and soon became as noted for his capacity to knock the Fw190 out of the sky as he had the Me109.

Later in the war, Kingaby was posted to 122 squadron as, successively, a flight and then squadron commander and in March 1943 was promoted to lead the Hornchurch wing. After a further period at Fighter Command HQ he was again back as a wing leader in the summer of 1944 in the air battles which raged over the invasion of occupied France. His last "bag", a share in a Me109 on June 30, was his last combat victory, bringing his total to 23. He also claimed eight probables. After the war he was given a permanent commission and in the 1950,s took naturally to jet aircraft.