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#Post#: 7753--------------------------------------------------
Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: vonofterdingen Date: November 25, 2019, 4:05 pm
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This week marks a US holiday that we call Thanksgiving. Once a
time of reflection and giving thanks for all we have, it is now
lapsed somewhat into an excuse to eat a lot of food,
particularly turkey (which is damn good by the way). Mind you, I
am not complaining. On this special week, though, I thought it
would be wise to reflect a moment on WW2 and all that we have to
be thankful for as the result of brave men and women who made
every imaginable sacrifice. In this historical context, what
plane am I most thankful for? There were many worthy candidates
but ultimately I settled on the plane that turned the tide of
the Battle of Britain, the Supermarine Spitfire. And in case you
were wondering, I did indeed give heavy thought to the Hawker
Hurricane.
From Wikipedia…
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. Mitchell pushed the Spitfire's
distinctive elliptical wing with cutting-edge sunken rivets
(designed by Beverley Shenstone) to have the thinnest possible
cross-section, helping give the aircraft a higher top speed than
several contemporary fighters, including the Hawker Hurricane.
Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death in 1937,
whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith took over as chief
designer, overseeing the Spitfire's development through its
multitude of variants.
During the Battle of Britain, from July to October 1940, the
public perceived the Spitfire to be the main RAF fighter, though
the more numerous Hurricane shouldered a greater proportion of
the burden against Nazi Germany's air force, the Luftwaffe.
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. During the battle, Spitfires
were generally tasked with engaging Luftwaffe fighters—mainly
Messerschmitt Bf 109E-series aircraft, which were a close match
for them.
After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire superseded the
Hurricane to become the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw
action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific, and South-East
Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in
several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance,
fighter-bomber, and trainer, and it continued to serve in these
roles until the 1950s. The Seafire was a carrier-based
adaptation of the Spitfire that served in the Fleet Air Arm from
1942 through to the mid-1950s. Although the original airframe
was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was strong enough and adaptable
enough to use increasingly powerful Merlins and, in later marks,
Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,340 hp (1,745 kW).
As a result, the Spitfire's performance and capabilities
improved over the course of its service life.
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. 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. While this prevented overheating of the cordite used
in British ammunition, it allowed cold air to flow through the
barrel unhindered. Supermarine did not fix the problem until
October 1938, when they added hot air ducts from the rear of the
wing-mounted radiators to the guns, and bulkheads around the
gunbays to trap the hot air in the wing. Red fabric patches were
doped over the gun ports to protect the guns from cold, dirt,
and moisture until they were fired.
The decision on the arming of the Spitfire (and the Hurricane)
is told in Captain C. H. Keith's book I Hold my Aim. Keith held
various appointments with the RAF dealing with designing,
development and technical policy of armament equipment. He
organised a conference, with Air Commodore Tedder in the chair,
on 19 July 1934. 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". At that meeting, scientific officer Captain
F.W. 'Gunner' Hill presented charts based on his calculations
showing that future fighters must carry no less than eight
machine-guns, each of which must be capable of firing 1,000
shots a minute. Hill's assistant in making his calculations had
been his 14-year-old daughter.
Even if the eight Brownings worked perfectly, pilots soon
discovered that they were not sufficient to destroy larger
aircraft. Combat reports showed that an average of 4,500 rounds
were needed to shoot down an enemy aircraft. 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. A variant on the Spitfire
design with four 20 mm Oerlikon cannon had been tendered to
specification F37/35, but the order for prototypes had gone to
the Westland Whirlwind in January 1939.
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. The cannon suffered frequent
stoppages, mostly because the guns were mounted on their sides
to fit as much of the magazine as possible within the wing. 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. If one cannon
seized, the recoil of the other threw the aircraft off aim.
Nevertheless, 30 more cannon-armed Spitfires were ordered for
operational trials, and they were soon known as the Mk IB, to
distinguish them from the Browning-armed Mk IA; they were
delivered to No. 19 Squadron beginning in June 1940. 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. By
August, Supermarine had perfected a more reliable installation
with an improved feed mechanism and four .303s in the outer wing
panels. The modified fighters were then delivered to 19
Squadron.
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The operational history of the Spitfire with the RAF began with
the first Mk Is K9789, which entered service with 19 Squadron at
RAF Duxford on 4 August 1938. 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.
In fact, the Hurricane outnumbered the Spitfire throughout the
battle, and shouldered the burden of the defence against the
Luftwaffe; however, because of its higher performance, the
overall attrition rate of the Spitfire squadrons was lower than
that of the Hurricane units, and the Spitfire units had a higher
victory-to-loss ratio.
The key aim of Fighter Command was to stop the Luftwaffe's
bombers; in practice, whenever possible, the tactic was to use
Spitfires to counter German escort fighters, by then based in
northern France, particularly the Bf 109s, while the Hurricane
squadrons attacked the bombers.
The Spitfire continued to play increasingly diverse roles
throughout the Second World War and beyond, often in air forces
other than the RAF. For example, the Spitfire became the first
high-speed photo-reconnaissance aircraft to be operated by the
RAF. 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.
In 1941 and 1942, PRU Spitfires provided the first photographs
of the Freya and Würzburg radar systems, and in 1943, helped
confirm that the Germans were building the V1 and V2
Vergeltungswaffen ("vengeance weapons") rockets by photographing
Peenemünde, on the Baltic Sea coast of Germany.
In the Mediterranean, the Spitfire blunted the heavy attacks on
Malta by the Regia Aeronautica and Luftwaffe, and from early
1943, helped pave the way for the Allied invasions of Sicily and
Italy. 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. Those Spitfire
Vs were the first to see service outside Britain.
The Spitfire also served on the Eastern Front with the Soviet
Air Force (VVS). The first deliveries of the Spitfire Mk VB
variant took place at the start of 1943, with the first batch of
35 aircraft delivered via sea to the city of Basra, Iraq. A
total of 143 aircraft and 50 furnished hulls (to be used for
spare parts) followed by March of the same year. Though some
aircraft were used for front line duty in 1943, most of them saw
service with the Protivo-Vozdushnaya Oborona (English: "Anti-air
Defence Branch"). In 1944, the USSR received the substantially
improved Mk IX variant, with the first aircraft delivered in
February. Initially, these were refurbished aircraft, but
subsequent shipments were factory new. A total of 1,185 aircraft
of this model were delivered through Iran, Iraq and the Arctic
to northern Soviet ports. Two of these were the Spitfire HF Mk
IX (high-altitude modification) while the remainder were the
low-altitude LF Mk IX. The last Lend-Lease shipment carrying the
Mk IX arrived at the port of Severodvinsk on 12 June 1945.
The Spitfire also served in the Pacific Theatre, meeting its
match in the Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. 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." Although not as fast as the
Spitfire, the Zero could out-turn the Spitfire with ease, could
sustain a climb at a very steep angle, and could stay in the air
for three times as long. To counter the Zero, Spitfire pilots
had to adopt a "slash and run" policy and use their faster speed
and diving superiority to fight, while avoiding classic
dogfights.
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. Over the Northern Territory of
Australia, Royal Australian Air Force and RAF Spitfires assigned
to No. 1 Wing RAAF helped defend the port town of Darwin against
air attack by the Japanese Naval Air Force, suffering heavy
losses largely due to the type's limited fuel capacity. 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.
During the Second World War, Spitfires were used by the United
States Army Air Forces in the 4th Fighter Group until they were
replaced by Republic P-47 Thunderbolts in March 1943.
Several Spitfires were captured by the Germans and flown by
units that tested, evaluated, and sometimes clandestinely
operated enemy aircraft.
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In game…
As in real life, as far as I can tell, the Spitfire is a dream
to fly in IL-2. I always feel very confident when flying one.
Fast and maneuverable wins the day as far as I am concerned. It
turns, climbs, and dives better than most contemporary
opponents. The only time I tend to feel outclassed in a Spitfire
is when I am flying early pacific theater campaigns and come up
against Zeros. I felt just a little vindicated just now when I
was reading the account of Zeros and Spitfires in the Wikipedia
article. At one point during the recent movie Dunkirk, the Mark
Rylance character is sailing his little ship across the channel
when he looks up and sees a Spitfire. He looks to his son and
says something like "there is the finest aircraft in the world,
son." For that time period I would be inclined to agree.
#Post#: 7754--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: JG51_Ruski Date: November 25, 2019, 4:24 pm
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Excellent job as always Von Thanks......And Happy Thanksgiving
to all here who celebrate it and their families It's just me and
the pup but got a turkey breast and we will eat well and what I
love the most turkey sandwiches for a few days...
#Post#: 7755--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: vonofterdingen Date: November 25, 2019, 4:46 pm
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That sounds like a good life, Russ. A man, his dog, turkey, and
leftovers. Sometimes I think the day after Thanksgiving is the
better dinner.
#Post#: 7756--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: JG51_Ruski Date: November 25, 2019, 5:03 pm
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Spot on there M8 I enjoy the sandwiches more than the
dinner..And I make a plate for Iggy so we both enjoy the day
#Post#: 7760--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: larsresult Date: November 25, 2019, 5:30 pm
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Class choice von. I have yet to fly the Spit but am wary when
they appear in opposition. With so many versions in game I
wonder which is the best. Pilots (ex RAF, ex RAAF, and ex SAAF)
I have interviewed over the years tell me either the Mk F8 or Mk
HF9. The Mk 14E is a beast but not such a pleasure as the other
two, I was told.
Back in the 1970s I was on a business trip between London and
Bristol and sat on the train next to a very refined lady,
complete with mink stole, reading glasses on a string, and a
clear command of English. She noticed I was reading a book about
vintage aircraft and commented on almost every page that she had
flown most of them! She knew Trenchard, Harris, Collingshaw, and
so forth and amazingly held the no2 pilots licence for women.
When the Second World War started she helped form the Womens
Auxiliary Air Force which delivered aircraft to the front lines.
She flew several versions of the Spitfire, even at the advanced
age of 40 or so. I was too in awe to ask her actual age, or even
her full name. She must have been 80 plus when I met her. A
privileged meeting I will never forget. I only wish I could
remember her name. It is probably on the net somewhere.
Here in UK it is already Xmas promotions! I too enjoy turkey and
started yesterday with my quiz team mates in a roast dinner
feast. A freebie after winning the pub quiz two weeks ago.
#Post#: 7761--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: larsresult Date: November 25, 2019, 5:47 pm
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I checked the pics of all the ATA pilots and organisers that I
could find on the net and it is possible the lady I met was
Molly Rose, although not all the facts tally. Anyway she said
the Spitfire was her favourite to fly.
#Post#: 7774--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: Beowolff Date: November 26, 2019, 7:53 am
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Beautiful plane...super nice article. Great job, Von!
I have (as most people have) always loved the Spitfire... I DO
love the Hawker too...but the Spit always was at the top of the
list. As to the Spits in the Far East.... yep, outclassed in
most respects by the deadly Zero. I so well remember reading an
account of the AVG guys... as most of you know they were VERY
good friends with many of the nearby RAF pilots also defending
Chinese/Burma cities/areas... so, one day the local RAF guys
that they knew got a small batch of Spits and Hurricanes and
some new, handy/dandy experienced RAF pilots fresh from the
combat in Europe to fly them and the local guys were told to
more or less stand back and watch as the new Spits and Hurries
put paid to the shoddy Japs that mistakenly came to tangle with
them.
The local RAF guys tried to warn them about the Japs... so did
the AVG guys who were introduced to the new pilots... Euro war
against German 109's and Far East war against Japanese planes
were TWO totally different things. Only these guys weren't
having it... they'd flown in deadly combat in England and were
firm in their conviction of victory here too.
So, sure enough the Japanese came in ready to rumble... the
helpless local RAF guys and a few of the visiting AVG guys
watched knowingly as the Spits and Hurricanes roared into the
air ready for battle... and then just as fast (most of them)
spun down to the ground in flames! :'(
Disaster! And one easily preventable.
The planes that survived were quickly turned over to the
experienced local RAF guys and though the new planes were still
mostly outclassed by the Japanese planes the local lads did much
better with them flying AVG style in slashing, diving attacks
then using superior speed to get away.
Anyway... fine POTW, Von! Excellent!
Beo
#Post#: 7780--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: J30_OttO Date: November 26, 2019, 8:55 am
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Good write up Von . Thank you for it.
This is one of the most beautiful planes to come out of WW-2..
I have always enjoyed flying it in this game.
;D ;D ;D ;D
#Post#: 7782--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: cafs Date: November 26, 2019, 9:05 am
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Oh yeah, "my" beloved Spitfire.
The Hurricane was a far easy kite to fly, but the Spitfire was a
thoroughbred.
About the PTO/CBI theater, they had to learn a very different
lesson that they got at the ETO. The classic : "NEVER DOGFIGHT
WITH ANY JAPANESE PLANE". :o :D :D
#Post#: 7805--------------------------------------------------
Re: Plane of the Week: Supermarine Spitfire
By: Beowolff Date: November 26, 2019, 5:26 pm
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[quote author=cafs link=topic=1164.msg7782#msg7782
date=1574780701]
"NEVER DOGFIGHT WITH ANY JAPANESE PLANE". :o :D :D
[/quote]
Yep!!!!! :D :D :D :D
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