Supermarine Spiteful

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Spiteful

The 494 mph Spiteful XVI RB518
Type	Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer	Supermarine
Maiden flight	30 June 1944
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Number built	183
Variants	Seafang Attacker

The Supermarine Spiteful was a British Rolls-Royce Griffon-engined fighter aircraft designed by Supermarine to Air Ministry specification F.1/43 during World War II as a successor to the Spitfire.

1 History
2 Variants
3 Jet Spiteful
4 Spiteful Tail
5 Operators
6 Specifications (Spiteful XIV)
7 References
8 External links
9 Related content

[edit] History

In late 1942, it was feared that the drag characteristics of the Spitfire's wing at high Mach numbers (nearing the speed of sound) might become a limiting factor in increasing the aircraft's performance. To overcome this, it was decided to produce a new laminar-flow wing for the Spitfire incorporating the latest thought on high-speed aerodynamics. At the same time, to make production easier, it was decided to design the wing with a simple straight-tapered planform, as opposed to the Spitfire's elliptical one. Another change, to improve the ground-handling, was replacing the Spitfire's narrow-track, outward-retracting undercarriage with a wider-track, inward-retracting undercarriage.

The new wing was fitted to a modified Spitfire XIV NN660, in order to make a direct comparison with the earlier elliptical wing, and was first flown on 30 June 1944 by Jeffrey Quill. Although the new Spitfire's speed performance was comfortably in excess of an unmodified Spitfire XIV, the new wing displayed some undesirable behaviour at the stall which, although not unacceptable, did not come up to the high standards of Mitchell's earlier elliptical wing.

In the meantime, the opportunity had been taken to redesign the Spitfire's fuselage, to improve the pilot's view over the nose, and to eliminate a slight directional instability by using a larger fin and rudder. This instability had been apparent since the introduction of the more powerful Griffon engine. The instability was exacerbated by the increase in propeller blade area that came about by the introduction of the four-bladed and subsequent five-bladed Rotol airscrews for the next aircraft, NN664 (this was the aircraft for which Specification F.1/43 had been issued). The updated design featured the new fuselage (although lacking the enlarged fin/rudder), and, as it was now substantially different from a Spitfire, the aircraft was named Spiteful.

The Spiteful was ordered into production as the Spiteful XIV (having no preceding Mark No.'s of its own, the above stated numerals were carried over from the original Spitfire XIV conversion), and 150 of the planes were ordered. With the advent of jet propulsion, however, the future of high-performance fighters was clearly with the jet fighter, and so the order was later cancelled with only a handful of Spitefuls built. At the time however, there was some uncertainty over whether jet aircraft would be able to be operated from the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers so it was decided to develop a naval version of the Spiteful, to specification N.5/45, which was subsequently named the Supermarine Seafang.

The Seafang featured folding wing-tips, a 'sting' type arrester hook and a Griffon 89 or Griffon 90 engine, fed from an extended carburetor air intake driving a new Rotol six-bladed contra-rotating propeller. The first one produced was a converted Spiteful XV, RB520 but with the successful operation of the de Havilland Sea Vampire from the carrier HMS Ocean in 1945, the need for the Seafang disappeared.

With the end of the World War II, Supermarine's entered into discussions with Soćieté Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques du Nord (SNCAN) about licence production of the Spiteful in France however, again the introduction of jet fighters overshadowed the piston-engined fighter and the talks came to nothing.

[edit] Variants

Spiteful F Mk 14 - 19 built

Engine: Griffon 85 - 2,375 HP

Weight: 9,950 lb

Max Speed: 476 mph

Spiteful F Mk 15 - 1 built - converted to Seafang prototype

Engine: Griffon 89 - 2,350 HP

Weight: 10,200 lb

Max Speed: 483 mph

Spiteful F Mk 16 - 2 built - simple, three-speed Griffon conversions from Mark XIV's

Engine: Griffon 101 - 2,420 HP

Weight: 9,950 lb

Max Speed: 494 mph

Seafang F.Mk 31 - 8 built

Engine: Griffon 61

Seafang F.Mk 32 - 10 built

Engine: Giffon 89 - 2,350 HP

[edit] Jet Spiteful

Main article: Supermarine Attacker

In late 1943 or early 1944 it was suggested by Joe Smith that Supermarine develop a simple jet fighter based around the Spiteful's wing, and use a new jet engine that was being proposed by Rolls-Royce which would later become the Nene. This proposal was accepted and a new specification, E.10/44, was issued by the Air Ministry for an experimental aircraft which was initially referred to as the Jet Spiteful; the prototype TS409 first flew on 27 July 1946. The E.10/44 was not ordered by the RAF, as its performance was not substantially better than that of the Meteor and Vampire, but the Admiralty expressed an interest in the aircraft for use as a naval fighter and issued a specification, N.5/45, around it. The aircraft was subsequently named Attacker and had a successful (if short) career with the FAA and the PAF.