Product Description

The legendary Supermarine Spitfire receives the famous Haynes manual treatment with the full co-operation and authorisation of the Royal Air Force. Here is a unique insight into what it takes to own, restore and operate a Spitfire, as well as providing a wonderful insight into the engineering and construction of this remarkable aeroplane. Presented mainly in colour, this highly detailed and attractively designed manual is based around the restoration of the Spitfire Mk XVI at RAF Coningsby.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3392 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-18
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

About the Author
Dr Alfred Price served as an aircrew officer in the RAF until 1974. Since then he has been a full-time aviation historian and writer, and is acknowledged to be a leading authority on the Spitfire. Paul Blackah is currently Chief Technician at the RAF's Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, responsible for overseeing the engineering and maintenance work on a number of Spitfires. He is a passionate "warbird" enthusiast.

Customer Reviews

Not what I was expecting
I received this book as a free gift as part of a magazine subscription so I can't really complain too much. The book is well produced and relatively interesting as it tells the Spitfire story from a different point of view (that of a restorer). But I must say I am disappointed as I had built a mental picture of what the book was going to be like and in reality it is very different. Being a Haynes manual I expected it to be similar to their car workshop manuals but for a Spitfire. That is it would tell you had to strip down, replace, repair and service your spitfire with lots of detailed exploded diagrams and photos. I don't own a Spitfire so it wouldn't have been of practical value but all the same, would have been quite interesting. In reality the only thing common to the Haynes car workshop manual is the layout and look of the front cover. Instead the book is largely anecdotal about spitfires that have been found and restored. It's still okay but I'd have been disappointed with it if I had paid for it and would have considered seeking a refund. My advice would be not to dismiss it outright on the basis of my review but please try and look at it before purchase to see if it is what you'd expect and want.

Cheers, Nigel

useful & fun !!
Although not an exhaustive technical chronology of this iconic plane this book is a very revealing perspective from various angles. Especially appealing to the non expert it exposes information that would normally be difficult to aquire.
Particularly interesting are the practical issues of flying the Spit today , respect is due to those with the wallet & fortitude to provide the vast majority with the joy of watching it in action !!
Refreshing and worth it's place on the bookshelf.

Spitfire Manual - An opportunity missed
Those of us that have used Haynes manuals for car maintenance would have expected similar technical coverage for the Spitfire.
And for an aircraft that evolved from a lightweight fighter (Max weight Mk1 = 6,200lb) to a heavy naval strike fighter (max weight Mk47 = 12,750lb) what an evolution that was. That beautiful elliptical wing went through several variants to cope with the weight, performance and armament increase - and the naval version had folding wings.
It would have been wonderful to see, in true Haynes style, how the design team, under Joe Smith, coped with the continual operational pressure to keep the Spitfire the best fighter in the world but unfortunately this was not to be.
The Spitfire Manual is "just another Spitfire Book", it has some excellent photographic artwork and briefly attempts to cover the development and the use of the aircraft.
About a third of the book covers, in photographs, the rebuilding of an RAF Memorial Flight Aircraft but as for that technical coverage, do not look here.
Pity - I would have kept my copy if it had.