The XVI would be a nice inclusion especially the bubble canopy version. I have a book at home (at work so can't give exact reference) where a couple of the New Zealanders who flew IXs, XVIs, and XIVs, said they preferred the handling of the IXs & XVIs to the XIV, but the XVIs seemed to be 20MPH slower at any given altitude. The XVI had the Packard Merlin, which kind of puts a different slant on the "myth" that the Packard Merlins were constructed with better tolerances and therefore gave better performance and longevity. Might just be that the particualr XVIs these guys flew weren't skinned as well as the IXs they flew.
I would really like to see the VIII because many test and service flyers felt that the VIII was the best compromise of handling and performance in the Spitfire family. It could be described as a Merlin Engined XIV in many respects. Retractable tailwheel, C wing, large rudder, great care and attention during construction, powerful Merlin with 2 Stage supercharger, slipper type drop tanks, hard points for 250lb bombs, and a top speed near 400mph at sea level.
Has anyone done a low level performance comparision between the Merlin and Griffon engined Spitfires?
Palef
