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If "bounced" while cruising at low speeds it could take a Spitfire up to two minutes to accelerate to top speed. [58] The only way it was thought that a Spitfire could evade attack was to cruise at high speed and go into a shallow dive with the throttle open. Provided the Fw 190 was seen in time, it could be forced into a long stern chase. [57]
Different wings, featuring a variety of weapons, were fitted to most marks; the A wing used eight .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns, the B wing had four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns and two 20 mm (.79 in) Hispano cannons, and the C, or universal, wing could mount either four 20 mm (.79 in) cannons or two 20 mm (.79 in) and four .303 in (7.7 mm ...
The use of these prefixes did not change according to the wings, which could be fitted with "clipped" tips, reducing the wingspan to about 32 ft 6 in (9.9 m) (this could vary slightly), or the "pointed" tips which increased the wingspan to 40 ft 2 in (12.29 m). Spitfire F Mk XIIs of 41 Sqn.
These guns were 50 calibers long, 50 times their 16-inch (406 mm) bore diameter with barrels 66.7 ft (20.3 m) long, from chamber to muzzle. Each gun weighed about 239,000 lb (108 t) without the breech, and 267,900 lb (121.5 t) with the breech. [1]
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 It was already outdated when it first flew in 1938 and, despite repeated modification, never attained a competitive performance.
The matter of a seaborne Spitfire was raised again in November 1939 when the Air Ministry allowed a Commander Ermen to fly a Spitfire I. After his first flight in R6718 , Ermen soon learned that Joseph Smith , Chief Designer at Supermarine, had been instructed to fit an "A-frame" arrestor hook on a Spitfire and that this had flown on 16 October ...
Most newcomers exit the water after around two to three minutes, but others can stay in for 15 minutes or even 30 minutes depending on their body tolerance, Rain said.
Spitfire PR Mk XIs were capable of a top speed of 417 mph (671 km/h) at 24,000 ft (7,300 m) and could cruise at 395 mph (636 km/h) at 32,000 ft (9,800 m). Normally Spitfire XIs cruised between these altitudes although, in an emergency, the aircraft could climb to 44,000 ft (13,000 m) However, pilots could not withstand such altitudes for long ...