An evocative and emblematic sound of victory in the Second World War, the first British Spitfire roared into life on this day (5 March) in 1936. This iconic aeroplane first took to the skies at Eastleigh Aerodrome and soared above the airfield for eight minutes, powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.

The Spitfire is a superbly balanced, high-performance aircraft that could be flown by fairly inexperienced pilots, and it gave the RAF a decisive advantage in the Battle of Britain in 1940. When Hermann Göring asked his pilots in a speech if there was anything they needed, they shouted back, ‘Ja, Spitfires!‘

Dan Snow writes: The chairman of the Vickers-Armstrong aircraft company named the plane after his young daughter, Anna, who he said was a ‘right little spitfire’. The genius responsible for the plane, Reginald Mitchell grumbled, ‘It’s the sort of bloody silly name they would give it.’ Source

Today, we couldn’t imagine it being called anything else!