FORMING a dramatic, gleaming landmark that is set to become Southampton’s answer to the Statue of Liberty, this is the first look at the final design for a tribute to RJ Mitchell’s iconic Spitfire.

A public showcase of plans for the elegant £2m monument, rising into the skies at the entrance to the city’s waterfront, will go on display at the Solent Sky Museum this week.

A giant curved steel mast will raise a 1.5 times fullscale replica Spitfire 40m into the air from a circular viewing platform inspired by The Royal Air Force roundel, with a pool of remembrance in its centre.

Greeting visitors from land, sea and air on a site beside the historic Trafalgar dry dock, it will rival Nelson’s Column in height and dwarf the Angel of the North in Gateshead.

Plans for the Spitfire tribute were unveiled three years ago after a long-running campaign by the Daily Echo to finally honour the men and women who built and flew the Second World War fighter plane.

Councillor John Hannides, chairman of the city’s Spitfire Tribute Foundation, said: “This is a great opportunity for the people of Southampton to get a hands on experience of a monument that we want them to be really proud of.

“Not only do we want it to reflect the great pride that this country has for its airborne war hero, but we also want it to symbolise the achievement of the city and its people in producing this great machine.”

The design by Australian architect Nick Hancock, a specialist in complex geometry and lightweight steel structures formerly with the world renowned Richard Rogers Partnership, was selected following a national competition last summer that attracted 300 entries.

He has worked up the scheme for a planning application to be lodged with the council today.

The two-week exhibition of the plans will include both the designs and computer generated images of the monument as well as samples of some of the materials that will be used.

A fundraising drive is under way to pay for the Spitfire monument, involving corporate sponsors, individual donors and grant making bodies. It will be sited next to a proposed new £15m Aeronautica museum and maritime attraction, two miles from the Supermarine Aviation site where RJ Mitchell developed the aircraft.

Plans will go on display at the Solent Sky Museum in Albert Road South from Wednesday. The exhibition will be open daily between 10am and 5pm, except Sundays when it will be open from noon until 5pm.It will closed on Mondays.