9/05/2010
Warbirdfare
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used into the 1950s both as a front line fighter and in secondary roles. It was produced in greater numbers than any other British aircraft and was the only Allied fighter in production throughout the war.
The Spitfire was designed as a short-range high-performance interceptor aircraft by R. J. Mitchell, chief designer at Supermarine Aviation Works (since 1928 a subsidiary of Vickers-Armstrongs). Mitchell continued to refine the design until his death from cancer in 1937, whereupon his colleague Joseph Smith became chief designer. The Spitfire's elliptical wing had a thin cross-section, allowing a higher top speed than the Hawker Hurricane and several contemporary fighters. Speed was seen as essential to carry out the mission of home defence against enemy bombers.
During the Battle of Britain there was a public perception that the Spitfire was the RAF fighter of the battle, in fact the more numerous Hurricane actually shouldered a greater proportion of the burden against the Luftwaffe.
After the Battle of Britain, the Spitfire became the backbone of RAF Fighter Command and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, carrier-based fighter, and trainer. It was built in many different variants, using several wing configurations. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030hp (768 kW), it was adaptable enough to use increasingly more powerful Merlin and the later Rolls-Royce Griffon engines; the latter was eventually able to produce 2,035 hp (1,520 kW).
Spitfire Mk Is K9789 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 famous "Spitfire Fund" organised and run by Lord Beaverbrook the Minister of Aircraft Production. Although the key aim of Fighter Command was to stop the Luftwaffe's bombers, in practice the tactic was to use Spitfires to counter German escort fighters, particularly the Bf 109s, while the Hurricane squadrons attacked the bombers.
General characteristics
- Crew: one pilot
- Length: 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)
- Wingspan: 36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)
- Height: 11 ft 5 in (3.86 m)
- Wing area: 242.1 ft² (22.48 m²)
- Airfoil: NACA 2209.4(tip)
- Empty weight: 5,090 lb (2,309 kg)
- Loaded weight: 6,622 lb (3,000 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 6,770 lb (3,071 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 supercharged V12 engine, 1,470 hp (1,096 kW) at 9,250 ft (2,820 m)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 378 mph, (330 kn, 605 km/h)
- Combat radius: 410 nmi (470 mi, 760 km)
- Ferry range: 991 nmi (1,140 mi, 1,840 km)
- Service ceiling: 35,000 ft (11,300 m)
- Rate of climb: 3,240 ft/min (13.5 m/s)
- Wing loading: 27.35 lb/ft² (133.5 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.22 hp/lb (0.36 kW/kg)
Armament
- 2 × 20 mm (0.787-in) Hispano Mk II cannon, 60 rpg
- 4 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, 350 rpg
- 2 × 250 lb (113 kg) bombs
** Supermarine Spitfire - Warbird Fare
Tags : 
