The Spitfire war story told in FS2004 pictures.
As I already said in the Bf109 thread, the Spitfire story is a bit hard to tell. Like with the Bf109 I limited myself to the pre-war and war types. For the Spitfire versions were not always released in sequence, and not all versions were released and some version were renamed or even renamed twice.
But I tries to create something worth to read. As the Spitfire is a well known aircraft I expect you will know most of this story, but perhaps you will find something you didn't know yet.
1931 The Supermarine S.6B S1595 wins the Schneider Trophy for Britain.
Supermarine S.6B Racer. Although most probably nobody realised at that moment, the Supermarine racers would become one of the main sources of inspiration for the Supermarine Spitfire. Especially the experience gained with airframe and the design of the wings, proved to be extremely valuable in the development of the Spitfire. The Rolls-Royce R engine which powered the Supermarine racers was later developed into the Rolls-Royce Griffon. And the successes from the Supermarine racers caused Mitchell to be recognised as a great designer of performance aircraft. Which later must have given him the space and confidence to develop the Spitfire.
1934 The Supermarine 224. The failure which led to success in the end.
The Supermarine 224 was their entry for the specification F.7/30 as issued by the Air Ministry in October 1931. Wind tunnel results looked promising and the Air Ministry ordered one prototype, which had its maiden flight on 19 February 1934. It was an all-metal, mono wing aircraft which was a novelty for those day, but performance was quite disappointing. The main reasons were the wing design, fixed undercarriage, and the complex Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. Although Mitchel suggested a number of improvement, the Ministry ordered the Gloster Gladiator instead.
1936 The Supermarine 300 The start of a success story.
Supermarine 300 Prototype. After the disappointment about the 224 model, Mitchell received permission to continue to work on the improvements which led, in several steps, to the 300 design. As the Air Ministry recognised the potential of this aircraft they provided £10,000, to produce a prototype. The final 300 design had thin elliptical wings designed by Mitchell’s Canadian aerodynamicist Beverley Shenstone. Shenstone had worked for Junkers and worked with German designers like Alexander Lippisch and Hugo Junkers. The knowledge about metal forming and riveting, he gained in Germany, certainly must have contributed to the design of these wings. The 300 design was based on the new Rolls-Royce PV X11 engine, which was later renamed in “Merlin”. The development of the Merlin clearly benefited from the experiences with the earlier race engines.
1938 Preparing for war.
Spitfire Mk. I In August 1938 the first Spitfires entered operational service. Although complex to manufacture, the airframe of the Spitfire did accept much more powerful engines than used on the prototype. The fixed two-bladed wooden propeller was soon replaced by adjustable three bladed propellers which provided better performance at all altitudes. Among other improvements the Malcolm hood was introduced which allowed the pilot a better view to the rear. The canopy was produced by R. Malcolm & Co, and similar designs were later used on the P51 B/C Mustang and the F4U Corsair.
As I already said in the Bf109 thread, the Spitfire story is a bit hard to tell. Like with the Bf109 I limited myself to the pre-war and war types. For the Spitfire versions were not always released in sequence, and not all versions were released and some version were renamed or even renamed twice.
But I tries to create something worth to read. As the Spitfire is a well known aircraft I expect you will know most of this story, but perhaps you will find something you didn't know yet.
1931 The Supermarine S.6B S1595 wins the Schneider Trophy for Britain.
Supermarine S.6B Racer. Although most probably nobody realised at that moment, the Supermarine racers would become one of the main sources of inspiration for the Supermarine Spitfire. Especially the experience gained with airframe and the design of the wings, proved to be extremely valuable in the development of the Spitfire. The Rolls-Royce R engine which powered the Supermarine racers was later developed into the Rolls-Royce Griffon. And the successes from the Supermarine racers caused Mitchell to be recognised as a great designer of performance aircraft. Which later must have given him the space and confidence to develop the Spitfire.
1934 The Supermarine 224. The failure which led to success in the end.
The Supermarine 224 was their entry for the specification F.7/30 as issued by the Air Ministry in October 1931. Wind tunnel results looked promising and the Air Ministry ordered one prototype, which had its maiden flight on 19 February 1934. It was an all-metal, mono wing aircraft which was a novelty for those day, but performance was quite disappointing. The main reasons were the wing design, fixed undercarriage, and the complex Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. Although Mitchel suggested a number of improvement, the Ministry ordered the Gloster Gladiator instead.
1936 The Supermarine 300 The start of a success story.
Supermarine 300 Prototype. After the disappointment about the 224 model, Mitchell received permission to continue to work on the improvements which led, in several steps, to the 300 design. As the Air Ministry recognised the potential of this aircraft they provided £10,000, to produce a prototype. The final 300 design had thin elliptical wings designed by Mitchell’s Canadian aerodynamicist Beverley Shenstone. Shenstone had worked for Junkers and worked with German designers like Alexander Lippisch and Hugo Junkers. The knowledge about metal forming and riveting, he gained in Germany, certainly must have contributed to the design of these wings. The 300 design was based on the new Rolls-Royce PV X11 engine, which was later renamed in “Merlin”. The development of the Merlin clearly benefited from the experiences with the earlier race engines.
1938 Preparing for war.
Spitfire Mk. I In August 1938 the first Spitfires entered operational service. Although complex to manufacture, the airframe of the Spitfire did accept much more powerful engines than used on the prototype. The fixed two-bladed wooden propeller was soon replaced by adjustable three bladed propellers which provided better performance at all altitudes. Among other improvements the Malcolm hood was introduced which allowed the pilot a better view to the rear. The canopy was produced by R. Malcolm & Co, and similar designs were later used on the P51 B/C Mustang and the F4U Corsair.
