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Vol 2 All the Spitfire questions here


Sean_M

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On which version of the Spitfire did the Narrow Wing (Cannon) Bulge first appear ? Was it the late production Vcs ?

TIA

The reason for me asking is because the Alley Cat Vb to Vc late wing conversion kit shows narrow cannon bulges. This seems to be at variance with Bob's reply above re "production" Mk VIIs.

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It seems to have been only early aircraft which were affected; the panel was deleted in November 1941

Thanks for that everyone. I can imagine condensation forming after a decent from high altitude into moist air coveringinstrument faces and maybe the inside of the windscreen but I don't think I've ever seen a photograph of a canopy with the panel punched out so it must have been very infrequent (if at all) and as Edgar says, deleted fairly soon. I wonder what Hawkers did with their Hurricane to get around the same problem?

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Thanks for that everyone. I can imagine condensation forming after a decent from high altitude into moist air coveringinstrument faces and maybe the inside of the windscreen but I don't think I've ever seen a photograph of a canopy with the panel punched out so it must have been very infrequent (if at all) and as Edgar says, deleted fairly soon. I wonder what Hawkers did with their Hurricane to get around the same problem?

The Hurricane has a knock out panel too, front lower port on the sliding part.

see http://spitfirespares.co.uk/My%20Hurricane/hurricane%20114.jpg

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Hey, you two, this is a Spitfire thread- we'll have none of that Hawker nonsense here!

Tongue firmly in cheek...

bob

p.s. Forgot to mention that I hadn't been aware of that, Troy!

Edited by gingerbob
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Skypilot - I recently built one of these (a Mk II ASR Spit) and received a lot of help from contributors to this forum, so may be worth a search of the forum.

The Mk II had dinghies stored in the flare tubes in the belly of the plane - these tubes were integral with the Mk II so I'm not sure if these were installed in the Mk V. They also carried a Light Stores Carrier under the port wing, near the centre line, apparently for smoke marker bombs - would think the Mk V had these.

Codes were typically yellow, I believe, on the Spitfires. They also had a 12" black stripe along the belly from spinner to tail, but I am not sure of the date when this was introduced.

Hope that helps a little

PR

Edit - note also, these aircraft may also have the later IFF, with the aerial beneath the starboard wing (?) and likely have the wing strengthening strips above the wheel wells.

Edited by Peter Roberts
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Hey, you two, this is a Spitfire thread- we'll have none of that Hawker nonsense here!

Tongue firmly in cheek...

bob

p.s. Forgot to mention that I hadn't been aware of that, Troy!

Maybe they should have put one on the Meatbox as well! A77-1 after windscreen misted up on the descent. OK, it's not a Spit and it's post war, but still 'close' to topic.

A77-001_19_zpsntodcl8r.jpg

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I have found the following in a history of Spitfire Vb EP120 which was in service, as AE-A, with 402 Squadron at the time

"The aircraft was then modified, with clipped wings and supercharger, blades cropped to boost power."

Does that mean that the existing engine (M45) was modified or was a different engine fitted. If the original engine was simply modified would this have been sufficient to qualify the a/c as a "proper" LF or was this an instance of the wingtip vs engine confusion.

BMers opinions would be appreciated.

Edited by Sky Pilot
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Not wishing to hijack this thread, but just as a brief addition to Troys' post about the Hurricane canopy, a few of 20 Sqn Hurris in the Far East had this panel locally modified to hinge inwards and rearwards. The reason behind this escapes me at the moment but if anyone is interested I could dig out some photos and documentation on the whys and wherefores.

I will now return you to your regular programming............

Cheers

Dave

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Sorry for messing in this topic but I don't get on well with search engines. I'm slowly working on Eduard's Spitfire VIII and next step is to install harness. Eduard's manual suggests putting a part of the harness into the hole at the backrest of the seat. But I'm pretty sure that in Spitfires any part of the harness goes through this hole. How should I install it?

The second issue is about the leather covering backrest - was is black or brown, and how far was is put on the back side of the backrest.

Thank you for your support.

Dominik

Edited by DominikS
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Shifting topics, I'm building Eduard's new bubble top Spitfire as an EDSG over MSG post-war SAAF Mk. IX (5503 'AX*B') using Alley Cat's decals. Does anyone know (or able to make a guess) as to what sort of stencils, if any, this machine would have had? I'm also trying to figure out if this aircraft had long or short cannon barrels. If there's a photo of this aircraft somewhere out there that can be posted that would be much appreciated. My internet efforts have turned up only artists' renderings - nice to look at, but not definitive.

Hope I'm not inappropriately straying into WW2 territory with this post-war subject, but I've chosen to interpret the heading "All" the Spitfire Questions broadly.

Thanks.

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Shifting topics, I'm building Eduard's new bubble top Spitfire as an EDSG over MSG post-war SAAF Mk. IX (5503 'AX*B') using Alley Cat's decals. Does anyone know (or able to make a guess) as to what sort of stencils, if any, this machine would have had? I'm also trying to figure out if this aircraft had long or short cannon barrels. If there's a photo of this aircraft somewhere out there that can be posted that would be much appreciated. My internet efforts have turned up only artists' renderings - nice to look at, but not definitive.

Hope I'm not inappropriately straying into WW2 territory with this post-war subject, but I've chosen to interpret the heading "All" the Spitfire Questions broadly.

Thanks.

Hi there,

A quick google and I found this

a68a419bd2c902682d7d4e447212f0d9.jpg

This seems to point to it being MH534 - Taken from the Spitfire List;

MH534 LFIX CBAF M66 33MU 24-8-43 222MU 30-8-43 Empire Grebe 15-9-43 Casablanca 29-9-43 NAfricanASC 31-10-43 601S SOC 23-10-44

This is odd, as it states the aircraft was Struck Off Charge in '44. Usually, it will have "Sold to SAAF" or "delivered to SAAF". My best guess is that it is indeed an ex-RAF aircraft and was therefore painted over at an MU (or equiv) and, therefore, would not have any stencils.

This is purely speculative, I'm sure someone else will provide a better answer!

Ben

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Not MH534 but NH534, according to Spitfire International. This is also as listed in Spitfire The History.

Ah, cheers!

NH534 HFIX CBAF M70 MU 31-5-44 124S 14-7-44 504S 20-1-45 Miles Aircraft 14-4-45 6MU 28-7-45 SAAF 2-6-47

No idea why it went to Miles Aircraft, servicing maybe? It did go to an MU then!

Spitfire%20MkIX%205503%20at%20East%20Lon

Nice pic! No stencils by the looks of things :P

Ben

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Many thanks for all the helpful responses. The photos are fascinating, although they've raised a different set of questions. The first photo of Spitfire 5503, apparently taken in the late 1940s, reveals several significant differences between the aircraft pictured and the Alley Cat decals. The center of the roundel is a round dot, while the decals have a springbok in the center. The spinner in the photo does not appear yellow, as suggested by Alley Cat, and looks darker.

On the other hand, the second photo, apparently taken later, shows underwing springbok roundels, although this seems to be a different aircraft with a different number (5509).

At this point, I'm thing about using circular roundel centers for a/c 5503, with a red or blue spinner.

Any sense of whether the aircraft would have carried the "B*AX" codes on the fuselage at this time?

Is anyone aware of any photographic evidence that by 1951 (the date given by both Alley Cat and the profile kindly posted by Ben), Spitfire 5503 actually wore the "springbok scheme"?

A lot of questions, I know, but the people on this site have an extraordinary depth of knowledge.

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No idea why it went to Miles Aircraft, servicing maybe?

Miles was part of the Civil Repair Organisation, as well as an aircraft manufacturer; the "visit" could have been when the conversion to E wing happened.
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next step is to install harness. Eduard's manual suggests putting a part of the harness into the hole at the backrest of the seat. But I'm pretty sure that in Spitfires any part of the harness goes through this hole. How should I install it?

The second issue is about the leather covering backrest - was is black or brown, and how far was is put on the back side of the backrest.

This has been a hot debate for years, and the Patrick Stevens book, on Airfix's 1/24 Mk.I, does not show the straps going through the seat; a friend of mine works for an aircraft rebuilder, and he's adamant that the plastic seat was unlikely to take the strain, while metal seats could.

It isn't easy to see, but the line of the straps, in the Spitfire manual (right,) runs straight up behind the back of the seat; the Hurricane manual (left) (as did the Typhoon, later) shows a definite "kink" in the straps where they did go through the seat backrest.

The backrest cover seems to have been black, possibly because it was made from Basil leather (sheep.) It wrapped round the back, about 3", and had series of eyelets, through which a length of cord was laced, in order to pull it tight.

Hurricane%20amp%20Spitfire_zpsbm02ffcc.j

Edited by Edgar
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