SPITFIRES

It's Spitfire Friday and the great war weapon has been celebrated today on the media and elsewhere, so well done Vera Lynn!
Yes, the iconic war weapon meant so much to the soldiers, sailors and airmen and those being fought for. "There will be Bluebirds over...... ".
Joking apart, whenever there is Vera singing there will be "Supermarine" Spitfires flying over the Channel.

So, we have to celebrate her and the Spitfire, which had its origins in manufacturing at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham and at Eastleigh near Southampton, with the first flight from Eastleigh Aerodrome, now Southampton Airport. Today they flew to honour Dame Vera's funeral.
https://twitter.com/RoyalAirForce/status/1281572586510573570?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

The iconic plane, designed by Reginald J.Mitchell had its first flight in March 1936 and the first pilot to test the plane was Joseph "Mutt" Summers, for 8 minutes!!! The nickname reputedly after his habit of having a "wee" on the wheel of his plane before take off....yes, before he got in the "cock pit".

Over 20,000 were manufactured and named after the manufacturer Chairman; Sir Robert McLean's daughter Ann, whom he called the "Little Spitfire".
The design has another story:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-53352233/battle-of-britain-the-schoolgirl-who-helped-design-spitfire  There is some good maths in here!

Typically, the local football club Eastleigh FC, is nicknamed "The Spitfires" and indeed had a mascot called Sammy Spitfire, a dog, until 2015, when the club decided to honour Derik Brooks, who founded the club in 1946, so they came up,  obviously, with Brooksy the Bear. ????

The club was originally known as Swaythling Athletic and played in the Hampshire League (county standard). The named changed to Eastleigh FC, the club joined the Wessex League in 1986, then the Southern League in 2003, promoting to Conference South and then the Conference Premier in 2014, leading to the National League since 2016, Step 5. Crowds at their Silverlake Stadium (originally known as Ten Acres) top 1000 per game and reached over 5,000 when they met Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup 3rd Round in January 2016. They drew 1-1 at home and lost 3-2 away.


Spitfire Ale is brewed by Shepherd Neame in Faversham, Kent (reputedly Britain's oldest brewer) and celebrates the 50 years since the Battle of Britain in 1940.

Get on the Spitfire Ale website and go to images, if you need cheering up.