Spitfire Mk.Ia - 1:48 scale Weekend edition kit

Weekend edition kit of British WWII single engine fighter plane Spitfire Mk.Ia in 1/48 scale.

The Spitfire is so iconic aircraft, that virtually everyone can recognize it. The service of this elegant fighter spanned 13 years with RAF and even more with foreign air forces. It started the service at the end of biplane era and stayed in the frontline use until the jet age.

By the early 30s the RAF was looking for replacement of its ageing Hawker Fury biplane fighters. The need of considerably faster aircraft was obvious, as the racing monoplane floatplanes of that time were reaching about twice the speed of the Fury. One of the most successful designers of the racing floatplanes was Reginald J. Mitchell. His Supermarine S.6B raised the world speed record to 407 mph (655 km/h) on September 20, 1931, and British Air Ministry, under influence of such achievement, issued the specification F.7/30 in October 1931. Although it called for pursuit airplane capable of at least 250 mph (400 km/h), seven out of eight entries were biplanes. The only monoplane proposal was Mitchel´s Supermarine 224, but the gull wing design with fixed undercarriage and Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine was a disappointment, so the RAF chose the Gloster Gladiator biplane as the winner.