The Supermarine Spitfire This is a scale 1 to 1 model of a British Mark VIII Supermarine Spitfire built by Calvert Hargreaves of Kangaroo Flat and could be seen on the front lawn of his home for many years. It has been repainted symbolically with the RAAF’s 457 Squadron “sharks teeth”. The Grey Nurse Shark Squadron (457) flew both MK V and MK VIII’s in WWII. The blue and white roundel colours were those used in the Pacific theatre of the war. The code number CAL is representative of the builders christian name “Cal”

The Spitfire MK VIII is an all metal, semi-mono construction with a cantilevered wing, fabric covered elevators and rudder and retractable landing gear. A total of 20,334 Spitfires were built before, during and after WWII

The Spitfire was donated by the Hargreaves family of Bendigo to the Bendigo District RSL

Model: British MK VIII
Serial Number: 169095 ARN
Year of Manufacture: c1952
Manufacturers: Leyland, Royal Ordnance Factory & Vickers
Country of Production: United Kingdom

Specifications

Speed: Maximum 669 kmh – Cruising 407 kmh
Ceiling: The service ceiling for high altitude fighting is 44,000 feet
Engine: Rolls Royce 70 series Merlin V12, 70 litres liquid cooled with supercharger
Power: 1710 Horsepower or 1276 kilwatts
Fuel: 100 octane aviation gasoline
Wing Span: 11.23m
Length: 9.54m
Armour: Steel plate behind the pilot, bullet proof windscreen
Armament: 2x20mm Hispano cannons, 4x.303 Browing machine guns

Theatre of War: Operations over Britain, Europe, Pacific and used in the air defence over Darwin