Talk:Supermarine Spitfire variants
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According to some reports, one of the major problems with the early cannon installations trialled by 19 Squadron was the result of the thin section requiring the cannon to be mounted on their sides. This caused friction between parts that were not designed to come into contact and hence premature failure.
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[edit] Spitfire V/VIII/IX powerplant
The Merlin 45 engine fitted to the Spitfire V did not have a two-stage supercharger. It had a new single speed, single stage supercharger designed by Stanley Hooker.
The two-stage supercharger was introduced with the Merlin 60 series engines as fitted to the later Merlin-powered marks. There was a consequent lengthening of the fuselage ahead of the firewall to reflect the greater length of the two-stage engines.
- Actually Merlin XX/45 had a two-speed single-stage supercharger. The article is correct, you need to check your sources. - Emt147 Burninate! 22:20, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
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- FYI, my reference for this is the technical drawing in Gunston, B. (1995) Classic World War II Aircraft Cutaways. Osprey. ISBN 1855325268 which clearly shows the two-speed single-stage design. Perhaps you are confusing stages and speeds? - Emt147 Burninate! 22:21, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Actually never mind. It appears that Gunston has tried to be too generic by bundling Merlin XX with 45 in all respects. Merlin 45 had the low-altitude supercharger gear removed. My bad. - Emt147 Burninate! 22:27, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
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The Spitfire F.IX was the first Merlin 60 powered version to enter service. It was basically a F.V (=II, =I) airframe with the new engine bolted to the existing firewall, and the existing oil cooler replaced with a full-size radiator. The F.VIII, which entered service later, was a complete airframe redesign, but at least in early versions was only distinguishable from an F.IX by its fully retractable tail wheel. Later F.VIII models had a broad chord fin.
[edit] P-51 Mustang#P-51B and P-51C
Rolls was at that point starting production of the Merlin Series 60... fitted Merlin 68 engines to four Mustang Mk.IA airframes... The result was astonishing. The transformed Mustang could outfly anything in the air including the latest British fighters
I guess from this article the latest British Spitfire would have been the Mk. XIV ? Is it true? --Philip Baird Shearer 11:25, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)
- The quote might be correct if it were referring to outflying a 45-series engined Spitfire (Mk V), however the performance of the Merlin-Mustang and Spitfire IX (having the same engine) was broadly similar, although the Mustang had the longer range the Spitfire was more manouverable. A Spitfire XIV had a considerably higher performance than a Spitfire IX. The quote you have sounds more like an example of publicity or press hype. 82.111.65.142 15:54, 3 May 2005 (UTC)
The sentence was from P-51 Mustang#P-51B and P-51C "The transformed Mustang could outfly anything in the air including the latest British fighters" and it was revised on 07:56, 17 July 2005 to "Although the Mustang could not live with the Supermarine Spitfire in a dogfight, its extra range with the use of drop tanks, enabled the mark to excel as bomber escort. ". Is the new sentence more accurate than the old one? --Philip Baird Shearer 20:05, 18 July 2005 (UTC)
- Revision is correct. Looking at a tactical comparison conducted in '44 between P-51B & Spitfire XIV it's clear the first statement would not be accurate. The Mustang is clearly ahead in endurance, both are similar in speed. However in terms of 'dogfighting' the spitfire move ahead. It can out climb, out turn and out roll the mustang which only has the advantage in the initial phase of the dive.Alci12
[edit] Speeds
The main description box quotes a type V which is not really the most representative variant and I can find little in the rest of the article or the variants article to cover changes in speed over the marks. The Mark I managed 355 the mark XIX 460. All marks from VII onwards (bar XII)exceeded 404. I'm not sure where we need to add this but we need to give a more representative picture.Alci12
- The easiest way is to make specs tables for several subtypes (Mk.I, Mk.Vb, Mk.IXe and a late type, XIV or 24/26 would represent the whole evolution). I did this for the F-101 Voodoo and it's (IMHO) fairly unobtrusive. Emt147 19:20, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
- Actually, what I'll do today or tomorrow is make a side-by-side-by-side-by-side specs table of variants on the main page instead of the right-sided column. Emt147 19:40, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Most produced type
This article cites both Mk.V and Mk.IX as the most produced subtype. Which was it? Emt147 19:20, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Wing types
Also, would it be worthwhile to make a separate section explaining the a through e wing types? The information is sort of in the text but you have to dig for it. Emt147 19:23, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] VIII vs IX
Quote; "The Mk. VIII was an adaptation of the Mk. VII without the pressurised cabin, and was intended to become the main production model of the Spitfire. In fact, by June 1943, it had all but replaced the Mk. IX." Correct me if im wrong, but should'nt that read the other way round? i.e. the compromise that was the IX far outnumbered the VIII, as the latter served overseas almost exclusively. Harryurz 08:33, 15 June 2006 (UTC)
[edit] MkIX photo
Regarding the picture of the LF spitfire in the MkIX section, I don't believe this is a MkIX at all. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the MkIX had the early narrow chord rudder of the MkV, whereas the picture shows an aircraft with the pointed broad chord rudder of later models.
