Page-11
Aircraft of the Royal Air Force
|
Gloster Gladiator Boulton Paul Defiant Hawker Hurricane Bristol Blenheim |
|
Supermarine
Spitfire |
There is, without a doubt, that the Supermarine
Spitfire was one of the most famous of all World War Two aircraft. It was
glamorized by the media, and children young and old would look up towards
the skies watching a dogfight or see a squadron of RAF fighters come swarming
in towards a formation of German bombers. They would hardly know one aircraft
from another, but they would all include a Spitfire in their exclamations.
"It's a Spitfire" or "D'yer see that Spitfire shoot that bomber down, weeeeeooooooow".
But the Spitfire that we knew at the end
of the war was far different from the version that flew in the Battle of
Britain and even to that of pre 1939 Spitfires. At wars end, the Supermarine
Spitfire was a streamlined fighting machine, it was the mainstay of Fighter
Command, but let us not take anything away from the Hurricane which in
itself was a superb aircraft.
Supermarine gained their experience in
fast and manoeuvrable aircraft with experience gained in winning the Schneider
Trophy Air Races. But the concept of the Spitfire really began way back
in 1930 when Supermarine submitted their design (Westland and Blackburn
Aircraft Companies also submitted designs) in relation for the construction
of an all metal type fighter aircraft that would have a fabric covered
wing area as well as tailplane sections. This was to comply with specification
F.7/30.
The wings were of gull wing design, the
fixed undercarriage had streamlined fairings over the wheels, and it was
powered by a single Rolls Royce Goshawk engine which provided just 600
horsepower giving the Type 224 a top speed of only 228 miles per hour (367
kph). Armament was two .303 guns in the fuselage and one in each
of the wheel fairings. The 224 first took to the air on 19th February 1934,
and because of its poor performance it failed to be accepted as a potential
fighter aircraft. Supermarine had great plans for the Type 224, but because
of its failure in every department, the company had to do something quick
to be able to prove to the authorities that they were capable of producing
a good hard working fighter aircraft.
THE TYPE 300 - SPITFIRE MK I - SPITFIRE
MK II - SPITFIRE MK III
Supermarine had for some time enjoyed
success in aircraft design and with many aircraft bearing similarities
to the Schneider successes including the 224, something different had to
be designed. Sydney Camm was now in the process of designing the Hurricane
at Hawker's works at Weybridge. Naturally Supermarine knew of this and
it soon became apparent as to the design and the potential of the Hurricane.
Reginald Mitchell set about in designing
a completely new type of aircraft. They stayed with the required specifications
as called by F.7/30 in producing a metal bodied cantilever type fighter
aircraft. Mitchell decided that the wings should be metal as well as the
fuselage believing that fabric covered wings on an aircraft with a metal
body at high speed would provide the aircraft with weak spots. The cockpit
of the aircraft was enclosed and formed part of the design lines of the
body, while the narrow undercarriage was retractable with the wheel being
lifted into wheel wells under the wings.
The design was a streamlined, yet strong,
an aircraft that had all areas that would cause any form of resistance
to wind removed. It was claimed, as the aircraft made its early test flights
that not only did this Type 300 look exciting it was yet the most attractive
aircraft ever designed.
By the end of 1934 the Type 300 was eventually ordered as a prototype, and
further testing was done and it was put through a series of strenuous tests.
By 1935, the aircraft with its Rolls Royce PV12 now glycol cooled engine
(this engine was later to be known as the Merlin), and four .303 Browning
machine guns in each wing gave a performance good, or maybe even better
than expected.
The aircraft flew on official tests in
March 1936, and by June of the same year, and by now the name Type 300
had been dropped and the name Spitfire had been officially adopted, the
aircraft went into production as Spitfire Mk I. Already Rolls Royce had
reworked the Merlin power unit and the Merlin II and III had the power
output increased to 1,000 hp. The basic design was a 12 cylinder unit in
V formation. The first Spitfire I's began flying on May 14th 1938 with
the first of them going into service use by the RAF in August.
Spitfire Mk I's remained until June 1940,
but until then, thirty of them had been equipped with twin 20mm cannons
at the expense of the .303 Brownings. To distinguish the two, the Spitfire
Mk I's equipped with machine guns were designated IA's, while those that
had the cannons fitted were designated IB's. In all, 1,537 Spitfire Mk
IA's were built and 30 Spitfire Mk IB's. The Spitfire IB's were not favoured
with pilots, the cannons were often jamming leaving them a defenceless
aircraft and pilots requested to be returned to the Spitfire IA's.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Mk I's were the mainstay of Fighter Command along with the Hurricane. When air support was needed in Norway and in France, Fighter Command sent only one squadron to Norway and ten to France. By this time Britain had lost some 500 fighters in this
early part of the war. The Mk I Spitfire was to continue service throughout the Battle of Britain, and was a worthy opponent of its German equivalent, the Messerschmitt Me 109. But in August 1940, at the height of the battle, the Spitfire Mk I gave way to a faster and more powerful Mk II with its Merlin Mk XII power plant. Most of these MK II's were to arrive after the Battle of Britain, although some squadrons had been allocated them in late August and during September 1940. The first recorded Mk II being shot down was with 611 Squadron on September 11th 1940.
By now, the Supermarine Spitfire, with
not only the specifications, but as further testing of the aircraft proved,
was a fighter aircraft that was superior in every department to anything
that was flying at the time. Sleek and swift, manoeuvrable, strong and
well constructed.
The Merlin engine had received a power
increase to 1,175 horsepower and was designated the Merlin XII. The differentiating
versions of A's and B's continued and production of these totalled 751 Mk
IIA's and 170 Mk IIB's.
The Spitfire Mk III, also introduced in
1940, but not allocated to operational service until 1941, while still cosmetically looking like a Spitfire, it had a greater
improvement in airframe construction and also had a reduced wing span.
Again, improvements had been made to the Merlin XII engine and was redesignated
the Merlin XX, and the tail wheel was also made to retract into the fuselage.
When it seemed that the Mk III was almost at its best, and in July 1940
it was intended to build 1,000 of them, but a slightly redesigned version,
a prototype Mk V was under way and testing was being done on a four cannon
arrangement. Because of this, the target of 1,000 Mk III's was never reached.
SPITFIRE MK V - SPITFIRE MK VI
Supermarine went back to the Mk I airframe
for the prototype Mk V and installed a more potent Merlin 45 engine
that although rated at 1,185 horsepower, its combat rating at 9,250 ft
was actually 1,470 hp. The Merlin 45 engine was also installed into the
Mk II airframe and in total 150 of these were made and became known as
Mk V conversions. The designated Spitfire Mk V as well as boasting the
1,185hp Merlin 45 engine, had either eight .303 machine guns, four in each
wing, these were Mk VA's and only 94 were built. The MK VB was equipped
with four .303 machine guns, two in each wing and two 20mm cannons, and
3,911 of these were built. The Mk V also saw the introduction of the series
"C", and the Spitfire MK VC had four cannons with four machine guns and
these totalled 2,467 aircraft.
The first prototype MK V flew in December
1940 and MK VA's were placed in service almost immediately. The MK VB saw
service in March 1941, (I have no record as to when the MK VC entered
service).
Many versions of the MK V followed, depending
as to which field of conflict the aircraft were assigned to. Some were
assigned to low altitude flying and for this many of the MK VB's had their
wing span reduced to 32 feet 2 inches and the Merlin 45 engine was replaced
by the Merlin 45M, the Merlin 50M and the Merlin 55M, all of which performed
better at low altitudes. These low altitude versions were designated LF
MK VB's. Other versions included the medium altitude Mk's. These aircraft
were designated F MK VA, F MK VB and F MK VC. The Merlin power plant was
configured in a number of configurations and all these F series MK V's
has either a Merlin 45, 46, 50, 50A or 56 engine installed. All these MK
V's became successful fighter aircraft.
First deliveries of Spitfires with major
changes took place in February 1942 when the Spitfire MK VI was introduced.
The MK VI received the all new Merlin 47 engine that was rated at 1, 415
hp providing the aircraft with a top speed of 374 mph and the pilot cockpit
was now pressurised. This MK VI also had an increase in wing span being
increased to 40 feet 2 inches.
THE SPITFIRE AT SEA
The admiralty saw the potential of the
Spitfire, and requested that a version be designed that could operate from
its aircraft carriers. The request was granted and designs were made for
a Sea Spitfire. As early as 1940, designs were being submitted based on
the Spitfire MK I which would have an arrestor hook and folding wings so
that it could be stored in aircraft carrier hangers below deck. But in
1940 there was a shortage of fighter aircraft during both the Battle of
France and the Battle of Britain that supply of Spitfire Mk I's to the
RAF took precedence over the Admiralty's request hence supply of Spitfires
to the Navy did not commence until early 1942. The first Spitfire to fly
with arrestor hook and folding wings did not take place until January 1942
when a modified MK VB made tests with the Navy. A further conversion took
place that provided the aircraft with catapult spools and the undercarriage
was given additional strengthening, and an A frame type of arrestor hook
was incorporated.
It was not until about March 1942 that
this naval version of the Spitfire was given the name of Seafire. The first
conversion was known as the Seafire MK I and the second conversion was
known as the Seafire MK II. The Royal Navy was supplied with 165 Seafire's
during the early part of 1942 which were based on the Spitfire VB.
In June 1942, 375 Seafire MK IIC's were supplied to the Royal Navy. these where basically Spitfire MK VC's and given the same conversions as the MK II with the exception that the Merlin 32 engine drove a four bladed propeller which improved low altitude flying. In the November of 1942 a Seafire MK IIC was altered so that the wings could be folded for storage on aircraft carriers, this was to be a prototype for the proposed MK III. Manufacture of the Seafire MK III was given to both the Westland Aircraft Company and Cunliffe-Own Ltd, which now also boasted a powerful 1,470 hp Merlin 55. 1,263 of these MK III were made all being used by Britain's Navy by June 1943. Many of these MK III's also had the Merlin 55M engines that had increased horsepower to 1,585. Other than these aircraft, there were many more Spitfires and Seafires produced. Each one being produced for its own individual reason to that it would perform well to the task that it was designed for. These Models included:
Supermarine further developed the Seafire
with types 45, 46 and 47. Fitted with the Rolls Royce Griffon 61 which
produced 2,035hp giving the Seafire a top speed of 455 mph. The type 46
was fitted with an all round vision bubble canopy. Like the Spitfire, the
Seafire had reached its peak and was the ultimate Seafire. It continued
service with the Royal Navy finally curtailing its long career during the
Korean War. One of the few aircraft that still bearing its original design
saw service in two wars.
But the story of Spitfire does not end
there. In 1942, under specification request F.1/43, another aircraft was
designed based on similar lines to the Spitfire. The experience gained
in the Spitfire's production was used in the new design of the Type 371.
But because of Spitfire production, it was two years before 371 saw its
first flight. At the commencement of production the aircraft was designated
the Supermarine Spiteful. It used the same fuselage as the Spitfire, a
longer nose to enclose the Griffon 61 engine with two stage supercharger,
completely redesigned wings that were very unSpitfire, a bubble canopy
and larger tail fin.
In January 1945, a second prototype included
a five bladed propeller, slimmer fuselage and the Griffon 61 engine was
replaced with the 2,375hp Griffon 69. Top speed of the Spiteful was a staggering
486 mph, and it would climb to 20,000 feet in just 4.9 minutes. Only about
20 were built with just 16 of them taking to the air. This was due to the
fact that at the end of the war, the jet engine was making an impact in
aircraft manufacture, and even Supermarine was busy designing its first
jet aircraft the Attacker in 1944.
But in 1945, Supermarine was to have one
last attempt at producing a piston engined propeller driven aircraft. This
was the Seafang, a naval version of the Spiteful. Specifications were similar
to the Spiteful with the exception that fittings that would make it destined
for naval operations were included. After this, Supermarine was to enter
the jet age and, Reginald Mitchells Spitfire will go down in the annals
of modern history as one of the exciting and successful fighter aircraft
of the Second World War.
Picture at top:
Spitfire IIA with the markings from 41 Squadron Hornchurch. [1]
Christopher Sommerville Our War Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1998 p47
|