The Spitfire Company - New Website
This week one of our aviation clients, The Spitfire Company Limited, launched their new website. We worked closely with the Spitfire team to shoot all the new image assets for this very major project, working with them directly to help them through the build process and ensure that we covered all the many aspects of the services and experiences that they offer. The new website has been really well received and we think it looks great and is a great window through to what people can experience through the flights and tours that they offer.
Biggin Hill - The Heritage Hanger
The name ‘Biggin Hill’ is synonymous with the Battle of Britain, when a small band of fighter pilots stood alone against the might of the Luftwaffe, a fighting force greater in number and already proven in combat.
From this hallowed ground, young men, with little experience and only basic training, took off to engage this enemy, with the fate of western civilisation resting on their shoulders. Through sheer determination, they prevailed, as pilot Geoffrey Wellum simply put it: “we beat them.”
Hurricanes arrived before the Second World War started and the station’s first ‘kill’ came soon after hostilities began on 2nd November 1939 when a Dornier Do17 was destroyed. Spitfires began arriving by the start of the Battle of Britain and soon, the Luftwaffe turned its attention on putting the airfield out of commission. Between 1940 and 1941, the station was bombed 12 times, but despite direct hits on the Operations block and many other areas, it was never actually closed. During WW2, the Biggin Hill sector was the first to claim 1000 victories over enemy aircraft. By the end of the war the tally reached over 1400.
Today, Biggin Hill is a busy airport for business aviation but the ‘jewel in Biggin Hill’s crown’ is undoubtedly the Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar, where visitors can take a tour of the world’s largest Spitfire restoration facility, as well as having the opportunity to fly in a Spitfire and take the controls. Of course, there are other locations in the world where Spitfire flights are possible, but when you take into account Biggin Hill’s links with the Spitfire and its central role in the Battle of Britain, flying from anywhere else is surely a much lesser experience. Nothing compares with coming back into to Biggin in a ‘Spit’. The combination of the Spitfire and Biggin Hill multiplies the meaning of the experience. It’s the closest you’ll ever get to being a Battle of Britain Spitfire fighter pilot.
