Talk by Paul Beaver about Reginald Mitchell, the engineer behind the Spitfire, at the Derby Book Festival.
Paul Beaver is coming to St Peter's Church on Saturday 14 November to talk about his book on Reginald Mitchell, the engineer behind the Spitfire. It's part of the Derby Book Festival, so it's one of the many sessions running across the city that weekend.
If you've ever looked at a Spitfire and wondered who actually came up with it, this is the answer. Mitchell was a visionary engineer whose legacy is the most iconic fighter aircraft of all time. Throughout the 1920s he was a trailblazing innovator working at the cutting edge of aviation technology, and his work led to a successful collaboration with Rolls-Royce. As Europe's politics darkened in the 1930s, Mitchell and his team at Supermarine became crucial to a nation preparing for war.
There's a bit of a poignant side to the story, too: Mitchell didn't live to see the Spitfire in action, but his work led to triumph at the Battle of Britain. He was immortalised in the 1942 film The First of the Few, directed by Leslie Howard, who also played Mitchell on screen. Beaver's talk brings that history back to the man himself rather than just the plane.
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The session runs from 10:30am to 11:30am at St Peter's Church in the city centre, DE1 1SN, and tickets are £10.
