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Depart in Peace by Geoff Lea.- Panzer - Prints .com

Depart in Peace by Geoff Lea.


Depart in Peace by Geoff Lea.

On 15th September 1965, the late Jeffrey Quill flew the old Spitfire VB AB910 into RAF Station Coltishall to be handed over to the Royal Air Force Memorial Flight and preserved in perpetuity. Significantly, this was to be virtually the final moment of a thirty-year association and devotion by Jeffrey Quill to his beloved Spitfire. After Mutt Summers initial flight, it was largely left to Jeffrey to help turn Reginald Mitchells inspired design into the most famous fighter aircraft of all time. Jeffrey Quill writes in his book, Spitfire, A Test Pilots Story : It had been my business to criticise it and identify its faults; I had no illusions about it and knew its problems only too well. Indeed, they had caused me sleepless nights all too often... As I climbed out of the cockpit of AB910 I had that feeling of sadness, of bidding farewell to an old an trusted friend. The title of the print comes most appropriately from the words of Nunc Dimittis, - Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, as AB910 goes into the loving care of the Memorial Flight. AB910 had a long, historic career since being built in 1942 at Castle Bromwich. It was delivered to 92 Squadron whose letters QJ-J it bore at the time of presentation. Ninety-two Squadron flew Spitfires throughout the entire war and was also one of the Royal Air Forces top-scoring squadrons. AB910 was also the aircraft on which a ground crew WAAF, now Miss Horton, made an unscheduled flight crouched across the tail. After the war, it was bought by the late Air Cmdre A. H. Wheeler, CBE, and later by Vickers-Armstrong Aircraft limited, who completely restored it. This work was carried out almost as a solo job by Arthur Luscombe at Chilbolton and later the aircraft was based at South Marston. As shown in this painting, AB910 was fitted with a Merlin 55M engine from a Seafire III to improve low-level performance, and a four-bladed propeller, untypical of a Spitfire V, both of which have now been changed by the Memorial Flight. After a life of more than forty years, AB910 continues to give pleasure to thousands as it participates in displays during the summer months. AB910 serves as a permanent reminder of those days of the 1940s when the flashing, eliptical wings skimmed high and proudly to bring freedom to the skies. Now, as then, to be a Spitfire pilot is the dream of small boys of all ages. Indeed, even as one sees and hears this remarkable machine, inevitably its magic draws us all into its heart to become part of a legend.
Item Code : DHM2514Depart in Peace by Geoff Lea. - This Edition
TYPEEDITION DETAILSSIZESIGNATURESOFFERSYOUR PRICEPURCHASING
PRINT Signed limited edition of 750 prints.

Last 4 prints of this sold out edition.
Image size 22.5 inches x 14.5 inches (55cm x 37cm) Quill, Jeffrey
+ Artist : Geoff Lea


Signature(s) value alone : £80
£30 Off!Now : £130.00

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Extra Details : Depart in Peace by Geoff Lea.
About all editions :


A photo of an edition of the print.

Signatures on this item
*The value given for each signature has been calculated by us based on the historical significance and rarity of the signature. Values of many pilot signatures have risen in recent years and will likely continue to rise as they become more and more rare.
NameInfo


The signature of Jeffrey Quill, OBE, AFC, FRAeS (deceased)

Jeffrey Quill, OBE, AFC, FRAeS (deceased)
*Signature Value : £80

Jeffrey Quill was born at Littlehampton in Sussex in 1913, the youngest of five children. He was educated at Lancing College, overlooking Shoreham aerodrome (then a small grass field with old hangars and a wooden hut for the flying club). The frequent sight of aircraft at close quarters increased Quill's already burning interest in aviation, and after leaving Lancing in 1931 he was accepted into the Royal Air Force at the age of 18, as an acting Pilot Officer. He learned to fly on Avro Tutor biplanes, and went solo after only 5 hours 20 minutes - well below the usual 9 hours. In September 1932 he joined No.17 (Fighter) Squadron at Upavon, where he flew Bristol Bulldogs. He was then posted to Duxford, to the RAF Meteorological Flight, where they flew open-cockpit Siskins to heights of up to 25,000 feet to collect weather data. In November 1934 Quill became Flight Commander, and set out with his team to achieve 100 per cent regularity in the scheduled climbs (twice every day, except Sundays, at 0700 and 1300 hrs) without missing a single flight, even in 'unflyable' weather. For this outstanding achievement he was awarded the Air Force Cross. In January 1936 Jeffrey Quill became assistant to Mutt Summers, the chief test pilot at Vickers (Aviation) Ltd., and his initial task was the testing of the Wellesley bomber. On 26 March 1936 Quill made his first flight in the prototype Spitfire K5054. Much work was needed on the Spitfire before it was eventually cleared for squadron service in July 1938. Jeffrey Quill spent the entire war in charge of development and production flying, but insisted on having first-hand combat experience, and in August 1940 he was assigned to 65 (Spitfire) Squadron at RAF Hornchurch. During that month he shot down a Me109, and shared in a Heinkel He111 before being recalled to Supermarine to test the Spitfire Mk III. The Seafire, the naval version of the Spitfire used by the Fleet Air Arm, was suffering enormous losses in deck landing accidents. During 1944 Quill spent five months with the Royal Navy, and made more than 75 deck landings. By the end of the war, he had personally test-flown all 50-odd variants of Spitfire and Seafire. His personal favourite was the Spitfire Mk VIII. Jeffrey Quill continued as chief test pilot after the war, when Vickers - ever on the cutting edge of development - produced Britain's third jet aircraft, the Attacker. On 27 July 1946 Quill made the first flight from Boscombe Down, and continued to undertake the testing, until one day the following June he passed out at about 40,000 feet. Fortunately he recovered at about 10,000 ft, in time to land safely. Quill had been flying continuously for 16 years, often at high altitude and without oxygen. He had logged over 5000 hours and flown more than 95 aircraft types. Jeffrey Quill died at Andreas, Isle of Man, on 20 February 1996.
The Aircraft :
NameInfo
SpitfireRoyal 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 MKs 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.

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