Photo of the week
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This midweeks photo.
North American XB-70 Valkyrie landing with drag chutes deployed, 4 Feb 1969.
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This weekends photo.
Taken in Denmark a FW-190 warms up its engine before a sortie.
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This weekends extra.
Mustang Mark III FX889 with a 'Malcolm hood' at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, served with No. 122 Squadron RAF and later No. 315 Polish Fighter Squadron RAF. The hood improved all-round cockpit visibility.FX889 was famously photographed at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, showcasing the distinct blister-shaped canopy that replaced the original framed, multi-part greenhouse design.
The aircraft originally rolled off the North American Aviation production line as a P-51B-1-NA with the USAAF serial number 43-12378 -
This midweeks photo.
British Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I fighters being built at the Itchen Works.
In 1938 the pressing need to meet the aircraft delivery targets for Spitfire, Walrus and Stranraer aircraft for the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy prompted Supermarine to increase their production capacity in Southampton by building a new factory just up the River Itchen from the existing Woolston Works.
The new site was purchased from the Southern Gas Company and Ship builders and, like Woolston, was sandwiched between the river, with a concrete slipway for the flying boats, and the Southern Railway line, on an embankment along the eastern side of Hazel Road.
Initially it was intended that the Itchen Works, as the new factory was called, would take on the task of building the Stranraer and Walrus flying boats for the Royal Navy. However, it soon became apparent that the demand for Spitfires for the Royal Air Force and the problems of sub-contracted sub-assembly work meant that Itchen started to take on responsibility for the production of Spitfire fuselages.
