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helmitsmit said:I'm sure the the Spitfire PR mk 19 made 60,000ft? I read it in a book although it might not have been during ww2.
kleinnak said:hate to break it to you chief, but the plane Galitzine flew was a mk IX, No. 103 Sqn DID use stripped down mk Vs in the middle east, but Galatzine flew in the UK with the Special Service Flight (Or High Altitude Flight in the PC age) out of Northolt against the high-flying ju 86p/r's. he did indeed intercept at ju 86r, though did not shoot it down as his left cannon jammed as soon as he opened fire, at an altitude of approximately 44000 feet. his plane had the four .303s removed but still had the two 20mms. Do a search for Pilot Officer Emanuel Galitzine or read Aircraft of the Aces No. 5: Late Marque Spitfire Aces 1942-1945, every source will tell you he flew a stripped down mk IX. I can even tell you the serial number of the plane he flew, which was originally mislabeled as BF273 but later corrected to be BS273, which can be read at http://www.avhistory.org/scripts/Downloads3/download_stats_Top20.asp. really not attacking you, just saying, yes, he did fly a mk IX, and that you are right about the Mk Vs with No. 103.
We are both mixing our stories. I have both "Late Marque Spitfre Aces" and "Spitfire Mark V Aces", both by Dr. Alfred Price, and yes, Galitzine did intercept a Ju-86P at 44,000 feet. I didn't claim that he didn't,
The highest official flight ceiling for a PR Spitfire was 46,500 feet in the pressurised PR. X with the specalised Merlin 77. They could, and did, go higher, but it really wasn't necessary.
Even a 190K needs about 7-8 minutes to get up to this altitude. In that time the Spitfire has done close to 50 miles.
My anecdote refers not to operations over the UK in 1944, but operations over Egypt in 1942 with No 145 Sqn... Pilot Officer George Glenders is credited with the kill of a Ju-86P at 42,000 feet, for the first intercept of a Ju-86P.
The RAF online history section goes on to say that; "Subsequently, Ju-86Ps were intercepted and brought down from heights of 45,000 and 50,000 feet" Which is ambigous enough to encompase all high altitude Spitfire operations from that point until the end of the war.