Historic steel giant, Sheffield Forgemasters, is celebrating 90 years since the first Spitfire aircraft took to the skies thanks to its predecessor, Vickers-Armstrong Ltd.

The Brightside Lane-based company is celebrating 250 years of history, including production of the famous Spitfire aircraft, which first took to the skies in 1936, eight years after Vickers-Armstrong purchased the company, renaming it Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd.

Now owned by the Ministry of Defence, the company’s River Don site also manufactured all the crankshafts for the Rolls-Royce’s Merlin V12 engines, which powered legendary WW2 aircraft including the Supermarine Spitfire, Avro-Lancaster, Hawker Hurricane and De-Havilland Mosquito.

Gary Nutter, Chief Executive Officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “As we delve into the incredible 250-year history that Sheffield Forgemasters inherits, there are few more impressive landmarks than the production of R.J. Mitchell’s iconic Spitfire aircraft.

“The Spitfire was one of many aircraft which Vickers-Armstrong delivered for the war effort at that time, and we are proud to recognise the importance of defence manufacture when the country and its allies needed it the most.”

Captain Joseph Summers piloted the first Spitfire flight in March 1936, a moment that etched a significant landmark in aviation history, with the Spitfire going on to play a decisive role in the Battle of Britain and becoming a symbol of hope for the Great British public.

Summers famously asked that the engineers, “Don’t change a thing” on the aircraft after his inaugural eight-minute flight, such was its incredible performance and manoeuvrability compared to all other fighter planes of the day.

The RAF is holding a series of commemorative flights across the UK to celebrate the 90-year anniversary of that first flight, with a two-seat Spitfire painted to match the prototype K5054 model which Captain Summers piloted.

Sheffield Forgemasters has traced its heritage back to 1776, the year of American independence, when George Naylor helped his cutlery manufacturing partnership to move into steelmaking through the construction of a crucible steel furnace in the city.

The company still operates from Vickers’ River Don Works site and is now expanding onto the former Cammell Laird Brightside Steel Works at Weedon Street, where a new Machine Shop will be located, housing 24 new machines, including some of the world’s largest vertical turning lathes.