| Jeffrey Kindersley Quill
was born in 1913. In 1931 he served with the R.A.F. on a short service commission. He was appointed
the test pilot for Supermarine and in 1938 became the senior test pilot. He joined No 65 Squadron
on the 5th of August 1950 during the Battle of Britain to see how to improve the Spitfire
in combat conditions. He was a very active member of the Squadron and took part in all
the sorties he could. At around 13:30hrs on the 18th of August he helped to shoot down a He
111 flown by R.Ahrens from I Gruppe of Kg 1. His orders to leave the the Squadron arrived
on the 24th of August 1940 and go back to the Supermarine works. He later flew a captured
Bf
109 and commented in his book (Spitfire
a Test Pilots Story) that had he flown
one sooner, he would not have had so much respect for them. J.K.Qill went on to help develop the
Spitfire
in all the marks and some jets after the war.
Read his book
its superb. After the war he became sales manager
of the British Aircraft Corporation.
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