20240915 (471)_EP120_Supermarine_Spitfire_Vc
Although the engine power had been slightly increased moving from the Mk I to Mk II Spitfire, the first major update of the aircraft to see squadron service - and incidentally become the most produced single variant - was the Spitfire Mark V. This introduced the Rolls Royce Merlin 45 series of engines, optimised for low or high flight. The fuselage was strengthened internally and the wing redesigned more than once: production ranged from the original "a" wing with 4 0.303 Browning machine guns on each side through the far more numerous "b" wing designed for a single 20mm cannon and retaining the two outboard Brownings to the universal "c" wing that could hold two 20mm cannon or one plus the Brownings. The stub outboard of the 20mm on this Spitfire (EP120, shown taxiing in after participating in the Big Wing finale of Duxford's Battle of Britain Airshow on 15th September) shows it to have the last wing design, which in this case is clipped outboard of the aileron to increase roll rate, a change that spoils that wonderful ellipse. Spitfire Vs restored equality with the Me109F but proved inferior to the FW190A, requiring further development of the Merlin to again restore the balance.
20240915 (471)_EP120_Supermarine_Spitfire_Vc
Although the engine power had been slightly increased moving from the Mk I to Mk II Spitfire, the first major update of the aircraft to see squadron service - and incidentally become the most produced single variant - was the Spitfire Mark V. This introduced the Rolls Royce Merlin 45 series of engines, optimised for low or high flight. The fuselage was strengthened internally and the wing redesigned more than once: production ranged from the original "a" wing with 4 0.303 Browning machine guns on each side through the far more numerous "b" wing designed for a single 20mm cannon and retaining the two outboard Brownings to the universal "c" wing that could hold two 20mm cannon or one plus the Brownings. The stub outboard of the 20mm on this Spitfire (EP120, shown taxiing in after participating in the Big Wing finale of Duxford's Battle of Britain Airshow on 15th September) shows it to have the last wing design, which in this case is clipped outboard of the aileron to increase roll rate, a change that spoils that wonderful ellipse. Spitfire Vs restored equality with the Me109F but proved inferior to the FW190A, requiring further development of the Merlin to again restore the balance.