Spitfire upper wing reinforcement strakes

[Pascal]

Hello,

I have a question about the spitfire upper wing reinforcement strakes on the Mk V. Were these installed standard, or was it a modification ? And were they installed on other marks of Spitfires ?

Here you see them on AB910 :

(paulnann.com)

And on EP120 :

(fightercollection.com)

But I've seen pictures of Mk V's without them, and pictures of Mk I's or II's that had them.

All help is welcome

Greetings

Pascal

[Test Graham]

They were fitted to the early wing, A or B armament, as a post-production modification. They are not often seen on front-line service aircraft, some of the LF aircraft excepted. The C wing and later aircraft had thicker skins in this area, but it remained a weakpoint on all Spitfires.

[Fmk.6john]

Exactly what Graham says..........I was told just that with the addition that they run over the part of the wing that has the wheel wells in it, and with that particular wing it required strengthening.

JB.

[Pascal]

Thanks for the anwers and explanation

I don't know if its allowed to ask a lot of questions, but here's another one :

In this picture you can see, 2 "exhausts" in the white section of the roundel. The one on the right wing is bigger then the left one. Any idea what their purpose is ? :

Thanks

Greetings

Pascal

[Jennings Heilig]

I don't know if its allowed to ask a lot of questions, but here's another one :

In this picture you can see, 2 "exhausts" in the white section of the roundel. The one on the right wing is bigger then the left one. Any idea what their purpose is ? :

I believe those are the gun heater exhausts. Why one is shorter than the other is a mystery to me.

J

[Obi-Jiff Kenobi]

I believe those are the gun heater exhausts. Why one is shorter than the other is a mystery to me.

J

Perhaps it's to do with the torque from the propeller - maybe they had to have less air exhausting from one wingtip than the other so as not to upset the balance of the aeroplane too much. That's only a guess, mind.

[Pascal]

Thanks !

Am I correct in assuming that these were only fitted to Spits that had the 8 browning guns ? Like the Mk I, II and the Va ?

Greetings

Pascal

[Test Graham]

This question has appeared on another site, where it was suggested (but not yet confirmed, I think) that later variants had electric heaters, hence no need for vents. The ducts for exhaust gases are shown in the Mk.V Manual, so they presumably were there on the Mk.Vc too.

[Pascal]

I've looked at some pictures of Vc's, but have not found the exhausts. Like this one AR 614 :

http://www.cybermodeler.com/aircraft/spitf...re5c_walk.shtml

As for the strakes, I found this on another site : "...unless your model predates 27-1-42. Mod 532, which stiffened the upper skin, on the Va & Vb, was incorporated from that date. Mod 529 (also for stiffening) for the Vc, was entirely inside the wheel wells, so nothing was visible; this commenced 16-12-41".

(Posted by Edgar on ARC)

Greetings

Pascal

Edited January 16, 2009 by Pascal

[Test Graham]

I'd be happier with a good period photo than one from a warbird.

As I recall, Edgar found a string of modifications to the wheel-well area for strengthening. It is perhaps worth repeating that although nothing may have been visible on the outside, on the universal (or c) wing the undercarriage leg is lower and the wheel door curved to allow for this, and the upper wing was flush rather than bulged. Later a new bulge was added, but that's another story.....

[Pascal]

Thank you for your reply Graham,

It's a shame that this sort of information is hard to find, I got about a dozen books on the Spitfire, but - although there is often a chapter about the different marks of Spitfire - this sort of details is never mentioned. I find it very interesting and from a modeller's point of view, information about these details are always welcome.

Thanks everyone for the help, it's very much appreciated

Yours sincerely

Pascal

[Edgar]

Mod 529 was given a 4B classification, which meant that it was possible to carry out the work away from the factory; the VC mod (532) had a classification of 2, which puts it into the "factory only" bracket. Some aircraft were retrofitted with mod 529; our local Mk.I AR213 had one standard, and one stiffened, wing for years, until its recent rebuild.

The hot air exhausts were deleted, as mod 710, from 26-1-43. They were an early fitting; it's possible to see them on K5054, the prototype, on the cover of a recent book "Schneider Trophy to Spitfire," about R.J.Mitchell. I suspect (can't be absolutely certain, of course) that the different size, in the extractor fairing, had something to due with the radiator and oil cooler dissimilarity in size, and heat generated. It's also possible that the extra size of the cannon bay needed extra heating, so that's why the exhausts were eliminated.

Edgar

[Pascal]

Thank you for the information Edgar.

Greetings Pascal