Duxford Battle of Britain Airshow

The Spitfire - every young boy's dream is to fly one of these wonderful, iconic classic fighters. 

I have a particular soft spot for this machine, as I have been lucky enough to sit in it! I would quite happily have died and gone straight to Aviation Heaven straight afterwards - it was one of the best experiences of my life!

At Duxford today, there were 23 of them - words fail me. Glorious.

What is it about the Spitfire? Why does it have such an impact on people?

I still remember the first time I saw films like The Battle of Britain and the huge impact that they had on me. The whole experience of that time is something that most of us have no experience of at all, and as a young man I often wondered – “How would I have acquitted myself? Would I have been brave like those pilots? Would I have passed the test?”

Having spoken to several people who lived through that time, it is often the case that they look back with fond memories. They frequently say "Oh, they were dark times. But I never felt so alive as I did back then!"

It seems to have been a time when people experienced life to a depth that we have little experience of. I suppose being close to death all the time makes the gift of life lived out each day taste richer and have more clarity and focus than normal.

But why is there the obsession with the Spitfire that so many of us have? I’ve talked to several mates at work, and she’s the one – she is the one. Sure, there are other great aircraft, but the Spitfire stands head and shoulders above them all. She’s the one we all dream of flying, the one that can bring a tear to the eye just with a simple slow roll overhead…

Of course, from a purely technical point of view, the Spitfire represents a truly awesome fighting machine – made for one purpose and executing that purpose superbly, throughout its long and varied career and over many marks of aircraft.

But from a more “spiritual” angle, the Spitfire perhaps brings so many strands of human endeavor together – the struggle against an overwhelming force, the fight of good against evil, a patriotism and a pride in one’s country that perhaps has dwindled over the years, an aggression and a refusal to give in, and a willingness to give one’s life for one’s country and for one’s fellow man. These are just a few of the ideals that the Spitfire seems to encapsulate.

And although we all know there were other great aircraft involved – the Hurricane and the Lancaster to name but a few – somehow the Spitfire captures a “spirit”, an almost intangible feeling and a link with a past that most of us can only imagine.

We wonder at an entire world at war. We pause to think of years filled with so much loss, so much destruction – and yet conversely a time when so many showed so much valour and so much heroism in so many ways.

And the Spitfire with its glorious growl and roar and its utterly beautiful poise and sheer graceful presence in the sky continues to remind us that yes, once Britain truly was Great.

Seeing a Spitfire fly somehow reminds us that good does triumph over evil, that the darkness in men’s hearts will not overwhelm what is good and true and right and glorious and worth dying for - freedom.

That’s what the Spitfire means to me.