spitfire evolution

1932 - 1947, over 20,000 spitfires made

7 years of spitfire production, changes a lot. mk1 - mk 24

mitchell died after spitfire prototype and designs and development of mk I - mk 24 taken over by joe smith

only aircraft used throughout the whole war

mk I

3x as many hours to make spitfire wing than bf109 wing

very thin wing

have to splay guns out (disadvantage), canons not popular cuz of wings had to tilt canons to side, and guns would jam if pilot did high g

ailerons, rudder, elevators super basic. irish linen. hand dopped and molded to streamlined shape.

n3200 nose - one white wing underneath and one black wing underneath. for recognition, although got rid of that cuz germans could also recognise

merlin royles royce engine. initial 990 horsepower. fightertrim 1100 +. could get up to 1300 if ur mechanic is good

mk 1 and mk 2 in battle of britain, then moved onto mk 5 and not mk 3 and 4

mk V

1941 / 42

1300 - 1400 horsepower

ailerons metal, rudder and elevators still fabric

german focke-wulf 190 outclass mk 5 spitfire

so spitfire ellipetical wing cut off allowing it to roll off quicker cuz surface area smaller. squared off wingtips and canons on wings

mk IX

1943

2 speed w stage intercooled supercharger engine

4 blade constant speed propeller

2 huge radiators underneath

1650 - 1700 horsepower

more equal to focke-wulf 190

lots of ww2 pilot’s fave spitfire

most valuable spitfire cuz theres only like 52 of them

mk XIV

rolls royce griffon engine cuz merline engine pretty much reached limit

36.9 litre 12v griffon, nearly 10 litres bigger and over 2000 horsepower

5 bladed propeller (initially in mk 12 but in service mk 14)

counterpart d model focke-wulf 190. both nearly 450 mph

mk XXIV (or f-24)

26.9 litre griffon engine

twice power, twice weight than mk 1

only 80 made

5 blade propeller spinning opposite direction to merlin

elliptical wings

huge rudder counteract forces of over 2000 horsepower

sleek and silver

made after war time