Spitfire wheel well walls

[Peter Roberts]

I was surprised to see that recent Spitfire kits (eg. Eduard) have depicted the walls of the wheel wells (where the wheel sits) in the Mk VIII and Mk IX as sloped. 

 

So, was this also the case with earlier Marks? (eg I, V) I have looked at heaps of photos and video of earlier Marks but haven't been able to find anything definitive on the wheel well wall set up for these earlier versions. Any info on this?

 

If not the case with these earlier Marks, when did the change happen? My (uneducated) thought is this may have happened when there was a change in undercarriage geometry (?) - so Vc also affected?

 

Any information on this appreciated

 

PR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gingerbob]

Now that you mention it, it does seem as if there'd be more of a "fore-aft" movement with the (relatively) forward rake of the 'c' wing's gear leg.  I never really thought about it, but I'm still over-awed by the idea of calculating those sorts of angular dynamics.

[BS_w]

11 hours ago, gingerbob said:

Now that you mention it, it does seem as if there'd be more of a "fore-aft" movement with the (relatively) forward rake of the 'c' wing's gear leg.  I never really thought about it, but I'm still over-awed by the idea of calculating those sorts of angular dynamics.

the vertical angle of leg pintle was 17°30 on early models, to 20° on later models, so the wheel well was inclined

Best wishes!!!

[Work In Progress]

All Spitfire wheel wells have sloped walls to accommodate the geometry of the retraction.  I don't believe the angles of the walls of the well were changed when they tweaked the geometry, but even if they were it wouldn't have been a change discernable to the observer on a small scale model,  There were however visible variations in the roof of the well during the evolution life of the Spitfire. Some had bulges above the retracted wheel, and some had bulged undercarriage doors. 

for example, see http://spitfiresite.com/2010/04/spitfire-mk-ix-xi-and-xvi-variants-much-varied.html/3 which alludes to some of this. 

Edited January 1, 2019 by Work In Progress

[Peter Roberts]

Thank you gentlemen - appreciate the info.

 

PR