Postwar
In the immediate postwar era, Quill continued as a test pilot, flying the latest Supermarine jets, including the Attacker and Swift. By 1947 he had made the first flights and masterminded the development and production test flying of all 52 variants of the Spitfire – the only allied fighter to remain in full production and front-line service throughout the Second World War. He also made the first flights of the Dumbo (an experimental variable-incidence wing torpedo bomber), the Spiteful, the Seafang and, on 27 July 1946, the Attacker, the Royal Navy's first jet fighter.
Later he became a military aircraft marketing executive for the British Aircraft Corporation.
After his retirement he became a prolific author, chronicling the Spitfire and its legacy through: Spitfire: A Test Pilot's Story (1983), and Birth of a Legend: The Spitfire (1986).
After Jeffrey Quill's death in 1996 the British aviation society, the Air League, created a new award in his name, and since 1997 they have awarded the Jeffrey Quill Medal annually "for an outstanding contribution to the development of air-mindedness in Britain’s youth".
Having retired with his wife Claire to the Isle of Man, Jeffrey Quill became involved with an annual lecture given by the Association of Manx Pilots, later to become the Jeffrey Quill Memorial Lecture. He was elected President of the Spitfire Society.
Jeffrey Quill is buried in St Andrew's church yard, Andreas, Isle of Man. The church is near to the former RAF Andreas, which operated Spitfires from 1941–1942.
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Famous quotes containing the word postwar:
“Fashions change, and with the new psychoanalytical perspective of the postwar period [WWII], child rearing became enshrined as the special responsibility of mothers ... any shortcoming in adult life was now seen as rooted in the failure of mothering during childhood.”
—Sylvia Ann Hewitt (20th century)