Talk:Spitfire

Bader

The bit about Bader and cannons is wrong. Bader hated cannons and had a Spitfire Va with machine guns when the rest of his squadron had Vb's with cannons. Tode 22:17, 5 June 2007 (BST)

Bader & Cannons

Here's a confession: I rattled off most of the article from memory (mostly my adolescent consumption of "Reach For The Sky", as well as War Picture Library & RAF Flying Review). Bader, of course, championed the "big wing" concept during the Battle Of Britain. Can't for the life of me find who pushed the adoption of cannon. For some reason I thought it was Sir Douglas. Thanks for setting me straight. Cheers, Cliff.

Spitfire Mk numbers and wing types

A Spitfire Vb might have clipped wings. A clipped winged spitfire might be a Vb. The Mk V spitfire was, I think, the first to be used operationally with clipped wings although most Spitfires had full span wings. Clipped wing Spitfires gained an additional LF (Low altitude Fighter) designation. The wings were also differentiated by a type letter. the 'a' wing was fitted for 8 x .303 mgs, the 'b' for 2 x 20mm cannon and 4 x .303's and the 'c' wing sported 4 x 20mm cannon. The 'c' wing was mostly used in the mediteranean theatre because the outer cannon weren't heated as well as the inner guns and had a tendency to freeze up in the colder, northern european climate. The 'b' and 'c' wing were available on most spitfires from the MkV onwards. The universal 'e' wing could carry any combination of guns - all cannon or cannon and Mg's but usually came fitted with 2 x 20mm cannon and 2 x .5 browning guns.

So, a Spitfire LF IXb would carry 2 x 20mm cannon, 4 x .303 mgs and have clipped wings. Got it? Right.

Er.. I'm showing off my anorak now (every good civilian ARRSEtourist has one), but that's not quite right. The C type wing could have 8x 0.303's or 4x 20mm or 2x 20mm plus 4x 0.303. 4x 20mm had the most clout, but it was usually fitted with 2x 20mm + 4x 0.303 in temperate climates because the gun heating did not work well enough to stop the oil freezing and causing stoppages if there were 4x 20mm cannon (if you look at the underside of a Spitfire wing, there are vents near the roundel that are outlets for hot air used to keep the guns nice and warmies). As far as I know, the B-type wing was not used with the Mk IX but I might be wrong about that. Tode 21:56, 7 June 2007 (BST)

PS: the way to tell a B-type from a C-type-with-2-cannons is to look for the stubs where the other two cannons would go. The C-type has them outboard of the cannons.

PPS: if the stubs are inboard of the cannons, it is an E-type wing and the stubs are where the 0.50 calibre guns go.

So the 'c' wing was a universal wing too? Learn something everyday . . .

Types, Sub-Types, Wing Types, etc...

Obviously, trying to keep this article as succinct as possible is not going to please the purists and detail enthusiasts. I haven't even finished the chronological story of the type, & I'm flooded with corrections over minute detail. Every important distinction outside the broad parameters, will be dealt with at the end of the historical overview. Please be patient. Cheers, Cliff.

495mph? Fastest Piston Engined Plane?

Nope, Its the Soviet Tupolev TU-95 Bear Bomber plane with its speed around 600ish MPH.

No, retard, the bear is not a piston engined plane, it is a turboprop. Learn the difference. just because it has a propeller does not mean it it is piston engined. Stoat