into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The American philanthropist Sidney Frank unveiled a statue of Mitchell at the Science Museum, London in 2005. The slate drawing board's surface depicts the drawing of the prototype Spitfire from June 1936. The stone sculpture was created by Stephen Kettle and given to the museum by the Sidney E. Frank Foundation. There are plaques dedicated to Mitchell at his Southampton home, and his birthplace in Butt Lane. Papers relating to his work at Supermarine are preserved at the archives of the Royal Air Force Museum London. A bronze statue of Mitchell was unveiled in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on 21 May 1995. The statue, by Colin Melbourne, was commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, and stands outside The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery. The statue depicts Mitchell wearing a suit, holding a pen in his right hand and a book in his left. The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, is home to a Spitfire RW388, which was donated to Stoke-on-Trent in 1972 by the RAF, to honour the city’s connection Reginald Mitchell. Southampton City Art Gallery holds an oil painting of Mitchell, painted in 1942 by Frank Ernest Beresford. Personality Mitchell was by nature a reserved and modest man. He was a reticent public speaker who disliked presenting papers. According to one member of his department, "he said nothing unless there was something worth saying". He avoided publicity, and was not widely known to the general public until after his death. According to his son Gordon, Mitchell was resentful of authority being imposed on him or of the routines of the workplace, and was short-tempered and "a difficult man to live with sometimes". Often given full scope at Supermarine, he was a strict taskmaster who nevertheless struggled with the level of organisation needed for a company such as Supermarine. When the engineer Barnes Wallis was employed to improve the efficiency of Mitchell's department in 1930, Wallis had to be recalled after their personalities clashed. The ODNB describes Mitchell as being highly gifted and intelligent, but someone who was "often stern and irascible towards those less gifted than himself". He was devoted to his staff at Supermarine, to whom he showed kindness and humanity, and they in turn repaid him with loyalty and affection. Notes References Sources Further reading External links RJ Mitchell. A