Spitfires have hit the ground, touched the sea, bashed through trees, cut telegraph and high tension wires, collided in the air, been shot to pieces, had rudders and parts of wings fall off, and have yet made safe landings, with or without wheels. He was conscious of the fragility of the early planes, and always considered pilot safety in his designs.
Even when designs were optimised for speed, such as those for the Schneider Trophy races, he never sacrificed his concern for the pilot. His masterpiece, the Spitfire, proved to be not only a beautiful plane much loved by its pilots, but also a robust and adaptable design. It was, in fact, so adaptable that it was the only fighter in production before, through, and after the war.
Versions of the Spitfire were equipped with machine-guns, cannons, rockets, and bombs. It could be used at high altitude or adapted as a ground-attack plane see images of Spitfire adaptations.
Two marks were even tried with floats. By the end of the war, it had got through 13 different designs of propeller.
In all, 20, Spitfires were produced for the RAF. K had a narrow fuselage with wings that tapered to slender tips and were elliptical, and its cockpit was enclosed. Its undercarriage was set close together to lower stress on the wings, and the wheels swung outward to retract flush into wing cavities. A tail skid completed the technical arrangements for take-off and landing.
Unfortunately, Mitchell died of cancer in June Before he died, however, he had seen his prototype fly. It was Smith who oversaw the production trials at Martlesham Heath, but the Air Ministry, impressed with the prototype, had already ordered Spitfires, and, despite the problems with Type , the name had stuck.
After consultations with RAF technical experts, the armament for the new Spitfire fighter was settled on 8 Browning. These were basically Colt.
They were placed four to a wing, a novel concept at the time, and designed to fire outside the circle of the propeller, doing away with the need for the interrupter gear of earlier aircraft.
The early Mark Is had a service ceiling of 31,ft, and at 30,ft could reach a speed of mph. Its constantly evolving design and performance meant it was unmatched by its German rivals in combat. But why exactly was it so important to the success of Britain? The biggest competition for the Supermarine Spitfire was the formidable Messerschmitt Bf Both these aircraft could reach speeds of up to mph.
However, some Spitfires were built with a booster which could increase their speed by 30 mph for roughly five minutes, giving them a much-needed advantage at critical moments. At times, this would give the Messerschmitt the upper hand in battle. Where the Spitfire pilots gained another advantage, was the fact that the Battle of Britain was fought over British territory.
This meant that they had to travel a shorter distance than their German rival to arrive at the battle. During the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes vastly outnumbered the Spitfire and suffered the brunt of the damage from the German air force. The Mk Va again was fitted with eight Browning machine guns. The Vb version once again incorporated two Hispano cannons and four Browning machine guns. As a result of the introduction of the FW in August , the Vb had the option of clipped wings to improve speed and handling at lower altitudes.
The Mk Vc incorporated the universal wing which allowed a number of permutations in armaments to be carried in the wing and was also easier to manufacture. These versions of the Mk V included a Vokes air filter under the nose of the aircraft and many had a modified air filter which was more streamlined compared with the standard Vokes.
The mark of Spitfire would also be connected with the defence of Malta from the Italian and German air attack and represented in the film Malta Story. By Source, Fair use , Link. Home Spitfire History. The use of the two stage supercharger provided a quantum leap in performance particularly over 20,ft and provided effective opposition to the latest German fighter. All these aircraft were used for low altitude roles and featured clipped wings.
They were involved in reconnaissance missions that included Operation Chastise and Market Garden, capturing seminal images of these iconic events.
0コメント