Battle of Britain Sundial

Martin Jenkins

The idea of the sundial was to commemorate the eightieth year since the Battle of Britain in the air. The sundial measures 650mm high by 480mm wide and is made of slate. The sundial was designed and made by me on my CNC milling/engraving machine and subsequently coloured in using external paints. The sundial features three 1/32 scale metal aircraft; from top to bottom, a Mk1 Spitfire, a Mk5 Spitfire, and a Hawker Hurricane.

There are three time scales on the sundial. Uppermost are 'hours remaining until sunset, in red', 'hours since sunrise, in white', and 'Zulu time (GMT), actual time', in blue. The colours are to reflect the colours of the RAF. The time is read on each scale by the tip of the shadow of each starboard tail plane. The sizes of each time scale along with the height of each aircraft from the sundial surface are intended to create the effect of three aircraft taking off in formation.

Also engraved on the sundial is the opening line from the famous poem 'High Flight' by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee killed during an aerial dog fight on December 11, 1941, at the age of 19.