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Supermarine Spitfire Mk. 1

Supermarine Spitfire Mk I


Spitfires of County of Chester Squadron Auxiliary Air Force, Biggin Hill, on patrol August, 1940

Typical Spitfire Mk IA Specifications
Manufacturer: Supermarine
Length: 29 ft 11 in
Wing Span: 36 ft 10 in
Height: 12 ft 7.75 in
Speed: 365 mph at 19,000 ft
Range: 575 miles
Ceiling: 34,000 ft
Armament: eight .303 in Browning mg with 300 rounds per gun
Engine: Rolls-Royce Merlin III 12-cylinder V inline, 1,030 hp at take-off
Climb: 9 minutes 24 seconds to 20,000 ft
Weight empty/loaded: 4,810/6,200 lbs

The first Supermarine aeroplane to bear the name Spitfire was a single-seat fighter to meet the Air Ministry F.7/30 specification. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with fixed landing-gear and was fitted with a 600 hp Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine. From this type, which was not successful, was evolved as a Private Venture a new prototype to which the name Spitfire was transferred and around which the Air Ministry F.37/34 specification was written. Into this prototype Mr R J Mitchell incorporated the fruitful results of the experience gained in the design of his series of high-speed seaplanes which had previously won three successive Schnider Trophy Contasts and established three World Speed Records.

The prototype F.37/34 Spitfire, which was fitted with one of the first Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, flew in March, 1936. With a fixed-pitch wooden airscrew the prototype had a maximum speed of 342 mph, which classed it at that time as the fastest military aeroplane in the World.

The soundness of the basic design was proved in six years of war, throughout which the Rolls-Royce-engined Spitfire, in its many progressive developments, remained a first-line fighter. Apart from fighter duties the Spitrire was also used for photographic-reconnaissance. The first photographic mission by an unarmed Spitfire was made on November 18, 1939.

The Spitfire was to become the most important British fighter of WW2. It was the only Allied fighter at the start of WW2 that could meet the Bf-109 on equal terms. The Spitfire was faster and more manoeuvrable than the Bf-109, however was out-performed by the Bf-109 in a climb. Like the Hurricane, the Spitfire suffered from the lack of fuel injection during negative G manoeuvres. The early Spitfires suffered from several problems. Production initially was slow, and they were few in number at the start of the war. The Spitfire was not flown from bases in France during 1940, only from bases in Great Britain. The Spitfire also had a rather short range and weak firepower.

Successive stages of Spitfire development:

Spitfire I. Rolls-Royce Merlin III engine. First fitted with a two-blade wood fixed-blade airscrew. Subsequently replaced by a D.H. three-blade duralumin two-position controllable-pitch airscrew, and later by a D.H. three-blade duralumin bracket-type controllable-pitch airscrew. Armament : (Mk IA) eight .303 in machine-guns, or (Mk IB) two 20 mm cannon and four .303 in guns, all in the wings. First production deliveries to Nos. 19 and 66(F) Squadrons in 1938. Dimensions : Span 36 ft 10 in, Length 29 ft 11 in.

To be continued...

Source: The War in the Air by Gene Gurney, Major, USAF, Jane's Fighting Aircraft of WWII, and "The Anatomy of Aircraft"