Supermarine Spitfire (Replica)
|
| Type
| Single seat fighter
|
| Manufacturer
| Vickers Armstrong
|
| Designer
| RJ Mitchell
|
| Maiden flight
| 5th March, 1936
|
| Introduced
| RAF - 1938
|
| Retired
| RAF - 1952
|
| Primary users
| RAF,
|
| Number built
| 20,351
|
| Variants
| Seafire, Spiteful, griffon engine variants
|
|
Some views of the display:
|
|
The Aircraft On Display
The Spitfire replica represents a Mark LF-XVI E, numbered TB592. According to details at the adf-serials website
(See References / Links) it entered service with RAAF 451 squadron on 3rd February 1945,
subsequently serving with RAF 451, 164, 577 and 288 squadrons before being retired as an instructional airframe.
The LF-XVI was basically a Spitfire Mark IX with a U.S.-built Packard Merlin engine. It also
bore extra fuel tankage, and the larger tail fin and teardrop hood of later Spitfire marks. The clipped
wings on the replica (standard for this mark) reveal its intended use for low-level operations.
Type History
(See the listing under "Aircraft")
Specifications (LF-XVIE)
General characteristics
| Length: | 31 ft 4 in (9.55 m)
| | Height: | 12 ft 7 1/2 in (3.85 m)
| | Wingspan | 32 ft 7 in (9.93 m)
| | Powerplant: | Rolls Royce Packard V-1650-7 Merlin, 1,670 hp
| | Weight: | empty 5,985 lb (2,715 kg), gross 8,700 lb (3,950 kg)
| Performance
| Maximum speed: | 416 mph (670 kmph)
| | Range: | 712 mi (1146 km)
| | Service ceiling: | 42,500 ft (13,000 m)
| Armament
| Guns: | Two 20mm canon Two 0.5in Browning machine guns
| | Bombs: | One 500lb and two 250lb
|
|
| |
References / Links
TB592 listed at adf-serials.com