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The classic Supermarine Spitfire of
the Royal Air Force shown in aviation art prints by Gerald Coulson
available from the aviation art prints company. Spitfires during the
battle of Britain including Scramble, The Magic of Flight, Troubleshooters
and Johnny Comes Home.
Gerald Coulson has been painting
professionally for over 30 years. the Fine Art Guild have placed him
among the top ten best selling UK artists no less than 15 times in 12
years - 3 times at No. 1. Coulson's first love was aircraft,
studying them and drawing them at every opportunity, from an early
age. His apprenticeship as an aircraft engineer then as an RAF
Technician and later an engineer with British Airways, have allowed him an
insight and intimate knowledge of the aircraft he paints. Now a Vice
President, he is a founder member of the Guild of Aviation Artists and
four times winner of the Flight International Trophy for outstanding
aviation painting. He qualified for his pilots licence in 1960 and
is still actively flying today - mostly vintage aircraft and can often be
seen buzzing over the Fens of Cambridgeshire in a Tiger Moth.
Whatever the subject, whether aviation, landscape or portrait, his ability
to capture the realism and mood of the scene is unsurpassed, making him
one of the most collected and highly regarded artists in the world today
Royal
Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph
up to
The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I
34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575
miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various
Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine
guns, for MK's V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning
machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or
a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs. Designed
by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936.
and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19
squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there
were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in
store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and
developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II
came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into
service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe
especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin
engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named
Seafires. By the end of
production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408
Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a
total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires
in front line use until April 1954. |
| Evening Patrol by Gerald Coulson
Flying over the Humber Estuary as the sun is setting, pilots of 610
Sqn return their MKII Spitfires to Leconfield after a convoy patrol late
in 1940. Print is signed by Group Captain Desmond Sheen, Wing Commander Paddy
Barthropp, Squadron LEader Neville Duke, Group Captain Tom Dalton-Morgan,
Squadron LEader B G Stapme Stapleton, Air Commodore Peter Brothers,
Squadron Leader A C Leigh and Wing Commander H M Stephen.
During the early part of WWII the coastline
of Britain was constantly under threat, particularly the busy shipping
lanes of the North Sea. As well as carrying out bombing raids on strategic
coastal targets and ports such as Luftflotte 5's attack on the north-east
in August 1940, allied shipping was regularly attacked at sea as the
Luftwaffe tried to disrupt supplies.
The RAF played a vital part in protecting these supplies, escorting
fishing fleets and shipping convoys, as well as long range patrols over
the sea, seeking enemy activity and intercepting high altitude
reconnaissance aircraft. These patrols were often long and arduous with
pilots running the gauntlet of, if shot down, ditching into the sea. Often
pilots would survive being hit and baling out, only to succumb to the
freezing and hostile waters of the North Sea.
Often fighter squadrons being rested during the Battle of Britain,
would be moved to northern locations such as Acklington and Leconfield,
and carry out coastal and sea patrols before returning to the more intense
fighting in the south.
Scramble by Gerald Coulson A telephone rings at a typical flight dispersal: a call from Operations
sends pilots and ground crew running for aircraft ready fuelled and armed.
A mechanic starts the engine of the spitfire in the foreground and it
explodes into life, blasting our blue exhaust gases, the slipstream
flattening the grass and kicking up dust. A young sergeant pilot with
feelings a mixture of fear and excitement, runs for his machine. The
painting captures the tense atmosphere of a much repeated action from
these crucial events of over fifty years ago.
Battle of Britain by Gerald Coulson 60th Anniversary Commemorative Edition,
Manston, 12th August 1940 A surprise dive bombing attack at 12.45pm as spitfires of 65 squadron
were taking off. 148 bombs were dropped on the airfield and hangars. The
entire squadron got airborne with one exception, its engine was stopped by
the blast from one of the bombs. |
| © Solomon & Whitehead Ltd |
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