The Spitfire thread!
Discussion
I am pretty sure most Spitfire pilots were pretty confident that they would black out before their Spitfire came apart. Messerschmitt 109 pilots on the other hand did have some reservations about the strngth of their aircraft, especially around the tail area. The Typhoon also had rear fuselage problems.
Also, this has to be the funniest Brexit news clip - Theresa May sends a squadron of Spitfires to Europe.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/31/t...
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jan/31/t...
Ayahuasca said:
Forgive thread resurrection.
Completing a model Spitfire led me to search out books on Spitfires. Just reading Geoffrey Wellum’s ‘First Light’. Any more Spit book recommendations?
Of all the aeroplanes that have ever been, there are more books on Spitfires than all the rest.Completing a model Spitfire led me to search out books on Spitfires. Just reading Geoffrey Wellum’s ‘First Light’. Any more Spit book recommendations?
It depends on what you are after - technical descriptions, development histories, unit and operational histories, pilot anecdotes and stories. They are all out there.
From a technical point of view, the Haynes book isn't bad -
Although aimed at model builders, these two books provide lots of technical and colour scheme details -
Krikkit said:
It's only a small part, but Stanley hooker's "Not much of an engineer" has quite a bit about the Merlin development which is interesting.
It fits well with understanding general Merlin Spitfire development - why the nose is slightly longer with the Mark V, and then why the nose is longer again and the move to what look to be (but aren't) two identical radiators with the Mark IX.I was puzzled for ages why the Mark XII, despite the larger engine had less cooling than the IX until it suddenly all fell in to place.
xeny said:
It fits well with understanding general Merlin Spitfire development - why the nose is slightly longer with the Mark V, and then why the nose is longer again and the move to what look to be (but aren't) two identical radiators with the Mark IX.
I was puzzled for ages why the Mark XII, despite the larger engine had less cooling than the IX until it suddenly all fell in to place.
For those who've not read the book, could you expand on this. I was puzzled for ages why the Mark XII, despite the larger engine had less cooling than the IX until it suddenly all fell in to place.
The MkXII was the first production model of the Spitfire to be powered by the Griffon rather than the Merlin. Although the Griffon has a bigger displacement than the Merlin, its cooling requirements are different.
The MkIX Spitfire has a longer nose than the MkV and earlier Merlin powered Spitfires because it has a later version of the Merlin fitted with a two stage supercharger. In fact, the intended Mark that was supposed to introduce the two stage Merlin was the MkVIII. The MkVIII had other improvements over the V such as a retractable tail wheel.However, due to the urgency of getting an improved performance Spitfire into service (to counter the appearance of the Focke Wulf 190), it was decided to fit a two stage Merlin to the MkV airframe - which became the MkIX. When US built Packard Merlins became available, Packard powered MkIXs were classified as MkXVIs.
The MkIX Spitfire has a longer nose than the MkV and earlier Merlin powered Spitfires because it has a later version of the Merlin fitted with a two stage supercharger. In fact, the intended Mark that was supposed to introduce the two stage Merlin was the MkVIII. The MkVIII had other improvements over the V such as a retractable tail wheel.However, due to the urgency of getting an improved performance Spitfire into service (to counter the appearance of the Focke Wulf 190), it was decided to fit a two stage Merlin to the MkV airframe - which became the MkIX. When US built Packard Merlins became available, Packard powered MkIXs were classified as MkXVIs.
CanAm said:
For those who've not read the book, could you expand on this.
Hooker noticed that the Merlin's air intake duct to the supercharger (which is at the back/bottom of the engine) had ended up looking rather squashed, so he designed a new one, which when fabricated and combined with some supercharger design changes increased the maximum altitude at which at which the supercharger could compress air to the maximum the engine could benefit from from 16,000 ft to over 19,000 ft (apologies for the odd metric for increased performance, but it is what the book uses - wikipedia says maximum boost pressure went from 12psi to 16 psi, but this may also be constrained by fuel octane available and possibly other engine robustness work).This resulted in the Merlin 45 which went in the MkV.
The advent of the FW 190 drove the urgent development of the Mk IX, which had an engine with a 2 stage supercharger to increase high altitude performance. The two stage design in turn required an intercooler, which was cooled by installing what appeared to be symmetrical radiators under the wing, but one was still engine coolant, and the second housed the engine oil cooler and the cooling radiator for the intercooler. This was the Merlin 61, and the extra length needed to fit in the 2nd supercharger and the intercooler to the back of the engine resulted in a longer nose again.
The early Griffon that went in the MkXII was only single stage supercharged, so that (despite being a bigger engine than the Merlin) reverted to a single radiator, and a narrower separate oil cooler opposite it, similar to the MkV.
Apologies to anyone who spots any mistakes I've made, but this is my best understanding of what happened.
Eric Mc said:
The reviews I read of that book were not very complimentary.
I think it depends on what you want from the book.I imagine someone like yourself is as interested in the technical side of things, as much as anything else, and therefore it might not be the most appealing book for you to read. As someone who doesn't know a huge amount about the history of the Spitfire, I found it very enjoyable, so much so that it only took me 2 days to read over Christmas.
I've not looked very hard but I'm yet to find a disappointing review, especially from a customer based on the reviews on Amazon etc.
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