STEVE COX

The 1969 film "The Battle of Britain" was a huge production undertaking, as digital effects were still in their infancy. Former Royal Air Force Group Capt. Thomas Gilbert "Hamish" Mahaddie was tasked with building an air force of British and German aircraft for the flying scenes. The Spanish Air Force was still operating a fleet of Spanish-built, Merlin-powered versions of the Heinkel He 111 bombers, and Messerschmitt Me 109 fighters, and Mahaddie was able to purchase many flyable aircraft. The British aircraft were a bigger challenge as there were few flyable Spitfires at the time, and only one flyable Hurricane. This was before the Warbird movement had come into its own, and many of the aircraft used in the film would go on to become very valuable restorations and would save an important part of WWII history. The North American B-25 "Mitchel" camera plane was painted in a garish scheme to help with visual orientation, thus being dubbed the "Psychedelic Monster". The former gun positions were equipped with cameras in the tail, sides and nose. An observation blister replaced the top gun turret for the aerial director. The film had its share of critics, but still ranks as one of the best flying films ever.

I did this painting as a salute to the two most important British fighter types used in the Battle of Britain. Although they both used the same Rolls Royce Merlin power plant, the designs were vastly different. The Spitfire was optimized for high speed and maneuverability with its graceful, elliptically shaped wing and attention to streamlining, but was a complex and expensive design with a slow initial production rate. The Hurricane was designed for efficient production, lower cost and ease of maintenance. It sacrificed some top-end speed, but packed a bigger punch while being able to absorb an astonishing amount of battle damage. I've shown two aircraft that operated from airfields close to London during the most intense fighting of the "Blitzkrieg", the German bombing campaign against the civilian population of London. The lead aircraft is a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1a operating from Royal Air Force Hornchurch, Essex, England. The following aircraft is a Hawker Hurricane Mk.1 , flying out of Royal Air Force Duxford, Cambridgeshire, England.