Is Spitfire really the BEST British fighter???

[cheddar cheese]

No way?!

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

oh come on everything was better than the italian fighters, but yes i think the spit was our best fighter, and it gave far more service than any other.............

 

[Chiron]

Hey, guys, why there were Spitfires with clipped elliptical wings? Whats that for? I think that destroyed the total beauty of Spitfire............

 

[mosquitoman]

For better performance at low level I think, don't know how it helped though

 

[cheddar cheese]

Yes it was to help with low level performance.

oh come on everything was better than the italian fighters, but yes i think the spit was our best fighter, and it gave far more service than any other.............

The Italians built some of the greatest fighters of the war, namely the Series 5 figthers.

 

[Chiron]

By the way, did Spitfire participate in any escorting role during the bombing in Berlin????

Why didnt Britian send Spitfire to escort Lancaster to Germany?

 

[cheddar cheese]

The Spitfire's range was average at best. It was an Interceptor, not an Escort.

 

[Anonymous]

oh well, looking at your results it looks like the Tempest might win, what would be useful are rate of roll, turn, dive for the manouverability side of things

Tempest dive speed was very good. High speed roll rate was mediocre, as was turn performance. For turn manuvering, the Typhoon beats the Tempest, the P-51 beats the Typhoon, and the Spitfire beats the P-51, according to Boscombe Downs tests.

What made the Tempest V-2 stand out was the armament - four Hispano V's with 200 rpg is pretty hard to beat, and these were mounted in very rigid wings allowing for accurate fire. It was also a very robust plane able to sustain significant battle damage.

=S=

Lunatic

 

[mosquitoman]

Hey, guys, why there were Spitfires with clipped elliptical wings? Whats that for? I think that destroyed the total beauty of Spitfire............

I think it increased the roll rate

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

and about the spit escort thing, even if the spit could escort the bombers to berlin, she wasn;t suited to nightfighting, whislt she was used in the role occassionlly she wasn't suited to it.................

 

[redcoat]

and about the spit escort thing, even if the spit could escort the bombers to berlin, she wasn;t suited to nightfighting, whislt she was used in the role occassionlly she wasn't suited to it.................

While the Hurricane was used as a nightfighter, the Spitfire wasn't

 

[evangilder]

The mustang was a pretty unremarkable plane until fitted with the Merlin. The Merlin powered Mustangs didn't get into the war until 1943. The Spitfire became operational in 1938, 5 full years before the Merlin Mustang. The Spitfire was a great aircraft, and paired with the Hurricane, did a great job in the BoB.

 

[mosquitoman]

It was a problem with night landings, the Spitfire's undercarriage wasn't as stable but the Hurricane wouldn't be totalled if it veered of the runway

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but she was used in the role occassionally, i've seen a corgi model of one in night fighter scheme and it gave a brief history of the type's service history............

 

[cheddar cheese]

Just cos its a model it doesnt mean its real...

 

[wmaxt]

By the way, did Spitfire participate in any escorting role during the bombing in Berlin????

Why didnt Britian send Spitfire to escort Lancaster to Germany?

In the early days of escorting bombers the Spitfires were used for the initial and final legs of escort duties say from England to the mid France/German border. This let the P-38/P51 escorts utilize their fuel better. The difference between the cruise speeds of the fighters about 230mph for max range and the bombers about 180mph required a manuver called the S-weave or S-turn for the fighters ti maintain position.
The 38/51s could fly straight and meet up with the bomber stream at the point the Spitfires/P-47s had to turn back.

This was a tactic that was even more effective after the fighters were able to break off from the bombere on their way home to attack/straff anywhere they could find the enemy.

 

[Hot Space]

btw The Spit XIV did shoot down jets. It was the 1st Prop Fighter to shoot down a 262.

Hot Space

 

[cheddar cheese]

Really? I thought that title belonged to the P-47...

 

[Hot Space]

No, I read it in a iclke bookie somewhere. I'll find it later and quote from it

Hot Space

 

[KraziKanuK]

btw The Spit XIV did shoot down jets. It was the 1st Prop Fighter to shoot down a 262.

Hot Space

That is debatable.

The first Spit to get a 262 was some MK IXs from RCAF 401. This was W.Nr. 170093 flown by Hptm. H-C Buttmann on Oct 4 1944.

On Aug 28 1944, 2 P-47s of the 78th FG attacked Ofw. H Lauer's 262 but he had to crash land due to running out of fuel. (claimed shared by Myers and Croy)