Spitfire VIII upper cowling - one or two types?

[warhawk]

Hello,

 

I ran across this very informative article:

Spitfire Mk. IX, XI and XVI: Variants Much Varied

It details IX and XVI upper cowling types - early (standard) and and later (bulged).

 

However, it does not cover the Mk.VII and VIII.

Were these two types of cowling present in production of these two versions too, or only one was used?

[Graham Boak]

I've not seen any comment regarding the fitting of the later cowling to Mk.VIIs or Mk.VIIIs, and would doubt it.  There are a couple of reasons to think it unlikely.  Both of these variants were produced by Supermarine, whereas comments on the later cowling seem to be linked to Castle Bromwich production.  Also, they had been superseded in production by the Mk.XIV, so the production of these types and the late cowling are likely not to have overlapped.

[Max Headroom]

I read somewhere many years ago that a restorer wanted to utilise a Mk.IX cowling on an VIII (or was it the other way around?). Anyway it wouldn't fit.

 

Trevor