Should I even bother?
THE LEGENDARY SPITFIRE
By Wolfdietrich Hoeveler
She was the aeroplane built in the largest numbers in Great Britain, defended the country in the "Battle of Britain" against the German Air Force and thus founded her legendary fame on the British Isles. Even today she is the star of every air show in Britain: the Supermarine Spitfire.
Pilots simply loved the Spitfire. She was not an easy plane to fly, but was regarded as reliable and especially agile and a great performer during air battles. Although several versions existed, she was mostly used as either a single seat fighter or for reconnaissance purposes. The Royal Air Force used other planes for air-ground tasks.
The creator of this successful fighter plane was Reginald J. Mitchell, Chief Designer with Supermarine Aviation, which was a sub-company of the Vickers Group from 1928 onwards. Since 1913 Supermarine, which was situated near Southampton, mainly built seaplanes.
In the 1920s Mitchell was responsible for the construction of the record-breaking planes S.5, S.6 and S.6B, which were awarded the Schneider-Trophy for the world's fastest aircraft in 1927, 1929 and 1931.Towards the end of 1931 the S.6B set the world speed record of 656km/h.
In the same year, Supermarine applied for the contract to build a new fighter plane to the specification F.7/30 by the British Ministry of Aviation with their design 244. The first Supermarine design was a far cry from the Spitfire, which followed later, and did not fulfil the Ministry's expectations. Gloster's bid was accepted with their Gladiator.
However, Mitchell and his team had gained important experience as far as the construction of land planes was concerned, and the company was still interested in building a fighter for the Royal Air Force. Towards the end of 1934 the Board of Directors at Vickers finally asked Mitchell to develop a new aircraft. Vickers was to provide the funding. The plane, which was armed with four machine guns, was to receive Rolls-Royce's brand new P.V.12 Engine, which was named "Merlin" when series production started. In April 1935 it flew for the first time in a Hawker Hart.
Once the mock-up of Type 300 was completed at the end of April 1935, officials and designers were unanimous, when they viewed the model: It was to be a great success.
Some alterations were necessary and the Ministry of Aviation quickly made the money available. Amongst other things the wing design was to be changed. The resulting characteristic elliptical shape produced very thin wings, which were still able to hold the fuselage and weapons, and could withstand the strains of air battle. It was planned to arm this aircraft with eight American Browning-MG's.
During constructions great emphasis was placed on reducing air resistance. Extremely smooth surfaces were created. Rivets were not going to mar the performance of this aircraft.
In achieving this, Supermarine engineers took on board results, made available by the German designer Ernst Heinkel. While the Aérosalon 1932 took place in Paris, Mitchell wrote a letter to Heinkel with the following question: "Was the skin of the aircraft exhibited in Paris made of metal or was plywood used to cover the fuselage?" He also showed an interest in British research about the He 70 with new English aircraft engines: "We found to our consternation that despite its vast dimensions your plane is markedly faster than our fighters."
And after this exchange a Rolls-Royce Representative did get in touch with Heinkel in Warnemünde. He suggested the Germans to purchase an He 70 in order to fit her with the new 810 h.p. Rolls-Royce engine Kestrel V and offer her globally. There simply would be no faster plane on earth.
Heinkel was not averse to this proposal and suggested a deal: an He 70 in exchange for the licensing rights of the Kestrel V. The London Ministry of Aviation was soon in agreement, however the new rulers in Berlin were not prepared to give their consent to this idea. This is why Rolls Royce bought a Heinkel He 70, which reached a speed of 420km/h with the Kestrel engine.
The aircraft was checked over thoroughly by the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough. And this is when Supermarine became interested. The elliptical wing shape of the He-70 convinced even Mitchell.
A prototype was constructed in Woolston near Southampton, the same site where the seaplanes were built. Since there was no runway in Woolston, the aircraft had to be transported to Eastleigh. On 5 March 1936 the time had come: Vickers' leading Test Pilot Summers took the K5054 on its maiden flight. The prototype was fitted with a tail-skid and a wooden twin-bladed propeller.
The plane was thoroughly tested at Martlesham Heath in July 1936, and at that time reached a top speed of 567km/h. The only prototype of the Spitfire was used to test several versions of the Merlin engine. After 151 hours' flying time the plane crashed during touch down in Farnborough on 4 September 1939.
In the meantime production of the Spitfire Mk I had started. Only three months after the maiden flight, Supermarine received the first order for 310 aircraft. A second order for 200 aircraft was placed in 1938 one year after Mitchell had passed away at the early age of 42. When war broke out in September 1939, 2,160 Spitfires had been ordered.
Initially many manufacturers were involved in the production of the Spitfire. When the production plant in Southampton was badly damaged after heavy bombing by the Germans in September 1940, manufacturing was transferred to other places. New plants for the final assembly of the aircraft were set up in Castle Bromwich near Birmingham and in Yeovilton at the Westland Factory. Cunliffe-Owen also constructed hundreds of Spitfires and Seafires at a later stage.
The first Mk I's were initially used for tests. In August 1938 No 19 Squadron in Duxford was the first RAF Flight to receive their first Spitfires. No 66 followed and was also constructed in Duxford. When war broke out, six Flights used the new aircraft.
A Spitfire had her first aerial victory on 16 October 1939, when one belonging to No 603 Squadron, which was stationed in Turnhouse near Edinburgh, shot down a Ju 88A in the Firth of Forth. The Junker was attacking warships at the time.
During the Battle of Britain only 19 Flights used the Spitfire. Most units operated with Hawker Hurricanes. Still, half of the losses suffered by German fighters were due to the Spitfire. The reason was that the Hurricane, which was by far inferior to the Spitfire and the Bf 109, concentrated her efforts on fighting attacking bombers. Between August 1940 and May 1941 the RAF lost 1,172 aircraft in the Battle of Britain. 402 of these were Spitfires. The Luftwaffe had to lament the loss of 2,000 aircraft, among them 610 Bf 109.
During the course of the war more powerful versions of the Spitfire were built. From October 1939 the Mk I and Mk II were followed by versions of the Mk V series, of which altogether about 6,500 aircraft were constructed. The main difference between them was the more powerful Merlin-45-Engine. A new wing shape with straight wing ends, which guaranteed improved agility at lower altitudes and varying wing weaponry was also introduced. For air battles at different altitudes optimised Spitfire variations, i.e. with different engine variations, were supplied. From the end of 1942 they could be distinguished by additional abbreviations:
* F. = fighter
*L.F. = fighter-bomber for deployment in low and medium altitudes
* H.F = high altitude fighter
* F.R. = photo reconnaissance plane
Although the Merlin Engine gave excellent performance, Rolls Royce improved it further. Towards the end of the 1930's Rolls Royce worked on a new engine, the 1,700 h.p. Griffon-Engine. Two Spitfires, (Mk IV), were fitted with this engine and a four-bladed propeller.
At first this combination went into production as Mk XII and then as Mk XIV into series production. The last version to go into action before the end of the war in Europe was the Mk 21. After the end of the war production of the F. Mk 24 was stopped. The last Spitfires flew until 1951 with the Royal Auxiliary Air Force.
The Spitfire also flew in foreign air forces. Obviously many units belonging to the Commonwealth States like Canada, New Zealand and Australia were equipped with this aircraft. However, even Russia and the USA flew the Spitfire. And it was used after the war in countries like Israel and Burma.
Of the over 20,000 that were built, only a few remain. They are the stars of air shows and air races today.
