The L.F. was the low-altitude version of the Mk.IX, configured with a Merlin 66 engine and clipped elliptical wings. This meant a Luftwaffe fighter could simply "bunt" into a high-power dive to escape an attack, leaving the Spitfire behind, as its fuel was forced out of the carburettor by negative "g". The ellipse was skewed so that the centre of pressure, which occurs at the quarter-chord position, aligned with the main spar, preventing the wings from twisting. Air combat was also felt to take place at relatively low speeds and high-speed manoeuvring would be physically impossible. It is one of only four flying MK 1 Spitfires in the world. [81] Only two positions were available; fully up or fully down (85°). The Cobi Supermarine Spitfire MK IX Set features 280 highly detailed brick parts including 1 mini figure. 8 × .303 in Browning Mk II* machine guns (350 rounds per gun), 2 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II (60 rounds per gun), 4 × .303 in Browning Mk II* machine guns (350 rounds per gun), 4 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannon (120 rounds per gun), 2 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II (120 rounds per gun), 2 × 20 mm Hispano Mk II cannon (120 rounds per gun), 2 × .50 in M2 Browning machine guns (250 rounds per gun), Brown, Eric. Then the aircraft received a final once-over by our ground mechanics, any faults were rectified and the Spitfire was ready for collection. 284 were converted from older versions, 557 built by Supermarine around Southampton, and another 5117 at Castle Bromwich. [114] Those Spitfire Vs were the first to see service outside Britain.[115]. However, Spitfire units had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes because of the Spitfire's higher performance. Stuka dive bomber. Supermarine Spitfire oli Yhdistyneen kuningaskunnan ja monien muiden liittoutuneiden ilmavoimien käyttämä toisen maailmansodan aikainen yksimoottorinen ja yksipaikkainen hävittäjä. This mark could nudge 400 mph (640 km/h) in level flight and climb to an altitude of 33,000 ft (10,000 m) in under nine minutes. The Spitfire Mk.VIII was a much better aircraft and in the opinion of most pilots the nicest of all Spitfires to fly and yet far fewer were built. During and after the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became a symbol of British resistance: for example, Lord Beaverbrook's "Spitfire Fund" of 1940 was one campaign which drew widespread public attention to the Spitfire. Supermarine Spitfire IX: Fourth major production fighter variant (Supermarine Type 361), combining Mk VC airframe with two-stage two-speed Merlin 60 series engine but lacking other improvements designed for (later) Supermarine Spitfire VIII. I went into production in 1937 and was operational in June, 1938. That Southeast Asia was a lower-priority area also did not help, and it was allocated few Spitfires and other modern fighters compared to Europe, which allowed the Japanese to easily achieve air superiority by 1942. [123] Spitfire MKVIIIs took part in the last battle of World War II involving the Western allies in Burma, in the ground attack role, helping defeat a Japanese break-out attempt. [34][36] On 17 May, Minister of Aircraft Production Lord Beaverbrook telephoned Lord Nuffield and manoeuvred him into handing over control of the Castle Bromwich plant to his ministry. The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries before, during and after World War II. He says "I think it can be reasonably contended that the deliberations of that conference made possible, if not certain, of the winning of the Battle of Britain, almost exactly six years later". IX in Detail. British company Historic Flying Limited has either restored or built from scratch a significant proportion of the Spitfires that are now airworthy. [137], Supermarine developed a two-seat variant, known as the T Mk VIII, to be used for training, but none were ordered, and only one example was ever constructed (identified as N32/G-AIDN by Supermarine). [153] The last nation in the Middle East to operate Spitfires was Syria, which kept its F 22s until 1953. [145] Performance was greatly increased when later versions of the Seafire were fitted with the Griffon engines. These laminar-flow airfoils were the Supermarine 371-I used at the root and the 371-II used at the tip. "UK Space Conference 2008: Test Pilot Discussion. - Cookies. Initially, these were refurbished aircraft, but subsequent shipments were factory new. In November 1938, tests against armoured and unarmoured targets had already indicated that the introduction of a weapon with a calibre of at least 20 mm was urgently needed. The evolution of high octane aviation fuels and improved supercharger designs enabled Rolls-Royce to extract increasing amounts of power from the same basic designs. ", Price, Alfred. n by Martin Waligorski n photos by Martin Waligorski, Mattias Linde and Phillip Treweek: Back to main article : The wing root fillet with solid leading edge visible here was not common for all Mk. ", Henshaw, Alex. By August, Supermarine had perfected a more reliable installation with an improved feed mechanism and four .303s in the outer wing panels. [nb 9] The radiators were housed in a new radiator-duct designed by Fredrick Meredith of the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough, Hampshire. Another PR Mk 19, PS853, which is now owned by Rolls-Royce, was on gate-guard duties at Binbrook, having been retired from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) one year before. [nb 11][82], The ellipse also served as the design basis for the Spitfire's fin and tailplane assembly, once again exploiting the shape's favourable aerodynamic characteristics. This memorial is in memory of the old, A fibreglass replica of a Spitfire Mk XVI has been mounted on a pylon in, A fibreglass replica of a Mk XVI spitfire sits on a pylon next to Memorial Avenue at Christchurch Airport, New Zealand. IXs, although the intended “c” type was four cannon and no machine gu… It flew operationally with No. Morgan and Shacklady 2000, pp. The Supermarine Spitfire Mk. The Spitfire's stressed-skin construction required precision engineering skills and techniques that were beyond the capabilities of the local labour force, and some time was required to retrain them. With the later and still heavier versions, one got even less. The first response to this threat was the Mk VIII, but this aircraft involved a significant redesign of the basic Spitfire, and would take time to produce in the numbers required. The crisis was so serious that the RAF was forced to stop all but the most important daytime operations over occupied Europe in November 1941. German bombers would have to fly to the UK over the North Sea, and Germany did not have any single-engine fighters with the range to accompany them. Both the elevators and rudder were shaped so that their centre of mass was shifted forward, reducing control-surface flutter. [nb 15][160], The oldest surviving Spitfire is a Mark 1, serial number K9942; it is preserved at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford in Shropshire. It was moved to its current location in 2015 from the previous position at the entrance to the airport where it had been for 50 years. On 20 February 1948, almost twelve years from the prototype's first flight, the last production Spitfire, VN496, left the production line. "The Birth of a Thoroughbred.". The elliptical wing was decided upon quite early on. Jeffrey Quill, the former Supermarine test pilot, initiated a project to build an exact replica of K5054, the prototype Spitfire to be put on permanent public display as a memorial to R.J. Mitchell. [147], As American fighters took over the long-range escorting of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) daylight bombing raids, the Griffon-engined Spitfires progressively took up the tactical air superiority role, and played a major role in intercepting V-1 flying bombs, while the Merlin-engined variants (mainly the Mk IX and the Packard-engined Mk XVI) were adapted to the fighter-bomber role. [nb 7] Quill devised the standard testing procedures, which with variations for specific aircraft designs operated from 1938. [94], Due to a shortage of Brownings, which had been selected as the new standard rifle calibre machine gun for the RAF in 1934, early Spitfires were fitted with only four guns, with the other four fitted later. A Second World War vintage Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX (L.F.), rebuilt by Canada's National Aviation Museum. [150], Operation Firedog during the Malayan Emergency saw the Spitfire fly over 1,800 operational sorties against the Malayan Communists. [83][84], As the Spitfire gained more power and was able to manoeuvre at higher speeds, the possibility that pilots would encounter aileron reversal increased, and the Supermarine design team set about redesigning the wings to counter this. And it looked nice. Many of Supermarine's records from this era were destroyed during a bombing raid in 1940, and none of the surviving documents seemed to pin this down. RAF fighter pilots soon learned to "half-roll" their aircraft before diving to pursue their opponents. The Spitfire also served on the Eastern Front with the Soviet Air Force (VVS). There are Supermarine Spitfire reproduction kits currently flying in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Germany, South Africa and Canada. [11] On 3 January 1935, they formalised the contract with a new specification, F10/35, written around the aircraft. [59] In some areas, such as at the rear of the wing and the lower tailplane skins, the top was riveted and the bottom fixed by brass screws which tapped into strips of spruce bolted to the lower ribs. The Mk IX provided an alternative solution to the problem. R. J. Mitchell designed the Supermarine Type 224 to fill this role. [73], All the main flight controls were originally metal structures with fabric covering. "[62][nb 8], The wing section used was from the NACA 2200 series, which had been adapted to create a thickness-to-chord ratio of 13% at the root, reducing to 9.4% at the tip. A fost produs în număr mai mare decât oricare alt avion britanic. A key factor which allowed the continued development of the Spitfire was the development of progressively more powerful and improved engines, starting with the Rolls-Royce Merlin and progressing to the bigger and more powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon. In January 1940, P/O George Proudman flew this prototype in combat, but the starboard gun stopped after firing a single round, while the port gun fired 30 rounds before seizing. Several other manufacturers have produced replica Spitfires, either as complete aircraft or as kits for self-building. A Supermarine Spitfire brit együléses vadászrepülőgép, melyet a Brit Királyi Légierő megrendelésére fejlesztettek ki. The Mk.IX entered service in late 1942. As Jeffrey Quill noted: "If Mitchell was born to design the Spitfire, Joe Smith was born to defend and develop it. Sometimes unarmed, they flew at high, medium, and low altitudes, often ranging far into enemy territory to closely observe the Axis powers and provide an almost continual flow of valuable intelligence information throughout the war. The Cobi Supermarine Spitfire IX Set parts all work with the “other major brand.” You will be pleasantly surprised with the … After repair, it was used for training until August 1944, when it became one of several Battle of Britain aircraft veterans that were allocated to the Air Historical Branch for future museum preservation. [137], The final version of the Spitfire, the Mk 24, first flew at South Marston on 13 April 1946. [162], Two MK 1 Supermarine Spitfires, originally restored by the Aircraft Restoration Company, remain in flying condition at the Imperial War Museum Duxford, in Cambridgeshire, England. The Merlin 46 and Merlin 50 were also used in the VB. ", Jane, Fred T. "The Supermarine Spitfire. Aerodynamically it was the best for our purpose because the induced drag caused in producing lift, was lowest when this shape was used: the ellipse was ... theoretically a perfection ... To reduce drag we wanted the lowest possible thickness-to-chord, consistent with the necessary strength. To carry out the mission of home defence, the design was intended to allow the Spitfire to climb quickly to intercept enemy bombers. Gueli, Marco. [151] The last operational sortie of an RAF Spitfire was flown on 1 April 1954, by PS888 a PR Mk 19 Spitfire of 81 Squadron.It was flying from RAF Seletar, in Singapore to photograph an area of jungle in Johore, Malaysia, thought to contain Communist guerrillas. [75][76] During the Battle of Britain, pilots found the Spitfire's ailerons were far too heavy at high speeds, severely restricting lateral manoeuvres such as rolls and high-speed turns, which were still a feature of air-to-air combat. no. [96] Early tests showed that, while the guns worked perfectly on the ground and at low altitudes, they tended to freeze at high altitude, especially the outer wing guns, because the RAF's Brownings had been modified to fire from an open bolt. 614–616. [3] The Spitfire was the only British fighter aircraft to be in continuous production before, during, and after the Second World War. Mitchell pushed the Spitfire's distinctive elliptical wing with cutting-edge sunken rivets (designed by Beverley Shenstone)[5] to have the thinnest possible cross-section, helping give the aircraft a higher top speed than several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane. They also featured refinements such as retractable undercarriages, fully enclosed cockpits, and low-drag, all-metal wings. "Spitfire con Coccarde Italiane (Spitfire in Italian service)." [71] This washout was first featured in the wing of the Type 224, and became a consistent feature in subsequent designs leading to the Spitfire. By June 1939, most of these problems had been resolved, and production was no longer held up by a lack of wings. 1 Wing RAAF helped defend the port town of Darwin against air attack by the Japanese Naval Air Force,[122] suffering heavy losses largely due to the type's limited fuel capacity. Three marks of Spitfire would be developed from this experimental aircraft. The German government approved the deal, but only in return for a number of. [178] The Isaacs Spitfire (1975)[179] and the Time Warp Spitfire Mk V (1996) are homebuilt 60% scale replicas, and Bob DeFord of Prescott, Arizona built and flies a 100% scale replica.[180]. [4][nb 13] The Spitfire achieved legendary status during the Battle of Britain, a reputation aided by the "Spitfire Fund" organised and run by Lord Beaverbrook, the Minister of Aircraft Production. The increase in performance was minimal and this experiment was abandoned. In July 1942 an early Mk IX was flown against a captured Fw 190A, and the two aircraft were discovered to have very similar capabilities. The 224 was an open-cockpit monoplane with bulky gull-wings and a large, fixed, spatted undercarriage powered by the 600-horsepower (450 kW), evaporatively cooled Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. [116] In 1944, the USSR received the substantially improved Mk IX variant, with the first aircraft delivered in February. This allowed for rapid development and production of the new model. [100], Even if the eight Brownings worked perfectly, pilots soon discovered that they were not sufficient to destroy larger aircraft. Beginning in late 1943, high-speed diving trials were undertaken at Farnborough to investigate the handling characteristics of aircraft travelling at speeds near the sound barrier (i.e., the onset of compressibility effects). Starting with the Merlin XII fitted in Spitfire Mk IIs in late 1940 this was changed to a 70% water-30% glycol mix. ", "The Supermarine Spitfire, an operational history. There are 35 pictures in all, divided by subject into four sections for easier browsing. In 1942, the United States acquired a flyable, Japanese, This aircraft survived the war, only to be scrapped in 1945. "Technical Note: A CFD Evaluation of Three Prominent World War II Fighter Aircraft. These were referred to as Mk IX UTI and differed from the Supermarine proposals by using an inline "greenhouse" style double canopy rather than the raised "bubble" type of the T Mk VIII. While this prevented overheating of the cordite used in British ammunition, it allowed cold air to flow through the barrel unhindered. Under the port wing, a new radiator fairing housed a square oil cooler alongside of the other half-radiator unit. "Supermarine Spitfire (Merlin-engined variants)". 17, 35–37, 41, 62, 66, 91. The basic Spitfire design did impose some limitations on the use of the aircraft as a carrier-based fighter; poor visibility over the nose, for example, meant that pilots had to be trained to land with their heads out of the cockpit and looking along the port cowling of their Seafire. Each of these nine frames was oval, reducing in size towards the tail, and incorporated several lightening holes to reduce their weight as much as possible without weakening them. The managements of Supermarine and Vickers were able to convince the Air Ministry that production problems could be overcome, and a further order was placed for 200 Spitfires on 24 March 1938. The Spitfire was designed as a short-range, high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works, which operated as a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrong from 1928. [65], Ahead of the spar, the thick-skinned leading edge of the wing formed a strong and rigid, D-shaped box, which took most of the wing loads. [141] Like the Spitfire, the Seafire also had a relatively narrow undercarriage track, which meant that it was not ideally suited to deck operations. [29] Full-scale production of the Spitfire began at Supermarine's facility in Woolston, but the order clearly could not be completed in the 15 months promised. In June 1939, a Spitfire was fitted with a drum-fed Hispano in each wing, an installation that required large blisters on the wing to cover the 60-round drum. That any operational aircraft off the production line, cannons sprouting from its wings and warts and all, could readily be controlled at this speed when the early jet aircraft such as, Articles and topics related to the Supermarine Spitfire, Manufacturing at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, Search for reported surviving Spitfires in Burma. Normal armament was two 20mm cannon and four machine-guns. He eventually regained control somewhere below 3,000 ft (910 m) and landed safely with no discernible damage to his aircraft. A total of 143 aircraft and 50 furnished hulls (to be used for spare parts) followed by March of the same year. [31] The final cost of the first 310 aircraft, after delays and increased programme costs, came to £1,870,242 or £1,533 more per aircraft than originally estimated. "World War II Fighter Aerodynamics. The dive put the aircraft to Mach 0.92, the fastest ever recorded in a piston-engined aircraft, but when the propeller came off, the Spitfire, now tail-heavy, zoom-climbed back to altitude. It allowed the RAF to go back onto the offensive in occupied Europe, and resume the “circus”, “ramrod” and “rodeo” raids. The Spitfire continued to play increasingly diverse roles throughout the Second World War and beyond, often in air forces other than the RAF. The sound library features the 1943 British Supermarine World War II Mk IX PV202 H5R model aircraft and its 1,720 horsepower Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 V12 engine with a Bendix-Stromberg injection carburettor and a … As the wing roots started to stall, the separating air stream started to buffet (vibrate) the aircraft, warning the pilot, allowing even relatively inexperienced pilots to fly it to the limits of its performance. At the time the wing was designed, this D-shaped leading edge was intended to house steam condensers for the evaporative cooling system intended for the PV-XII. The Mk IX replaced the Mk V from June 1942. [25] He had been given orders to fly the aircraft and then to make his report to the Air Ministry on landing. ", History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Koga's Zero: The Fighter That Changed World War II, The Spitfire Site – resource library about the Supermarine Spitfire, Spitfire/Seafire Serial Numbers, production contracts and aircraft histories, K5054 – Supermarine Type 300 prototype Spitfire & production aircraft history, Supermarine Spitfire – History of a legend (RAF Museum), The Supermarine Spitfire in Indian Air Force Service, Spitfire Pilots, articles about Spitfires and its pilots, RAF Museum Spitfire Mk VB walk-around photos, Examples of Photographic Reconnaissance Spitfires, Pacific Spitfires – The Supermarine Spitfire in RAAF Service, A photograph of the 1939 "Speed Spitfire" in, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Supermarine_Spitfire&oldid=995400266, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from June 2020, Articles needing additional references from April 2018, All articles needing additional references, Articles with French-language sources (fr), Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. On 7 March 1942, 15 Mk Vs carrying 90-gallon fuel tanks under their bellies took off from HMS Eagle off the coast of Algeria on a 600-mile (970 km) flight to Malta. Some Spitfires of one mark or variant may have been modified to another; several of the first Mk VBs were converted from Mk IBs; the first Mk IXs were Mk VCs converted, in some instances, by Rolls-Royce at their Hucknall facility. Later, a new fuselage was designed, with the new fighter becoming the Supermarine Spiteful. The majority of Mk IXs of all types used the standard “c” wing, which could carry four 20mm cannon or two 20mm cannon and four .303in machine guns. [86], The new wing of the Spitfire F Mk 21 and its successors was designed to help alleviate this problem. He organised a conference, with Air Commodore Tedder in the chair, on 19 July 1934. [138] In the absence of an official two-seater variant, a number of airframes were crudely converted in the field. [29] Although outside contractors were supposed to be involved in manufacturing many important Spitfire components, especially the wings, Vickers-Armstrong (the parent company) was reluctant to see the Spitfire being manufactured by outside concerns, and was slow to release the necessary blueprints and subcomponents. Lt. Gen. Claire Chennault noted: "The RAF pilots were trained in methods that were excellent against German and Italian equipment, but suicide against the acrobatic Japs. The Hispanos were found to be so unreliable that the squadron requested an exchange of its aircraft with the older Browning-armed aircraft of an operational training unit. The Air Ministry submitted a list of possible names to Vickers-Armstrong for the new aircraft, then known as the Type 300. The Mk IX was a significant improvement on the Mk V. It had a top speed of 409 mph at 28,000 feet, an increase of 40 miles per hour. [9] It then went through a series of changes, including the incorporation of an enclosed cockpit, oxygen-breathing apparatus, smaller and thinner wings, and the newly developed, more powerful Rolls-Royce PV-XII V-12 engine, later named the "Merlin". This page was last edited on 20 December 2020, at 20:54. Although full-scale production was supposed to begin immediately, numerous problems could not be overcome for some time, and the first production Spitfire, K9787, did not roll off the Woolston, Southampton assembly line until mid-1938.[1]. Finally, 410 high altitude HF.Mk IXs were produced using the Merlin 70 engine, with an improved performance at high altitude. Martindale blacked out under the 11 g loading, but when he resumed consciousness, he found the aircraft at about 40,000 feet with its (originally straight) wings now slightly swept back. Spawned from Supermarine's race planes of the 1920s and 1930s, the Spitfire's designer Reginald Mitchell always scoffed at the fighter's nickname but he was overjoyed with its amazing performance. This Spitfire is completely original, and has never been fully rebuilt. The LF Mk IX is considered by most to be the perfect Spitfire due to its balanced all round p… Personally, I never cleared a Spitfire unless I had carried out a few aerobatic tests to determine how good or bad she was. Constant problems with the evaporative system in the Goshawk led to the adoption of a cooling system which used 100% glycol. "Spitfire: A Test Pilot's Defence. The Mk VII and Mk VIII would use a redesigned fuselage, and this meant that they would take too long to produce. The Spitfire sound collection includes 280 clips in 12.92 gigabytes of audio. [133], Although R. J. Mitchell is justifiably known as the engineer who designed the Spitfire, his premature death in 1937 meant that all development after that date was undertaken by a team led by his chief draughtsman, Joe Smith, who became Supermarine's chief designer on Mitchell's death. [127] Martindale successfully glided the Spitfire 20 mi (32 km) back to the airfield and landed safely. The Mk VIII was produced in large numbers, and saw service in the Middle East and Far East. With the Mark II or the Mark V one got two-and-a-half flick-rolls but the Mark IX was heavier and you got only one-and-a-half. The Supermarine Spitfire Mk VIII saw a major redesign of the basic airframe. One Spitfire is kept in airworthy condition in the Israeli Air Force Museum. This frame also tied the four main fuselage longerons to the rest of the airframe. [26] A week later, on 3 June 1936, the Air Ministry placed an order for 310 Spitfires,[27] before the A&AEE had issued any formal report. He was given the task of building nine new factories, and to supplement the British car manufacturing industry by either adding to overall capacity or increasing the potential for reorganisation to produce aircraft and their engines.