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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

Elliptical Winging

L

Lewis-A2A

Charter Member
Not just Unique in fighters, or combat aircraft, but in aviation altogether. Its elliptical wing made it an icon of the era, a legend in the making. Beautiful with teeth, the Spitfire was deadly to its foes and a pleasure to its pilots. A an aircraft ectched in history for being the protector of a people and of freedom;

spit1.jpg


spit2.jpg


spit3.jpg


spit4.jpg


spit5.jpg


(unedited fsx)
 
Hi Scott

I agree that the Spitfire was a beautiful aircraft, but sorry, the elliptical wing was not unique to it and in fact Supermarine were beaten to the punch by Heinkel with the He70. The early He111 also had a beautiful elliptical wing. These tended to be dropped fairly quickly though as the performance advantage they provided was not enough to outweigh the manufacturing penalty.

Still you can't beat the gorgeous sight of the Spitfire in planform.

Regards
Paul
 
Yes you are correct Paul, hence me not saying it was unique to the Spitfire itself. Its was however unique in that aircraft with the wing that were successful can be counted on one hand, aircraft with the wing altogether can prolly be counted on two hands and its pretty much limited to 30's design too. The Spitfires wing came from Supermarines racer history.

thanks,
Lewis
 
padburgess said:
Hi Scott

I agree that the Spitfire was a beautiful aircraft, but sorry, the elliptical wing was not unique to it and in fact Supermarine were beaten to the punch by Heinkel with the He70. The early He111 also had a beautiful elliptical wing. These tended to be dropped fairly quickly though as the performance advantage they provided was not enough to outweigh the manufacturing penalty.

Still you can't beat the gorgeous sight of the Spitfire in planform.

Regards
Paul
Click to expand...

Don't forget that the elliptical design caused a far from stellar roll rate due to the unfavourable position the ailerons had to be mounted.
The Brits adressed it somewhat with the clipped wing design, the US boys in Africa tried to catch up by mounting metal plates on the ailerons,
nothing what would make it competitive to second generation designs though such as the Fw190 or P51.
I agree though, all the wartime gospel aside, it's quite a sight to see a Spitfire flying!
 
Aahhh, the Lady!!! Lovely, lovely and the canopy on that Mk.Ib has flat sides - excellent attention to detail. :applause::applause::applause:

BTW Mathias, aren't you trying to get out to FHC sometime? Fw190A in flying condition, original engine, being flown on display this summer??
 
The fw190 was clearly the most maneuverable energy fighter, however, the Spitfire (metal ailerons) had a very fast roll rate during slower, close combat. Under 250mph ias, it out rolled a P-51. The clipped wing variant actually out-rolled the fw190 under 220mph ias.

Scott.
 
The Spitfire surely was one of the most beautiful planes of all times. But still not my favorite elliptical winged fighter. That status goes to the fighter plane with elliptical wings and a round engine...the P-47 Thunderbolt. Not meaning to turn this into a "what's the best plane" debate....just basically posting just to hear myself type.

OBIO
 
Interesting OBIO ive never really thought of the P-47 like that. Ithink its because its drilled into us what beauty is, and the curve of the spit wing is it. The P-47 is somewhat on the other end of the scale hehe. Its beautiful but more for the aviation fan where as the normal bloke in the street will admit to the spitfire being beautiful.
 
I have always thought that the Spitfire's beauty came from it's overall design, in addition to the wings. The plane has such clean lines and a flowing shape, the eliptical wings are just part of what makes a Spitfire a Spitfire. The plane retained it's good looks all the way through to the F.22 and F.24 versions, although those planes weren't quite as graceful. The Mk.XIV with the clearview canopy was certainly a very nice design, but overall I think the Mk.I through the Mk.IX and Mk.XVI were clearly the most beautiful versions.

BB686:USA-flag:
 
The Spitfire is a beautiful plane for sure. My personal favorite is the MK. IX with the small tail. To me it is the balance of curves and 'muscle' in all the right places and proportions...a little more 'muscle' under the cowling than the early marks. I know A2A will probably be 'Spitfire'd out after the Mk V...but would hope Mk IV eventually sees some light. :jump:
 
Blade124 said:
The fw190 was clearly the most maneuverable energy fighter, however, the Spitfire (metal ailerons) had a very fast roll rate during slower, close combat. Under 250mph ias, it out rolled a P-51. The clipped wing variant actually out-rolled the fw190 under 220mph ias.

Scott.
Click to expand...

Absolutely correct as long as you saddle the horse from the front end, and exactly the reason why boom 'n zoom replaced turn 'n burn fairly early in WWII.
It's slow speed performance didn't help the Spit and the attrition rates amongst the British pilots in '41/'42'/'43 tell the story.
 
Mathias said:
Absolutely correct as long as you saddle the horse from the front end, and exactly the reason why boom 'n zoom replaced turn 'n burn fairly early in WWII.
It's slow speed performance didn't help the Spit and the attrition rates amongst the British pilots in '41/'42'/'43 tell the story.
Click to expand...

this conversation never went particularly well on the old Il2 boards either - add to it the .50cal vs 20mm - the P-51 vs the world, etc...and the flames just shot up to the moon :kilroy: ...every time

I think all the OP was trying to say was that the A2A Spit looks pretty and owes some of that to the shapely shape of her wings - no argument - your Spitfire is a fine girl
 
Mathias said:
Absolutely correct as long as you saddle the horse from the front end, and exactly the reason why boom 'n zoom replaced turn 'n burn fairly early in WWII.
It's slow speed performance didn't help the Spit and the attrition rates amongst the British pilots in '41/'42'/'43 tell the story.
Click to expand...


Mathias,

You are getting a little defensive protecting your baby :). I'm not taking the position that a clipped wing Spit V is a superior aircraft to a fw190, and certainly not advocating that turn and burn tactics give an aircraft superiority.

My point is just to lay the facts out for anyone interested in this thread. And the facts are that the clipped wing spit had a superior roll rate at lower speeds (under 220mph ias), the fw190 had superiority at mid speeds (220-300mph ias) and an edge (10%) over 300mph ias.

When making a comparison between a FW190A and a clipped wing SpitV, I find the fw190 to be superior for other reasons.

Scott.
 
Blade124 said:
Mathias,

You are getting a little defensive protecting your baby :). I'm not taking the position that a clipped wing Spit V is a superior aircraft to a fw190, and certainly not advocating that turn and burn tactics give an aircraft superiority.

My point is just to lay the facts out for anyone interested in this thread. And the facts are that the clipped wing spit had a superior roll rate at lower speeds (under 220mph ias), the fw190 had superiority at mid speeds (220-300mph ias) and an edge (10%) over 300mph ias.

When making a comparison between a FW190A and a clipped wing SpitV, I find the fw190 to be superior for other reasons.

Scott.
Click to expand...

Hehe, not at all getting in defense, just enthusiastic about the topic. :jump::salute:
 
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