Should the Spitfire Mk.XIV be clipped?

[Infidelz]

The AH Spitfire ...

Also, the Griffin engine has a 'dead' band of poor supercharging boost between 19k and 23k, meaning you must WEP climb through that band or risk being out run/accelerated.

I don't see it. Maybe you have a different airplane?  Climb from 19 to 25 looks pretty constant without WEP. Over 27k WEP doesn't impact climb, but who would use it?

It is clearly faster than the other spits. so I don't understand all the hatin on the Spit XIV.

Infidelz

http://www.hitechcreations.com/component/option,com_ahplaneperf/Itemid,221/view,ahplaneperf/index.php

[icepac]

Watch your manifold pressure as you climb through.

I climb the XIV with WEP until 12k, turn it off, and then turn it back on when 1/4 of the slipper tank remains and use it to climb through 23k.

This can net you a plane at 34k feet with 45 minutes fuel remaining.........as long as you don't descend.

[Kev367th]

Find me a wartime shot of a clipped XIV and I'd support it.  If there were any, it was very few and I've yet to see a photo that's not postwar.  Seems like once they moved to a more tactical role postwar with the increase in RAF jet units, the XIVs got thier wings clipped.  But at the end of WW2 they were being used as interceptors with full span wings and the IXs and XVIs were the clipped Spits flying the ground attack.

Seem to remember and is borne out by the pic on the first page -
FR XIV were clipped, the additional camera weight caused wing root wrinkles on unclipped ones.
Would have to dig around again, I came across it by accident many years ago.

Allegedly taken April '45

http://spitfiresite.com/2007/11/scouting-over-germany.html

[RTHolmes]

interesting

F Mk XIV RM927 delivered Nov '44, so ~2/3 of the way through production.

now back in the UK awaiting restoration (via the Belgian AF, a Belgian scrap dealer's office roof and a few US collectors )

[Ruah]

It would be great to get an impression from Amsoil who spend most of last tour in the spit14.  Seems he has been in the K4 most of this tour.  When i asked him about the 14, he said in essence that it was not as good as the 16 (I laughed and said that there were several times when i killed him where had he been in a 16 he would have killed me, and when he did get me, the 16 would have had me 1 o two merges earlier at least - which I think he agreed with).

Sure it is a great plane above 24k, so is the TA152. . . in all honesty AH2 is really a sub 10k game (which is why the LA is so dominant. . .really really imba powerful plane in AH2) with some fights starting at 15k.  But the only time I have ever gone above 15k in MA was to go buff hunting, and if I found a plane, we would spar, but I would not follow him/her down to the deck.

Which is really why if it were unperked, I really don't see it affecting the MA that much at all.  It accelerates and climbs great, but that is really it.

[Guppy35]

Seem to remember and is borne out by the pic on the first page -
FR XIV were clipped, the additional camera weight caused wing root wrinkles on unclipped ones.
Would have to dig around again, I came across it by accident many years ago.

Allegedly taken April '45

http://spitfiresite.com/2007/11/scouting-over-germany.html

Where ya been Kev? 

One of the perks of all the Spit XII research was getting at the photo albums.  Terry Spencer had 350 squadron in XIVs and his last bird was a full span bubble top XIV.  Peter Cowell of 41 finished in a bubble top full span 14.

I think if there were clipped 14s it would have been the FR birds at the very end. 

[Kev367th]

Around.
Married again and now living down under!

Can't remember how I came across it but there is definitely something on the Internet about FR XIV's being clipped.
The extra weight of the cameras in the fuselage was causing the wing root skin to wrinkle.
Haven't seen a pic of an FR XIV that isn't clipped (yet).

Must admit I don't know when they came into being, but the link in my last post says it was taken April 45. So only leaves a window of 1 day for it to be post war. Going on surrender date not signing of treaty.

[Guppy35]

Around.
Married again and now living down under!

Can't remember how I came across it but there is definitely something on the Internet about FR XIV's being clipped.
The extra weight of the cameras in the fuselage was causing the wing root skin to wrinkle.
Haven't seen a pic of an FR XIV that isn't clipped (yet).

Must admit I don't know when they came into being, but the link in my last post says it was taken April 45. So only leaves a window of 1 day for it to be post war. Going on surrender date not signing of treaty.

Contests on the new Mrs and adventure down under.  Agreed on all FR14s being clipped