Supermarine Spitfire I FSM - R6775 / YT-J - RAF , 65 Sqn
The Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 replica represents as precisely as possible the aircraft YT-J, serial number R6675, flown most by Flying Officer Jeffery Quill OBE AFC during his short operational attachment to 65 Squadron from 6 August to 24 August 1940.
Amongst the many distinguished pilots associated with the Spitfire, one name stands out above all others, Jeffery Kindersley Quill, OBE AFC. Born on 1 February 1913 at Littlehampton in Sussex, Quill was educated at Lancing College before joining the RAF. His ab initio training was on Avro Tutors at No. 3 Flying Training School, Grantham where he also undertook advanced flying on the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mk IIIA. With the pilot rating ‘Exceptional’ stamped in his logbook, he was posted to No. 17 Squadron at Upavon to fly Bristol Bulldogs. At Grantham Quill had shown a natural aptitude for instrument flying and his next posting was to the Meteorological Flight at Duxford, where he became its CO in November 1934. Back on Siskins, he had the misfortune to crash-land on 14 March 1935 in marginal weather conditions, resulting in the almost inevitable ‘Siskin nose’ which only served to aggravate a condition acquired earlier while boxing for the RAF.
In November 1935 he left the RAF to become assistant to ‘Mutt’ Summers, the Chief Test Pilot at Vickers (Aviation). On 5 March 1936 Quill flew Summers to Eastleigh in the company’s Miles Falcon so that Summers could carry out the first flight in the F.37/34 fighter. Quill did not have to wait long to fly it himself and carried out his own maiden flight in Spitfire K5054 on the 26th March. Over the next 12 years Quill flew every version of the Spitfire, right up to the Seafire Mk 47 in 1946.
Such was his dedication that he managed to secure an attachment to No. 65 Squadron at Hornchurch in August 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain, to obtain operational experience so as to appreciate more fully the requirements demanded of the Spitfire and find ways of eradicating its few shortcomings. He also had a deep desire to fight for his country. On 16 August he shot down a Messerchmitt Bf 109E fighter and two days later shared in the destruction of a Heinkel He 111 bomber.
Quill was Chief Test Pilot of Supermarine until 1947 when he was forced to retire on medical grounds. Thereafter he undertook various ground-based tasks with Vickers and the British Aircraft Corporation involving the development of the TSR2, Jaguar and Tornado, culminating in the role of Director of Marketing at Panavia. He died on 20 February 1996, aged 83.
Supermarine Spitfire I FSM - R6775 / YT-J - RAF , 65 Sqn
The Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 replica represents as precisely as possible the aircraft YT-J, serial number R6675, flown most by Flying Officer Jeffery Quill OBE AFC during his short operational attachment to 65 Squadron from 6 August to 24 August 1940.
Amongst the many distinguished pilots associated with the Spitfire, one name stands out above all others, Jeffery Kindersley Quill, OBE AFC. Born on 1 February 1913 at Littlehampton in Sussex, Quill was educated at Lancing College before joining the RAF. His ab initio training was on Avro Tutors at No. 3 Flying Training School, Grantham where he also undertook advanced flying on the Armstrong Whitworth Siskin Mk IIIA. With the pilot rating ‘Exceptional’ stamped in his logbook, he was posted to No. 17 Squadron at Upavon to fly Bristol Bulldogs. At Grantham Quill had shown a natural aptitude for instrument flying and his next posting was to the Meteorological Flight at Duxford, where he became its CO in November 1934. Back on Siskins, he had the misfortune to crash-land on 14 March 1935 in marginal weather conditions, resulting in the almost inevitable ‘Siskin nose’ which only served to aggravate a condition acquired earlier while boxing for the RAF.
In November 1935 he left the RAF to become assistant to ‘Mutt’ Summers, the Chief Test Pilot at Vickers (Aviation). On 5 March 1936 Quill flew Summers to Eastleigh in the company’s Miles Falcon so that Summers could carry out the first flight in the F.37/34 fighter. Quill did not have to wait long to fly it himself and carried out his own maiden flight in Spitfire K5054 on the 26th March. Over the next 12 years Quill flew every version of the Spitfire, right up to the Seafire Mk 47 in 1946.
Such was his dedication that he managed to secure an attachment to No. 65 Squadron at Hornchurch in August 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain, to obtain operational experience so as to appreciate more fully the requirements demanded of the Spitfire and find ways of eradicating its few shortcomings. He also had a deep desire to fight for his country. On 16 August he shot down a Messerchmitt Bf 109E fighter and two days later shared in the destruction of a Heinkel He 111 bomber.
Quill was Chief Test Pilot of Supermarine until 1947 when he was forced to retire on medical grounds. Thereafter he undertook various ground-based tasks with Vickers and the British Aircraft Corporation involving the development of the TSR2, Jaguar and Tornado, culminating in the role of Director of Marketing at Panavia. He died on 20 February 1996, aged 83.