flying the Supermarine Spitfire!

The symbol of Britain's refusal to give up during that dark summer of 1940, the Spitfire won the hearts of both pilots and public in World War II. Regardless of the version, with either Rolls-Royce Merlin or Griffon power, all Spitfire cockpits are virtually identical and wonderfully compact.Climbing in really is (to use a very worn turn of phrase) like pulling the machine on. If everything is done correctly, the Spitfire is one of the easiest aircraft to start. The engine usually fires within two blades and runs like a clock.

While the Merlin-engine versions run very smoothly, the larger Griffon-engine machines feel as if they are angry. The sound from the exhaust stacks and the vibration transferred to the seat of the pants communicates visceral power, almost a desire to go kill something. Any hot-rod lover would enjoy this sensation of unbridled horsepower, this impatience to be turned loose and hunt. Every fighter I've been in is great fun to fly but only a very few are brutally straight about why they exist. The Griffon Spitfire is one such machine.

With enough warmth in the coolant and oil, a flip of the parking brake catch releases the brake lever on the spade control grip and the aircraft is taxiing with minimal power. The first time I had the opportunity to fly a British aircraft with this hand operated air brake system I was sceptical about it being very effective compared to hydraulic toe brakes. Within a very few minutes I was completely won over. It is far easier to manage, particularly on run up when one has to really stand on most American fighter rudder pedals. The source of high-pressure air is controlled by the brake lever on the spade control grip, or stick. The rudder pedals modulate the distribution of pressure to the left and right main wheel brakes. If the pedals are even, equal braking is applied to both sides; as one rudder pedal is applied then more brake pressure is fed to that side. Strength of application is delivered by the hand lever on the grip. The major benefit to all this is having one's feet and legs almost completely relaxed most of the time.

Lining up for take-off is intimidating with that Rolls-Royce engine sticking way out in front. There is no sense in thinking too much about it. Throttle up slowly to prevent a lurch to the right (if in a Griffon Spit where the propeller turns the opposite direction from American aircraft)...left foot moves forward almost in concert with the left hand to keep the nose straight. Monster torque shoves the right wing down rapidly, very much like the P-40, until full left aileron and full (give or take a minuscule amount) left rudder is held. The Rolls is a wounded dragon bellowing horrendously.

There is so much raw power and noise, and you are so tightly focused on keeping everything under control, the actual lift-off at around 90 kts goes by almost unnoticed. Switch hands, move the gear lever down to disengage it from the slot, inwards through the gate and then smartly all the way forward, hold momentarily, then let go. If all is well, the lever snaps outwards through the upper gate, then springs back into the upper slot. Its easy to spot a new Spitfire pilot...the aircraft porpoises as the pilot changes hands and works the gear lever.

Sitting behind this demon V-12 churning out so much power is intoxicating...the earth falls away at a rapid rate, at least for something with a propeller. A look around reveals the excellent visibility out of the bubble canopy. This lessens, to a degree, the impression of being buried within a Spitfire, though that feeling of being a part of the machine does not change. The elevator is very light while the rudder is stiff and the ailerons even more so. Every Spitfire I've flown takes a bit more muscle to roll than most fighters. As speed increases both rudder and ailerons get heavier, resulting in a curious mismatch at high speed...one has to handle the almost oversensitive elevators with a light fingertip touch while arm-wrestling the stiff ailerons. Pilots had to keep this in mind during combat, particularly when going against the Fw 190 which had a sterling rate of roll and exceptionally well harmonised controls. That being said, the aircraft is very well balanced and delightful to manoeuvre. Whipping a Spit around the clouds ranks right up there at the top of aviation's great experiences.

The aircraft stalls like a Piper Cub. Though a wing tends to drop, there isn't the slightest mean streak in it unless you cob the power, which produces a very violent torque roll. Power off, gear and flaps down, main fuel tanks full, it stalls at 65 kts, which is ridiculously slow. Add a slight bit of power and that drops to 60 kts. With that enormous snout, I try to make a curving approach to landing at about 100 kts in order to keep the runway in sight as long as possible.

By the time I'm rolling out across the field boundary, if at max landing weight, I should be no faster than 85 kts with power and 95 kts in a glide. At lighter weights these speeds can be reduced by 5 kts.

All Spitfires are exceptionally easy to land with no inherent tendency to swerve or groundloop. Just reduce power to idle, flare to a three point attitude and she sets down on a feather almost every time. This is a great surprise to most considering the narrow track undercarriage and full swivel, non-locking tailwheel. Why doesn't it drop a wing violently or make the pilot stomp on the rudders? I wish I knew. The genius of managing to combine light aircraft characteristics with such high performance is nothing short of miraculous compared to most other wartime tailwheel types. One or two landings in the Spitfire and you are in love for life.

Article by Jeff Ethell ©1995

spitfire brief history and technical information

The Spitfire showing off it's beautiful elliptical wing planform. This elliptical shape is the most aerodynamically efficient form when it comes to induced drag and wingtip vortices are reduced to a minimum. It is a very "expencive" construction though, because there are not two identical ribs in the wing, so it's not very efficient in mass production. But back in those days the engineers didn't think that way.

The Supermarine Spitfire was Britain's premiere fighter throughout the entire war. Pilots found it to be agile and dependable, it was a fine air-combat plane capable of great speed and superior high-altitude performance. It was continuously upgraded so that it would match or better the best German fighters at the time. Only until late in the war when jet aircraft appeared was the Spitfire made obsolete, although even then pilots in Spitfires shot down Messerschmitt Me262 jets. It even served aboard aircraft carriers as the Seafire.

The Spitfire was developed by Reginald Mitchell through the 1930's military competitions to replace the Bristol Bulldog fighters. It was named "Spitfire" and it went in production in 1938 as the Mk.I version. Many more versions followed that saw continual modifications to the Merlin engine to wring more power from it. The original cockpit suffered from a rear-ward vision problem, it was eventually replaced with a teardrop shape originally designed for the P51 Mustang. The propellor changed from a two-bladed wooden one to a steel 5-bladed propellor. The armament increased from eight machine guns to four cannons and bombs. When the Merlin engine reached its limit in 1942 (its power had increased from 990 hp to 1,730 hp), Supermarine turned to the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. A very successful version of the Spitfire (Mk XIV) was a Mk.VII with a five-bladed propeller and a Griffon engine. A new name, the "Victor" had been proposed, but not adopted. This aircraft was superior to almost all German fighters, except the last version of the FW190. The last version, the Mk.22, was armed with four 20 mm cannons and had a very powerful engine capable of catching V1 rockets. A total of 20531 Spitfires in 40 modifications were built. It remained in service with various air forces for many years after the end of the war and the Seafire naval variation was last used in combat by the Royal Navy from the carrier HMS Triumph in the Korean war.

Technical Details
Production of the MkI began in 1937. It was powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin II of 1030 hp. This gave the Mk I a speed of 355 mph, a climb rate of 2515 ft/min, and a vey high ceiling of 34,556 ft (with oxygen of course). It came equipped with no fewer than 8 0.3.3 Vickers K machine guns, 4 in each wing. A total of 1583 Mk.Is were made.

The Mk II went into service at the end of 1940. It differed primarily in the adoption of the R.R. Merlin XII of 1,175 hp. Two main variants were produced, the MkIIA with eight machine guns and the MkIIB with four machine guns and two 20 mm cannons. The MkIIs were definitely a transitional aircraft to more powerful forms. 920 Mk.IIs were made.

The Spitfire MkV was a compromise between performance, Fliexibility of use and firepower. They began to arrive at front line units in March 1941. Two types of wing were adopted, a standard one (known as the F wing) and a clipped version (the LF wing) that had better performance at lower altitudes. The armament became more diverse, varying from eight machine guns in the MkVA, the four machine guns and two cannons in the MkVB and the four cannons in the MkVC. The VC version used a universal wing capable of fitting all of the armament variations. The engines used were the Merlin 45 and 50, generating 1,440 and 1,490 hp, respectively. Of the MkV series, only 94 MkVAs were made, 3,923 MkVBs were produced and 2,447 MkVCs were produced.

A variant of the MkV was numbered the MkIV that was a MkV turned into a photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The guns were removed and additional fuel tanks were installed in the wings. Cameras were installed in the rear of the fusilage, the wings were lengthened with rounded tips and the cockpit was pressurized.

The MkIX series was powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61, 12 cylinder V, liquid-cooled, generating 1,565 hp. It was developed in response to the appearance of the Focke-Wulf 190 that, in 1942, was decided superior to the MkV in everything except turn radius. This was basically the MkV airframe married to the more powerful Merlin engine. A total 5,665 were built in three basic subseries designed for low, medium and high altitude combat (with the LF, F and HF wings) and armament type (B, C or E) Bs and Cs had four 0.303 machine guns and two 20 mm cannons, and Es had two 12.7 mm machine guns and two cannons and up to a 1,002 lb (454 kg) bomb load. Numerous subvariants of the MkIX were produced and given other numbers in the series.

The Mk.XIV was powered by the Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 engine of 2035 hp. This popular version had a maximum speed of 437 mph, a ceiling of 43,783 ft and a range of 457 miles. It packed two 20 mm British-Hispano cannon and two heavy 12.7 mm machine guns in the wings.

The last version, the Mk.XXII used the same Griffon engine as the Mk XIV with a speed of 425 mph, but it had an increased range of 5567 miles. It carried heavier armament, using four 20 mm British-Hispano cannons with 200 rounds each. A total of 278 Mk.22s were built.

The Spitfire was a highly respected opponent by the Luftwaffe pilots. At one time Luftwaffe ace Adolf Galland told Göring, after his wing had been critisized for not shooting down enough RAF fighters, to get him a wing of Spitfires! Click Galland's image to the right to hear him tell about it.

The Old Flying Machine Company's Spitfire Mk. IX, the Spitfire where I got a cockpit checkout by OFMC pilot Rolf Meum. My dream is that on a sunny day.........

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