Was R.J. Mitchell truly a genius? Delving into the projects that remained stuck on the drawing board

Popular history has a tendency to simplify, and accounts of the life and career of aeronautical engineer R.J. Mitchell are no exception. Remembered most fondly for his epochal Spitfire design, his other designs – many of them failures and disappointments – have largely been ignored. As a designer for Supermarine, Mitchell produced a huge body of concepts, projects and ideas that never left the drawing board.

In Beyond the Spitfire Ralph Pegram brings Mitchell’s previously unseen work to light in an attempt to evaluate the entire portfolio of one of Britain’s most talented aeronautical designers. Illustrated with a combination of layout drawings and impressive CGI renderings of Mitchell’s designs, this book is an insightful and indispensable addition to our understanding of the work of a man often called a genius.