SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE

The Supermarine Spitfire was Britain's premiere fighter throughout the entire war. Pilots found it to be agile and dependable, it was a fine air-combat plane capable of great speed and superior high-altitude performance. It was continuously upgraded so that it would match or better the best German fighters at the time. Only until late in the war when jet aircraft appeared was the Spitfire made obsolete, although even then pilots in Spitfires shot down Messerschmitt Me262 jets. It even served aboard aircraft carriers as the Seafire.

The Spitfire was developed by Reginald Mitchell through the 1930's military competitions to replace the Bristol Bulldog fighters. It was named 'Spitfire' and it went in production in 1938 as the Mk.I version. Many more versions followed that saw continual modifications to the Merlin engine to wring more power from it. The original cockpit suffered from a rear-ward vision problem, it was eventually replaced with a teardrop shape originally designed for the P51 Mustang. The propeller changed from a two-bladed wooden one to a steel 5-bladed propeller. The armament increased from eight machine guns to four cannons and bombs. When the Merlin engine reached its limit in 1942 (its power had increased from 990 hp to 1,730 hp), Supermarine turned to the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. A very successful version of the Spitfire (Mk XIV) was a Mk.VII with a five-bladed propeller and a Griffon engine. A new name, the 'Victor' had been proposed, but not adopted. This aircraft was superior to almost all German fighters, except the last version of the FW190. The last version, the Mk.22, was armed with four 20 mm cannons and had a very powerful engine capable of catching V1 rockets. A total of 20531 Spitfires in 40 modifications were built. It remained in service with various air forces for many years after the end of the war and the Seafire naval variation was last used in combat by the Royal Navy from the carrier HMS Triumph in the Korean war.

Production of the MkI began in 1937. It was powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin II of 1030 hp. This gave the Mk I a speed of 355 mph, a climb rate of 2515 ft/min, and a very high ceiling of 34,556 ft (with oxygen of course). It came equipped with no fewer than 8 0.3.3 Vickers K machine guns, 4 in each wing. A total of 1583 Mk.Is were made.

The Mk II went into service at the end of 1940. It differed primarily in the adoption of the R.R. Merlin XII of 1,175 hp. Two main variants were produced, the MkIIA with eight machine guns and the MkIIB with four machine guns and two 20 mm cannons. The MkIIs were definitely a transitional aircraft to more powerful forms. 920 Mk.IIs were made.

The Spitfire MkV was a compromise between performance, Flexibility of use and firepower. They began to arrive at front line units in March 1941. Two types of wing were adopted, a standard one (known as the F wing) and a clipped version (the LF wing) that had better performance at lower altitudes. The armament became more diverse, varying from eight machine guns in the MkVA, the four machine guns and two cannons in the MkVB and the four cannons in the MkVC. The VC version used a universal wing capable of fitting all of the armament variations. The engines used were the Merlin 45 and 50, generating 1,440 and 1,490 hp, respectively. Of the MkV series, only 94 MkVAs were made, 3,923 MkVBs were produced and 2,447 MkVCs were produced.

A variant of the MkV was numbered the MkIV that was a MkV turned into a photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The guns were removed and additional fuel tanks were installed in the wings. Cameras were installed in the rear of the fuselage, the wings were lengthened with rounded tips and the cockpit was pressurized.

The MkIX series was powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61, 12 cylinder V, liquid-cooled, generating 1,565 hp. It was developed in response to the appearance of the Focke-Wulf 190 that, in 1942, was decided superior to the MkV in everything except turn radius. This was basically the MkV airframe married to the more powerful Merlin engine. A total 5,665 were built in three basic sub series designed for low, medium and high altitude combat (with the LF, F and HF wings) and armament type (B, C or E) Bs and Cs had four 0.303 machine guns and two 20 mm cannons, and Es had two 12.7 mm machine guns and two cannons and up to a 1,002 lb (454 kg) bomb load. Numerous sub variants of the MkIX were produced and given other numbers in the series.

The Mk.XIV was powered by the Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 engine of 2035 hp. This popular version had a maximum speed of 437 mph, a ceiling of 43,783 ft and a range of 457 miles. It packed two 20 mm British-Hispano cannon and two heavy 12.7 mm machine guns in the wings.

The last version, the Mk.XXII used the same Griffon engine as the Mk XIV with a speed of 425 mph, but it had an increased range of 5567 miles. It carried heavier armament, using four 20 mm British-Hispano cannons with 200 rounds each. A total of 278 Mk.22s were built.

Aircraft Specifications
Manufacturer Supermarine Corp. - Castle Bromwich, England
Wingspan 11.22 m ( 36' 9" )
Length 9.55 m ( 31' 3" )
Height 3.48 m ( 11' 5" )
Net Weight 2,300 K ( 5,060 lbs )
Gross Weight 4,315 K ( 9,493 lbs )
Cruise Speed 580 km/h ( 360 mp/h )
Max Speed 650 km/h ( 404 mp/h )
Range 700 km ( 435 miles )
Extended Range
Ceiling 11,880 m ( 38,976 ft )
Power Plant Rolls-Royce Merlin 63 1,290 hp
Rate of Climb 3,950 Ft/min (1,204 M/min)

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