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The Speed Spitfire was a Supermarine Spitfire Mk I, re-engined and modified for an attempt on the world air speed record. It was already outdated when it first flew in 1938 and, despite repeated modification, never attained a competitive performance.
Mitchell did not work himself to death on the Spitfire. He did, however, continue to work despite the pain of his illness, tweaking and perfecting the Spitfire design up until his death. The famous Rolls-Royce Merlin engine was named after a bird of prey, following the Rolls-Royce convention adopted for its piston aircraft engine designs. [13]
The aircraft went on to break the world air speed record when it reached a speed of 407.5 miles per hour (655.8 km/h) that year. [77] Mitchell was awarded the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) on 29 December 1931 for services in connection with the Schneider Trophy contest.
A top speed of 423 mph (681 km/h) at 18,500 ft (5,639 m) was predicted. However, constant problems with the development of the Griffon meant that the decision to proceed with building a Spitfire with this engine didn't come to fruition until 1942, with the successful flight trials of the Mk IV.
Over the next few months, W4050 surpassed this estimate, easily beating the Spitfire Mk.II in tests at RAF Boscombe Down in February 1941, reaching a top speed of 392 mph (631 km/h) at 22,000 ft (6,700 m), compared to a top speed of 360 mph (580 km/h) at 19,500 ft (5,900 m) for the Spitfire. [3]
The enlarged tail improved handling but caused a further drop in top speed. [12] The Spiteful was found to be faster than the Spitfire, but the increase in speed was not as great as had been expected. The Spiteful had more adverse compressibility effects and poorer stalling characteristics than its predecessor. [13]
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The backing vocals on "Spitfire" are performed by Juliette Lewis. [1] The song has been included in The Sopranos, Gotham, [2] House of Wax and The Unborn soundtracks. It was previously the intro song at all of the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames home games and is also used as the ringwalk theme of boxer George Groves.