Spitfire with proper meredith effect (1 Viewer)

[spicmart]

Apparently a Supermarine blueprint of the Spitfire Type 372 with a Mustang-style radiator arrangement.
This would have rectified the one flaw of the Spitfire which was too much radiator drag making it the best of the super-props in ACM I guess.
Sleek thingy, too.

 

[PAT303]

A better idea would be to clean up the airframe in general, get rid of the cannon stubs, streamline the blisters, change the windscreen angle, enclose the undercarriage, use a retractable tailwheel, better panel fit and overall exterior finish and fish tail ejector exhausts across all models, there's another 20mph and all of those improvements easy to achieve.

 

[spicmart]

A better idea would be to clean up the airframe in general, get rid of the cannon stubs, streamline the blisters, change the windscreen angle, enclose the undercarriage, use a retractable tailwheel, better panel fit and overall exterior finish and fish tail ejector exhausts across all models, there's another 20mph and all of those improvements easy to achieve.

One should incorporate ALL these changes plus the ventral radiator.

Is there a better way to streamline the blisters? How to get rid of the cannon stubs?
The windscreen was improved with the very last models.
A Griffon should be used to squeeze out the most of the potential. Enclosed landing gear wheels mandatory.
Fish tail ejector exhausts provide less thrust afaik.

 

[z42]

One should incorporate ALL these changes plus the ventral radiator.

Is there a better way to streamline the blisters? How to get rid of the cannon stubss?
The windscreen was improved with the very last models.
A Griffon should be used to squeeze out the most of the potential. Enclosed landing gear wheels mandatory.
Fish tail ejector exhausts provide less thrust afaik.

By the time you have all that done Supermarine already has this baby out.

 

[spicmart]

By the time you have all that done Supermarine already has this baby out.


View attachment 786138

I just find jet aircraft not quite as cool..

 

[PAT303]

Fish tail ejector exhausts provide less thrust afaik.

Sorry your right, it was the multi ejector that gave the better speed over the fishtail.

 

[PAT303]

One should incorporate ALL these changes plus the ventral radiator.

Is there a better way to streamline the blisters? How to get rid of the cannon stubs?

The ones I mentioned could be done easily, the ventral radiator needed a new airframe.
How I would do it, use the Spitfire MkIII/VIII fuselage, Seafire III wings, MkXVI rear aux tanks and bubble canopy and the latest model Merlin engine.

 

[spicmart]

The ones I mentioned could be done easily, the ventral radiator needed a new airframe.
How I would do it, use the Spitfire MkIII/VIII fuselage, Seafire III wings, MkXVI rear aux tanks and bubble canopy and the latest model Merlin engine.

Yes, The latest Merlin engines would do. How about the latest Griffons? It would be heavier, a worse turner and have worse mileage but wouldn't push it the boundaries even further?

I would use the wings and probably the whole airframe of the 20 series when they ironed out the bugs. At 1366 km/h when aileron reverse happens this was over 400 km/h faster than in the case of the XIV wing.

 

[z42]

I just find jet aircraft not quite as cool..

I hear you. Since boyhood I've been fascinated by the mid-late WWII prop fighters as the pinnacle of piston engined fighters, which proved their mettle in the crucible of a full out large scale war between big industrialized countries. And then jets took over and it became all about computers and missiles.

But as I've grown older I've become more and more impressed by the early turbine engines. Yes, crap compared to what we have today but a big step forward at the time. And yes, it took quite a while before missiles were workable.

As for the superprops, yes even more impressive technically, but a bit like the jock arriving late in his finest to the party, when the new guy is already screwing the prom queen in the back room.

For the Supermarine Attacker in particular, clearly it was a stopgap, but that makes it a nice example to study. Take the wings (and UC?) from the Spiteful and replace the fuselage with a new one with a jet engine, and voilà, 100+ mph higher top speed compared to the Spiteful. Heck they didn't even bother moving the guns though there was no longer a prop arc to avoid.