Air Ministry. Pilot's Notes for Spitfire XIV & XIX: Griffon 65 or 66 Engine. Air Publication 1565T & W. London, UK: Air Ministry, April 1946. The majority of Mk Is and Mk IIs were armed with eight .303 Browning machine guns. Throughout the battle, Luftwaffe aircraft often returned to base with .303 bullet holes, but no critical damage as they had received armour plating in critical areas and self-sealing fuel tanks became common in bombers. [25] Several Mark Is of 19 Squadron were fitted with two 20-mm Hispano-Suiza cannon in 1940. This early Hispano installation proved to be unreliable, with the cannon frequently firing just a few rounds or failing to fire at all. After numerous complaints from the pilots of 19 Squadron the cannon armed Spitfires were replaced by conventionally armed aircraft in September 1940. [26] Supermarine and BSA, who manufactured the Hispano under licence, continued work on a reliable cannon installation, with a number of Mk Is armed with two cannon and four .303 machine-guns entering operations by late 1940: this version was referred to as the Mk IB, the machine-gun-armed Spitfires were retrospectively called the Mk IA. [nb 2] [27] India-Burma [ edit ] A Spitfire Mk. VIII of No. 607 Squadron RAF being prepared for a sortie at Mingaladon Airfield in Burma in August 1945

inches manifold pressure at a modest 2,850 rpm was used for the record attempts. The engine was potentially capable of 3,900 horsepower. Steve Hinton related to me that each additional 50 rpm yielded another 5 inches of manifold pressure. Coolant temperature was held to 100 degrees C and oil was kept at 80 degrees C. Another Italian fighter, the Reggiane Re.2005, although built in limited numbers, was occasionally encountered by Spitfires over Sicily. W.G.G. Duncan Smith considered: "The Re 2005 'Sagittario' was a potent aircraft. Having had a dog-fight with one of them, I am convinced we would have been hard pressed to cope in our Spitfires operationally, if the Italians or Germans had had a few squadrons equipped with these aircraft at the beginning of the Sicily campaign or in operations from Malta." [171] Italian Cobelligerent Air Force [ edit ]Spitfire XIV of 350 (Belgian) Squadron of the Spitfire XIV wing based at Lympne, Kent 1944. This aircraft is carrying a 30 gal "slipper" drop tank under the centre-section. By late 1940, Luftwaffe fighter units were being re-equipped with the formidable new Bf 109F-1 and F-2, considered by many Luftwaffe pilots to be the best of the many variants of this fighter. The F-1s and F-2s easily outperformed the Spitfire Mk Is and IIs and it closely matched the Mk Vs which were just about to enter service. In the hands of pilots like Adolf Galland it was a daunting proposition to be facing this aircraft over France. [47] On 10 July 1941, a 109 F-2 flown by Hauptmann Rolf Pingel of I./JG 26. followed a Short Stirling heavy bomber he had intercepted across the Channel. Return fire from the Stirling hit his fighter's cooling system, forcing him to "crash-land" in a field near Dover. The 109 was repaired and tested at Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) until it crashed, killing the pilot, on 20 October 1941. The results of these tests helped in the development of tactics to counter the new fighter. [48] [49] The first Spitfire operation over Western Europe took place on 13 May 1940, during the Battle of the Netherlands. German airborne forces had been pinned down in the Battle of the Hague by the Dutch Army. RAF Fighter Command sent 66 Squadron Spitfires to escort Defiants from 264 Squadron to support the Dutch. They encountered Junkers Ju 87s from IV(St)./ Lehrgeschwader 1 (LG 1), and shot down four of them. They were soon intercepted by Bf 109s from 5 Staffel Jagdgeschwader 26 (JG 26) that shot down five Defiants and one Spitfire for the loss of one Bf 109. [13]

After the Second World War, eight flyable Italian Air Force Mk Vs were supplemented by 145 Mk IXs (obtained in two batches of 60 and 85 aircraft). The Spitfire went into service with 51° and 5° Stormo (wing) flying reconnaissance missions over the Balkans as well as acting in cooperation with the Italian Army and providing a defensive force. Well liked by pilots, the Spitfires were involved in several postwar air races and trophy competitions including the Zerbinati Trophy. Italian P-51s and Spitfires were entered in the handicap race with P-51s penalized by a minute for speed, and Spitfires penalised a similar amount in climb rate. The Spitfire Mk IX remained in service until 1950–1952 when 30 survivors were supplied to the Israeli Air Force (HHA). Eventually, these ex-Italian aircraft were sent to Burma in 1954 The documentation to specification F.10/35, which was framed around the Spitfire, was headed "Requirements for Single-engine Day and Night Fighter" and stipulated that the aircraft be equipped with "night flying equipment". [1] In spite of the difficulties pilots appreciated the performance increases. Wing Commander Peter Brothers, O/C Culmhead Wing in 1944–1945 and a Battle of Britain veteran; The two speed supercharger shifting was automatic, relying on atmospheric pressure via an aneroid switch to shift to the appropriate blower speed. Centrifugal bob weights mounted on the blower clutches add to the drive capability of the clutches, i.e., the faster it spins, the harder the clutch grabs. When the blower shifts, a small degree of clutch slip is built in; otherwise the accelerating forces would damage and possibly strip the blower drive gears. The clutches also absorb some of the torsional vibration emanating from the crankshaft, this design feature may help explain why no Rolls-Royce piston engines except for the Eagle 22 last of the piston engine developments required no dynamic crankshaft counter weights.

Fighter

Caygill, Peter. Combat Legend; Spitfire Mks VI-F.24. Ramsbury, Marlbourough, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, 2004. ISBN 1-84037-400-4. During and after D-Day, PR Spitfires of the 2nd TAF supported the Allied armies, including strategic sorties by No. 16 Squadron RAF from 30,000ft (9,100m) or more using the PR Mk XI. The unit's secondary role was to provide tactical reconnaissance using the F.R Mk IX in low altitude "dicer" missions. [156] :29 The majority of Spitfires from the Mk VIII used C, D and E wing types. Unless otherwise noted, all Griffon-engined Spitfire variants used the strengthened Dunlop AH10019 "four spoke" pattern mainwheels. With the increasing use of hard-surfaced runways in the post-war years, many Spitfires were either manufactured or re-fitted with, larger mainwheels which were of a "three spoke" pattern. These were used on modified undercarriage legs which had reduced "toe-in" for the axles, which reduced tyre scrub. While the fighter versions of the Spitfire stayed in Britain, the first PR missions were flown from bases in France by Cotton's unit which was renamed "No. 2 Camouflage Unit". The first RAF high-speed, high-altitude photo-reconnaissance mission of the war took place on 18 November 1939 when Flt. Lt. "Shorty" Longbottom took off from Seclin and attempted to photograph Aachen from 33,000ft (10,000m). [16]