Which side would you fly for?....... (1 Viewer)

Which side would you fly for?

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Thanks one of the chalenges of reading about the Spitfire, and for that matter it seams a good bit of RAF fighters is the different wing types that could hold different arms. I am always learning. Were the .303 rounds effective? The rifle round seems light against fighters and armor?
 
The Spitfire Mk. IX was a mere stop gap, it was just a Mk. V with a new Merlin 61 engine. The Mk. VIII was the definitive Fighter and the E wing carried two 20mm and two .50cal.
The only reason the IX seems to be seen as better is because of its larger production run, which continued until 1945. It wasn't better. Some pilots say the VIII was the best overall.

'A' Wing eight .30 cal.
'B' Wing two 20mm and four .30cal
'C' Wing four 20mm.
'E' Wing two 20mm and two .50cal.
 
The .303 wasn't especially effective. The round lacks the hitting power to punch through armor and the holes it produced were small enough to be plugged by self-sealing tanks. It's advantages were it's lightweight and high rate of fire. It was alright early in the war, but as fighters became better armored it was clearly outclassed.
 
I like the Spitfire in general, Lanc. The best war variant was the Mk. XVIII. I was just saying some pilots thought the VIII was the best. LG, the Spit had the choice of four armaments, the B and E wings were the majority wings, if I remember correctly.
 
I think the B wing was far and away the most common. I've seen several Spits with the 4 20mm, but they are all later models. I don't think I've ever seen a Spit with the E wing.
 
They were mostly used on the VIII. I've seen quite a few C winged Spitfires. The B wing was the most used without a doubt.
 
If the IX was to be the stop gap why was the prduction run to 1945 after the XIV and others were its better? I have not read much on the VIII, so that must be added to the list.
 
Because it was good enough to carry on production, plus the fact we had plenty of V airframes and Merlin 60s to go in them.
 
You will find alot of times governments don't want to interrupt production of a proven weapon. The Spit. IX was still a very good fighter and (I'm guessing) the RAF was looking for more fighters period. Also, the availability of the Griffon may have played a role. But those are just guesses.
 
The main reason was the abundance of V airframes, but the VIII was still the best Merlin engined Spitfire in many peoples opinions. The pilots that flew them hold them in high regard, but then again so do many IX pilots.
The Mk.XVIII was still the best war variant though.
 
I don't know the full service of the VIII but I know it saw dedicated service over the jungles of Burma. It could certainly beat a Zero into submission, even at its own game. There were only around 1,300 VIIIs built, if I remember correctly. This shouldn't give the idea of an inferior plane. Remember the VIII was a new airframe while the IX was just the old V airframe with a Merlin 61 engine.
There's no denying the IX was a good plane, but the VIII, in a lot of peoples opinions, was the greatest Merlin engined Spitfire.
 
plan_D said:
They were mostly used on the VIII. I've seen quite a few C winged Spitfires. The B wing was the most used without a doubt.
Click to expand...

'Coupla Mk.Vb Spits in Nord Afrika had the "C" wing with 2 Hispanos in each wing.





In response to lanc's "the spit's wing's a bit thin for .50 ammo" comment, are 20mm rounds thinner, then?
 
The .50cals were carried right next to the 20mms weren't they? If they were carried further out the wing might have been prohibitively thin but I don't think that was the case.
 
Some numbers on guns thanks. The Spitfire was just a very good design to be pushed and pulled in all the different directions. That also says a lot for the Merlin engines.
 
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