"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." Winston Churchill paid that celebrated tribute to the Royal Air Force fighter pilots who won the 48-day Battle of Britain in 1940, thus thwarting plans for a Nazi invasion of England. The backbone of the R.A.F. was the agile Spitfire, the speedy (364 m.p.h.), quick-turning, British-built fighter plane that literally flew circles around enemy aircraft.
In Britain this week, World War II veterans, collectors and other fans of the Spitfire are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first test flight of the renowned British...