Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Ia
Pilot Officer Eric Stanley Lock, No.41 Squadron
Catterick, August 1940
(Corgi Aviation Archive AA39201)
- Engine: One 1,030 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin II 12-cylinder Vee type inline
- Span: 36 ft 10 in
- Length: 29 ft 11 in
- Height: 8 ft 10 in
- Weight: 5,000 lb empty / 6,200 lb loaded
- Crew: One
- Max Speed: 362 mph at 18,500 ft
- Service Ceiling: 31,900 ft
- Normal Range: 395 miles
- Armament: Eight .303 cal Browning MG
- Notes: Mk.Ia denoted aircraft with eight machine guns; Mk.Ib denoted variant carrying two 20 mm Hispano cannon in place of four inboard MG.
In 1939, as the threat of war loomed, Eric Stanley Lock joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve and learned to fly. When war was declared in September 1939, he was immediately called up to the RAF. After further training he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer, posted to No.41 Sqn at Catterick flying Spitfires and chalked up his first kill, a Bf110 on 15th August, 1940. On 3rd September the squadron was posted to RAF Hornchurch in Essex. Two days later he achieved his first 2 kills and within a week he had claimed 8 kills, an achievement that earned him his first DFC. Despite being injured several times during the Battle of Britain he went on to achieve 16.5 kills making him the highest scoring British-born pilot of the conflict. Returning to action after a long period in hospital, on 3rd August 1941 'Lockie' was shot down over Northern France; his body and aircraft were never found. In just 1 year this skillful and brave fighter pilot had become a household name, claimed 26.5 kills, won a DSO and DFC twice. He died before his 22nd birthday.
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