Spitfire wing tips

[MiloMorai]

I have come across some posts that have stated the Spitfire had it tips changed from to standard to clipped and back depending on the what the mission was to be. This seems a bit far fetched. Any truth to this?

[Rebel]

ah, no. 

Dont' take my word for it- I'm an American Iron freak.  I'm sure hux'll be along shortly to straighten this out. 

[Cthulhu]

Don't think so. There were often high and low-altitude (clipped) subvariants of the major production models (Spit V for example), but this was done at the factory, not in the field. I believe there were some Mk V's clipped in the field, but there was no provision for reversing the procedure. This was initially done in response to testing of a captured 190, the first FW's having given the RAF a nasty surprise. These clipped Mk V's also got a different supercharger optimized for lower altitudes, hence the term "chopped and cropped".

[Bruv119]

clipped wing spit 5  would be a nice addition to the game   

[MiloMorai]

There was 3 different tips for the Spit:

- clipped (cap over the last wing rib)
- standard
- extended

All the tips were removable.



This is a Mk VIII but was applicable to all Merlin powered Spits.

Cthulhu, that was CCC > clipped, crap, cropped

[Karnak]

The LF, F and HF designations have nothing to do with wingtips.  That only refers to the engine used.

As to being able to change tips, that is what I have been led to believe, but I cannot vouch for it as I've never read of a case where anything was changed other than clipping the wings.

[Cthulhu]

Cthulhu, that was CCC > clipped, crap, cropped

I like that.

[Furball]

Eventually i wonder if different wingtips could be selected in hangar?  Would be great for the V, IX, XIV and Seafire.

[Angus]

wasn't it clipped, CLAPPED and cropped?
Anyway, wingtips shorter and turbine settings for lower altitude, so a bit crapped for high alt, but completely insanely good at lower alt.
From wingcommander Harry Broadhurst the Mk IX LF clipped was the best..

[SmokinLoon]

Eventually i wonder if different wingtips could be selected in hangar?  Would be great for the V, IX, XIV and Seafire.

No.  Not a good idea.  This isnt a FPS shooter where we get to change clothing, etc.

Me thinks the clipping of the wings would have been done at the factory and not out in the field.  *shrugs*  IT certainly would not be done by a crewman with a few minutes notice to sramble for a misison, etc.

[Guppy35]

It was not a complicated procedure to change the wing tips.  Did they do it on a regular basis between missions?  Nope.  But it was done on occasion in the field.  Stan Turner, for one, had regular wing tips added to his Spit XVI when he was a Wing Commander.  It came to the squadron with clipped wings.  They clipped them in the Middle East as well, or added extended wings as in when they modified the Spit Vs to go after the Ju86P recce birds.

I don't think it should be a hanger option though.

[MiloMorai]

Thanks Dan. Knew you would be along, eventually.

For example, would it be safe to say if the a/c came with standard tips and the squadrons primary mission role changed to one of primarily low level missions the clipped tips might be installed?

Also do you have any numbers for Mk Vs, Mk IXs and Mk XVIs that came from the factory with clipped and standard tips.

[Karnak]

MiloMorai,

I don't have those numbers, but I can tell you that there were no Merlin 61 powered Spitfire Mk IXs that came from the factory with clipped wings, nor have I read of any Merlin 61 Spitfire Mk IXs that were clipped in the field.  The Spitfire Mk IX in AH is a Merlin 61 powered bird.

[MiloMorai]

Karnak, it would be not logical for the Merlin 61 powered Spit IXs to have clipped wings because the engine was optimized for a higher altitude than the other 60 series engines. Or, am I thinking about the V-1650s? Anyways, the 61 had a different prop reduction and less boost than the others.

[Karnak]

Correct, but you can find Spitfire HF.Mk IXs with Merlin 70s (higher tuned than even the Merlin 61) with clipped wings.  It was kind of arbitrary at times, e.g. this is the fighter we have and this is the mission profile it will be used of, clip the wings.  LF, F and HF refers to the engine, the wings could be clipped, standard or extended on any of them.  In practice only standard and clipped were used with any frequency.