The Spitfire Story

Take Flight with Operation Spitfire: Inspiring the Engineers of Tomorrow

Operation Spitfire for Schools is an innovative STEM initiative designed to inspire the next generation of engineers across Staffordshire and the Midlands. Drawing inspiration from the legendary Spitfire aircraft and its designer, Reginald Mitchell, this hands on curriculum goes beyond textbooks to bridge the gap between the classroom and real-world career opportunities.

We offer students:

Hands-On Learning: Through our specialized STEM kits and real-world engineering challenges, students learn the most important lesson of all: that engineers have to be excellent at failing.
Unique Experiences: Students experience flight in the Spitfire Simulator, designed by experts from Nottingham University and compete for the chance to experience a behind the scenes tour of RAF Cosford.
Diverse Role Models: Highlight the stories of Spitfire pioneers, female pilots like Rita Baines, and modern test pilots such as Nathan Gray to showcase diverse paths in aviation.
Local Opportunity: Students learn that they do not need to leave the region to find world-class engineering careers; the future of engineering is happening right here in Stoke-On-Trent.
Join us in building a generation of thinkers, designers, and problem-solvers.

The Spitfire Story: From Stoke-on-Trent to the Skies

“The Spitfire is everyone’s story.”

Discover the incredible history of one of the world’s most iconic aircraft and the man behind its design, Reginald Mitchell. This video explores how a young apprentice from the steam locomotive factories of Kerr Stuart and Company in Stoke-on-Trent went on to change the course of history.

Learn about the global effort required to build and fly over 20,000 Spitfires—from the factory workers on the home front to the diverse group of international pilots and the courageous women of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) like Rita Baines.

Key Learning Points:

The Local Hero: Reginald Mitchell’s journey from Stoke-On-Trent to Chief Designer at Supermarine.
Engineering Excellence: How Mitchell’s racing seaplanes inspired the revolutionary 1936 Spitfire prototype.
A Global Legacy: The stories of pilots like Adam Ostrowski from Poland and Mohinder Singh Pujji from India.
STEM Inspiration: Why "learning by failing" is the secret to becoming a great engineer.