Supermarine Spitfire Mk.VIII; The One That Kind of Missed the Bus
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- Опубликовано: 21 апр 2021
- It seems odd to classify a Spitfire as a "might-have-been" aircraft, but the Mk.VIII arguably qualifies.
Checkout Matt @ModelMinutes video on his kit build of the Mk.VIII and my brief history of the types use in American service:
• Eduard Spitfire Mk. VI...
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The RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) used 251 LF Mk VIIIs (A58-300/550) and 159 HF Mk VIIIs (A58-600/758) in the Pacific Theatre. One still flies today here.
Indeed one does. It's now part of the flying collection of Temora Aviation Museum and is painted as the personal aircraft of RAAF Ace, Wing Commander Robert Henry Maxwell “Bobby” Gibbes DSO, DFC and BAR, OAM.
@@C0wCakes Grey Nurse?
_Grey Nurse_ , Arguably the prettiest Spitfire of them all
I have been visiting a mk viii for my whole life, there's one on display at the military museum in Johannesburg, South Africa, finally some info on the thing!
TOKOLOSHE 100 :
And my son and me we have been seating in the cockpit of that polished aluminium plane, courtesy of the Museum Curator, my good friend, Capt. Spears.!!
We'll allways feel honored.
(And also on its
Me-262).
Johannesburg? I'm guessing you're dead by now if you live there
@@zajagter2888 ja they killed me good
My ex-boss always maintained the Mk VIII was his favourite , but then told me that the XIV was a 'more brutal beast that would suit you much better', he always did have his own way with complements etc. Pity is I never flew either of them : )
My flying club had a two seater Mk IX hanging about for a few days earning money after the air show, I didn’t know so I saved a fortune but .......
Actually one of my favourite spits. I remember reading as a kid pilots saying it was the best to fly! Thanks for this 👍
Kind of "Sweet spot" in development from the flyer's perspective. Much like the Bf109F which pilots considered the best handling version.
I find your analysis and observations fascinating Ed. Not only your encyclopaedic knowledge of aircraft types, but your posts that raise awareness of little known "unattractive" wars that the media ignore, yet still cause untold suffering and injustice. Good for you mate.
Cheers man
@@EdNashsMilitaryMatters Thanks for your work......don't like to suggest this, but for the full geek, how about a piece on Spit props.? As they seem to evolve greatly.
@@EdNashsMilitaryMattersif you do a video on a lesser known SpItfire variant you should do the Tr Mk9 two seat trainer (not to be confused with the actual Mk9)
Just a hint in Australia we say "R double A F" for the RAAF, and thanks it was an interesting story relating to my Home town of Darwin in Northern Australia where these aircraft actually protected the City in which I live!
LOL! Ahhhh, yes that is a lot easier, I shall bear that in mind in future. Thanks! :)
I heard that they were just called riff-RAAF... or was it riff-RAFf...
Was just about to comment to say exactly the same thing! R-double A-F. Or 'Raaf' as a single word.
@@Captaincinquo I have heard the RAF (Britain) referred to as RAFF before, and as this has an international Audience I didn't want to confuse it even more.
But let's not forget that from mid-1944 to the end of October 1945 the Mk VIIIs of No. 1 Wing RAAF were in fact operated by RAF squadrons. Nos 548 and 549 were formed in early '44 but were not operational with their spits prior to 1st July. The pilots of the two squadrons were RAF while the ground crew were RAAF. The squadrons became operational at a time when the Japanese had already started their withdrawal in SE Asia and, as a result, no further attacks were made on Darwin after mid-1944.
I was in a model store last week.trying to deside between a P40 RAAF Colours decals ,a thunderbolt,or a Spitfire Vlll with clipped wings,thanks for the help I'm going to buy them all.
Top notch history right there! Thanks for taking part in this collab! :D
Absolute pleasure mate :)
Might be nice to see a video about one of the rarest Spitfire’s to actually enter service, the Mk.XII, only ever operated by two squadrons and less than 100 built.
The Mark VIII was indeed a victim of the circumstances.
I've liked it from the first moment I found out about it.
Thanks for this episode!
9:59 A58-303, a glorious example! 🙂
A little over a week ago I was watching our local Mk viii flying around. Beautiful to watch, beautiful sound.
I'll admit, I'm jealous :)
Thanks for that story of the Mk VIII. A note on that one picture with the tailwheel not retracted. Post war a lot of USAF Reserve and Air Guard units would lock the tail wheel down in the Mustangs to cut down on the chance it would fail to extend and cause serious damage on landing. May haps that particular Mk VIII was done the same way postwar, maybe it's markings could shed light on when and what unit it belonged to.
A58-303 was in No 1 APU (Air Performance Unit) RAAF, based in Laverton, Victoria, Australia and formed in Dec 1943. Maybe, because the unit performed evaluations on new aircraft & aircraft mods, the tailwheel was locked out to prevent accidental damage, as evaulation squadrons would probably have had many pilots rotate through multiple aircraft for different performance evaluation requirements. Just a guess, but locking out the tailwheel was one less thing to worry about and one less thing that could go wrong!
PhotoRecon versions of the Spitfire would make a terrific episode
Well done Ed! This one has a personal connection. My late dad flew Dakotas over Burma (RCAF, based at RAF Tulehal) supporting the 14th Army's drive on Mandalay as part of the Combat Cargo Task Force. When I was little, one of his flying stories was of being escorted by Spits following an incident where they were bounced by Oscars while doing an airdrop NW of Mandalay (a place called Schwebo). He said the Spit drivers would get bored on the long flight from Tulehal across several jungle ranges into the Irrawaddy plain, and one activity they liked to do was fly alongside and try to knock off the Dakota's most outboard wing static wicks with the Spit's wingtip. At the drop zone, the Dakotas would loiter ("Stooging") while the Spitfires provided top cover and RAF Thunderbolts and B-25s would suppress the Japanese near the DZ until given the all clear to go in for their drops. These Spitfires would have been Mark VIIIs with either 152 or 607 Sqn, both based at Tulihal in late '44, early "45.
There's a fantastic account of one of these airdrops (from the point of view of the ground troops collecting the merchandise) in George MacDonald Fraser's "Quartered Safe Out Here". It was the second funniest chapter in the book, the funniest one being his account of interactions with the neighboring Gurkha unit.
Your Dad probably saved my grandads life. He was part of the Border regiment 2nd Battalion. Apparently the only supplies they could get were by airdrop and their artillery was pulled by donkeys. Without those supplies they wouldn't have been able to keep fighting and would have died either to the Japanese or the jungle. Unfortunately I never got to meet him and hear his story so I only know a few bits my dad remembered being told and what I've read online.
Your dad probably helped keep thousands of men like my grandad alive.
@@AutismIsUnstoppable Awesome!.. Dad came home in Sept '45 by ship after the squadron flew back to the UK via the middle east and Gibraltar (that trip is his last log book entries), with about 1000 hrs, went back to his hat manufacturing business and never flew again. I have all his souvenirs; a surrender leaflet dropped over Mandalay, a Japanese flag, a combat sword, and a bunch of other artifacts and pics.
@@AutismIsUnstoppable Your granddad was in George MacDonald Fraser's regiment in Burma. I'm sure you've read the book, it's a classic!
@@iskandartaib Never heard of Fraser until now... Ill have to get a copy of that book. Thanks
Bloody hell just finished Matt's video and you pop up - will I never get to eat my dinner?
Well , set your priorities ;)
The MkVIII other big contribution was to the development of the Griffon powered MkXIV. A more robust fuselage was needed to handle the extra power of the Griffon, and Supermarine went with the MkVIII as the starting point.
Also, a lot of the improvements on the MkVIII was trickled down to later production models of the MkIX, and the MkXVI(the revised rudder and more fuel tanks. On the MkXVI, the teardrop canopy was also adapted).
Then there is the related, more obscure MkVII. This was a high altitude version with a pressurized cockpit that was developed in parallel with the MkVIII.
Ya, I admit that the MkVIII is my favorite Mark of Spitfires.
Oh, and I do enjoy the your videos on obscure aircraft. The more obscure, the more enjoyable.
rokuth The MkXVI was a Mk IX plane with the PACKARD built in AMERICA merlin !!!!
Really well done video. One of best aircraft history videos I've watched.
Yay, the legend rolls on. Great service detail.
Additionally, this Mk VIII is quite possibly the prettiest mark. While later models were still sexy but a bit bulkier, this is her in her prime.
The prettiest and aerodynamically cleanest, due to the tucked in tail wheel and 4 blade propeller (whivh looks better than the XIV)
What a terrific video. I consider myself reasonably well informed on RAF WW2 fighter types, but I had no idea about the MK VIII. Thank you!
Yes you have filled a gap on you channel, very Informative videos. I look forward to the day you expand the channel
I am a certified Spitfire addict. I have been from early childhood and I am afraid it is something I and my loved ones have lived with and will have to endure as apparently it is not treatable. I realize it is not the most original and trendy thing to be, but I don't care. Thank you for making this video. I cringe when I see youtube videos about the plane I love and have studied obsessively, lustfully, for a life time. But I am so very glad that you made a video about it. It stands up with the rest of your catalogue as an example of what most of the internet isn't. Factual, well researched, insightful and still a pleasure to watch, entertaining and engaging. I am glad you made this video because the Mk IX is my favourite, but we both know the VIII is prettier, and I can't say it out loud so I am glad you did. I can't... the 9's will hear me. And the 5's... ssshhhhhhhh. Quiet now. Gotta go.
Mk VIII with a bubble canopy is IMHO the most elegant variant of them all: All wheels retractable, sleek canopy, and the Merlin's engine heads not poking out of the silhouette.
MkXVI had the teardrop with late Mk IXs the MkVIII was just a test bed.
@@smithy2389 A most elegant test bed.
The built up fuselage had more keel area for better 60 series engined yaw stability in the turn - especially with the tall rudder - and was faster. Not as pretty though.
Category 'obscure aircraft' isn't that why we subscribed to you? love them, the more obscure the better. I heard split peas were glued on to compare with flushed rivets, the difference was sufficient to keep flush rivets. Apropros fw 190, i and others of EOD RE (V) dug most of the front end of one in N Kent in a pond in the '70s, the 14 cylinder BMW engine was almost complete, oil seeping out was clear green like washing up liquid, parts that had ball bearings shone and spun once dunked into the oil like the day it was made, we were v impressed, oh I found the lower half of the pilot in his seat, papers confirmed his identity, once the coroner had oncluded he was deceased (!) his remains were repatriated to Hamburg, i think the aircraft bits went first to Biggin Hill.
Love your posts and your wry humour.
The Mk VIII is my favourite Spitfire variant, followed by the Mk XVI low-back. They just look right and had marvellous performance. A nice synergy is, of course, that the Mk VIII was also so prevalent in the RAAF (pronounced "R double A F", rather than "R.A.A.F") here in Australia. Well done, Ed, on another informative video.
Your channel has started to appear in my home page.
your videos are great!
Thank you!
Ed you've done it again your site is head and shoulders above all the others of it's type! Always a pleasure and each new episode is anxiously anticipated!!! Enjoy your show totally!!!! Keep up the inspired work!!!! And thanks!
i wish that you do a video on the field modified "Shadow Specials" lightened & improved Brewster B-339E Buffalo that was capable of 380 MPH in level flight, once 1.25 tons of unnecessary airframe arrestor hook & carrier operation bracing had been removed. The OEM clapped out second hand ex-commercial airliner engines (Brewster always put profits first) had been properly rebuilt & tuned.
Its why we come here ... but you can talk about anything that interests you Ed, I will be watching :)
So glad I found your channel. Keep up the great work.
Awesome - once again! Your channel and the work you do for it has become absolutely fascinating. Thank you.
It was kind of jarring to see a Spitfire in USAAF livery, but this video is easily one of the absolute best dissections & descriptions of the species. Thank you!
Reverse Lend-Lease was natural as USAAF lacked competitive fighters on entry; they got mauled in the Far East.
Our (American) pilots much appreciated flying not only a Merlin-powered fighters (Even Curtiss P-40 F and L Warhawks in addition to the Spitfire VIII) for their better medium - altitude performance.
@@bravo0105 the best fighter of the war was a collaboration the RAF was desperate for it the USAAC didn’t want it and then the RAF suddenly realized It’s a great airplane it just doesn’t have the right engine, I won’t insult everyone’s intelligence by assuming I need to actually identify it by name.
Also the Royal Navy had to teach the USN how to use the American built F4U , so there’s that too
@Phil Vanderlaan I’d be horrified attempting to land on a carrier with that much fuselage and cowling obscuring the deck.
The British and Commonwealth of WWII were ingenious.
Interesting thing with the Corsair. To fit in the hangars of the RN “Armoured Carriers” (a fantastic RUclips channel) the wingtips had to be shortened (US Carriers did not have Armoured decks and had taller hangers). This cured a floating down the deck and crashing problem with the Corsair, the RN also messed with the landing gear which was tough but bounced too much leading to jumping arrester wires and crashing, that cut the bounce down. Also if a Corsair stalled” it had a high approach speed” it dropped a wing and flipped, hopefully into the sea, a mod to the leading edge of the other wing meant they stalled together and the pilot had more chance to power up if he had altitude or land in the sea the right way up, he might survive. The curved approach method was adopted early on by the RN, Pilot could see the deck through the dip in wing when he straightened up he was touching down. Powerful fighter much appreciated by the Brits. Visit Armoured Carriers lots of real footage and talk from those who where there. Interesting article on Wikipedia British Pacific Fleet see this link: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Pacific_Fleet
I did not realise how many ships and aircraft Carriers we had operating in the Pacific in 44.
Many thanx 👍.
GR8 Vid. Tail wheels issues had them mostly locked down. Towards the end of the War, other than the intake & tail wheel, the XIII & IX were nearly identical. Be safe 🦊
I've been waiting for a decent video on the Mk8 for longer than I care to remember. Thanks and so very well done.
Thank you for demystifying the Spitfire Mks. for this old Yankee. I knew that the type changed a lot over its life, but didn't have a clear idea of exactly how until I saw this video. Cheers!
Thanks Ed, I agree with your comments about the mk8. I think it was the best spitfire, perhaps with the exception of the Mk 11 which was an unarmed reconnaissance version of the Mk 8 (modified; no guns, cameras and extra fuel tanks where the guns had been). Apparently the mark 8 airframe was modified to take the Griffon engine, this became the Mk 14. This airframe was later strengthened to make the Mk 18.
I was fortunate enough to fly in a 2 seater Spitfire Mk 8 for my birthday this year. The only one in flying condition in the world, based down at Biggin Hill. Beautiful beautiful aircraft.
Thanks. Excellent account on one of my favourite aircraft. It's worth also thinking about the Mk VII's place in the story. It was intended to be a high altitude interceptor and had a pressure cabin. A non-trivial undertaking, amongst other things you have to consider making effective connexions for all the controls and maintain visability in the face of the threat of things icing up. Also the cabin did not maintain one atmosphere at sea level for practical reasons. You had then to cope with the effect of lowered pressure on the pilot. To maintain visibility at altitude I think the Mk VII employed double glazing with warm air blown through it (though I might be thinking of the Welkin). The first Mk VIIIs were essentially Mk VIIs without the pressure cabin. As stated the Mk VIII started to introduce aerodynamic refinements. For example, the cut down fuselage lost some of the stabilising properties of the deeper version, hence the elegant pointed fin with a greater area.
I read that when (surviving) pilots reported first encounters with the FW 190, and described a radial engine fighter of exceptional ability, they were told that they were mistaken. It was assumed that they had met captured French Curtis Hawks pressed into German service! Big mistake, was it a failure in intelligence?
I still see the odd YT post which assumes the Mk IX was derived "from its Mk VIII prototype" - sigh! That's what sequential Mk numbering does for you.
The Mk VIII was in service before the MkVII
Yes, now how did that happen? Most accounts explain that the Mk VII rolled out first and the Mk VIII second as it was in essence the Mk VII without the complication of the pressure cabin. Both used the two stage Merlin, had the charactistic extended wing tips, a larger tailplane and the taller pointed enlarged fin. However, it was intended to be deployed to the Mediterranean theatre of Operations and the Far East. First it needed to be tropicalised and that took some time, and actual service didn't start until around mid 1943.
Try saying R double AF its a lot easier and that's how we say it. Great video.
Great video and really fine model work.
This is great work Ed, thanks from Australia. I thought I had seen all the photos of the Spitfire in action, as I have many books including Shackladys mammoth. Mk V's of 130 squadron at dispersal is a beauty! You have many more I have added - well done. Interestingly, the Mk VIII was a variant included in the Tamiya 32nd scale model lineup.
Of all the Spitfire models created, the Mk. VIII is most definitely my favorite. It just looks much better with that retractable wheel.
4:00 That distiguished gentleman working on the Spit in his business suit. Nice pic.
Always a good story. Really enjoying your channel.
Excellent video on a superb airplane. The one thing you could have added is that the Mk VIII was the airframe used as the foundation for the new Griffon engined Mk XIV's.
My father, WO Ron Partridge, served with 152 Sqd RAF in Burma 1944/45 (although many of the squadron were from Australia, India, Sth Aftrica, etc.) flying Mk VIIIs. The squadron used a distinctive black panther logo on the sides of the Spits. I have the oriiginal sketch done by a pilot named Lennie Smith.
Great vid mate. Reminded me to buy your book too.
Excellent presentation, Thank you Ed.
An excellent video; thank-you!
I didn’t know about the Mk VIII until I bought Tamiya’s 1/32nd kit.
Nice job, mate!
The MkVIII has always been my favourite. Nice to see it get some coverage.
The fortunes of war. Not a predictable thing. Excellent video, as ever.
I enjoy the content of your videos. Keep it up.
My Dad flew Mk VIII's and Mk XIV's in India. He would have loved this presentation!
Great video, thanks. I read Jeffery Quills book ''Spitfire - A Test Pilot's Story and believe the Mark VIII to be the best of the Merlin powered Spitfires. Quill said it had the best balance of flying qualities.
Nice video mate
Great info! Thankyou for clearing this up, I'd always wondered about the 8
Argument well made.
NOT just a Mk.V with a bigger engine, but a systematic redesign that would have moved the game on with subsequent development. What the Mk.IX (>>>) really should have been (!)
Thank you for your documentary. I have always loved the Mk viii - my favourite Merlin spitfire- easily the prettiest as well, it pioneered the pointy tail fin as well and some Mk.ix spits incorporated this feature as a result
I really enjoyed this video on the Mk VIII and I have found all your videos on obscure aircraft interesting, not that the VIII is obscure! Thanks.
Mate, your channel is always fascinating.
😉 thanks man.
The Spitfire IS the most beautiful British fighter.
Excellent. Keep up the great work. All the famous aircraft have been done to death on youtube, often by people who don't add anything new, get things wrong, and tend to repeat disproven myths because their research has been very shallow. It's great to have a few out there that dive a bit deeper and walk on the less trodden path.
I love this! im glad you ordered a microphone to!
There was once only one Spitfire documentary/video, now there are two.
All others a basically the first video, rearranged.
Three if Greg has done one.. Probably.
Greg did a good Mosquito video, he loves Nazi German stuff and the P-47.
You should read "Spitfire into Battle" by Group Captain Wilfred Duncan Smith, (Ian Duncan Smith's father). He flew the (Same) Mk VIII while commanding 324 Wing at Cassino, Anzio and the South of France, and rated it as the best variant. The book, by the way, is a very good read, well written and an entertaining account of one man's time with the RAF.
Look up the famous formation pic of early Griffon XIIs, one has a fixed tailwheel and the rest have retractable tailwheels. The oddball was built up from a V/IX spec’ _Frankenstein_ up-engined and the rest were made up from the latest Mk VIII spec airframes. Many ‘new’ Spitfires were assembled from upgrades, recycles and major repair of near write offs.
The later two stage Griffon XIVs were all developed from the VIII airframe, an airframe update produced the XVIII and XIXs, the last with the original wings but modified wing (higher aileron reversal speed) Mk 21s were produced first and were used in the last months of the war.
Mk viii has always been my favourite.
Great video, again.
Our RAAF pilots used these mark 8 in the Pacific theatre & caused alot of decimation amongst Japanese airman ! Pilots were Clive Caldwell BA Grace BobbyGibbes John Waddy Douglas Van Der Veld Bluey Truscott ❤❤❤ rip legends in their own right!!!
Actually very little on RUclips is about the Spitfire's cost, aerodynamics, structure, production and detailed design of different wings and fuselages. Also power plant was everything. Armament has been covered but there could have been more. Operationally the aircraft was used and misused but RUclips has been weak on that too. Performance charts are hardly ever mentioned, so let's have more!
The Mk VIII is by far the most elegant Spit of them all.
Prototype K5054 in light blue.
@@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 It's proportions are off and it looks like a badly drawn version of a Spitfire to me. The VIII has the big tail, the long nose and symmetrical radiators.
Another great video and covers an area of the war in the Far East that seems to always be overlooked by British history, My grandad and his brothers both fought out there and always called it the forgotten army.
I like your videos because they are short and i can watch lots of them.
Well presented - worked on Spits in UK & saw MK VIII in Oz.
Excellent Ed
Thank you
On the obscure note, maybe you could produce a segment on the Rhodesian Air Force?
Love to!
Very nice video!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow great video.
Brilliant......good job, you.
Very interesting!Didn't know that much about the mkVIII😎👍
thank you for that wonderful informative doco on the Spit. In particular the Darwin stuff.
Just found this superb video, the Mk VIII has fascinated me partly due to a game called "Aces High" which basically is a strategy game for the entire western air theatre. Have needless to say depended on Mk VIIIs a lot in the Med. So, I have a model of it ready to build aswell :).
The other one that I am interested in is the F/FR Mk XIV whose models I believe also started carrying a bubble canopy, so .... if you get time for another Spit.
signed A Hurricane and Boston fan :)
The Spitfire MkVII and MkVIII were to have been the replacement for the MkV and MkVI. It was a much more refined aircraft with the MkVII built as a special high altitude fighter with pressurized cockpit to replace the MkVI. The MkVIII appearing a little later using the same airframe but unpressurized, was to replace the MkV. However the MkIX was given priority as it was a simple conversion of the MkV airframe already in production. The MkVIII was fully tropicalized for overseas service and most were used in Italy and the Far East against the Japanese.
Great storyteller. Keep it up.
Im tottaly cool with obscure aircraft,.. rock on.
Excellent vid. 'R' double 'A' 'F', mate.
0:37 I don't know if that was staged, but that is a real Bf110. Extraordinary footage.
Extremely informative content as usual, just one thing though and I admit you may have already had comments about it, the Royal Australian Air Force, RAAF should be pronounced "R double A F".
Thankyou for your videos, look forward to more in the future. 😊🛩🇦🇺🌏
Maybe a docu short on the Do335 Pfeil.
With a speed of 474 mph, it would have been a very formidable aircraft if introduced far earlier...and many haven't even heard of it.
Great videos! Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us!
☀️😎🇺🇸☀️
The Ameisenbar or anteater - Centreline thrust with ejection seat.
Totally agree the Spitfire has been done to death when it comes to WW2 fighter coverage... so I was a bit surprised at first. Request can you do a story on the Blackburn Firebrand please
A very good video.
There was one on display at Bankstown Aerodrome owned by Sid Marshall. When he was in a good mood he'd let me get in it (heaven for a 14/15yr old). He also had an Oscar & a 109. Interesting stories on how the Oscar was found in '45 & how the 109 disappeared in the '80s. In the early/mid 80's Col Pay bought it as a deceased estate. It would have been the rarest Spit in the world. It had zero hours on the airframe & had never been outside except for its factory test flight. I watched Col drive it into a pothole & trim down the prop in 1988 at Bankstown ( sourced a new one in Germany of all places).
That was the last time I saw it 'til last month, Feb '24. Now it lives at Temora with 8 other warbirds. It was really good to see it & touch it again, but I don't like the new paint job.
When I saw ‘Spitfire’ I did think “oh, ok. Going for the Yankee Dollar are we”.Yea of little etc etc. My bad:)
What?
@@anthonywilson4873 I thought that it was going to be a vid that was going for views rather than being of decent content. But I’m pleased to be wrong.
The Mk III was the version with a Merlin XX but this engine went into the Hurricane II, which improved its performance to the extent that it was as inferior to the Bf 109 F as the Mk I was to the 109 E. The Spitfire Mk V got the inferior Merlin 45 series which is why Fighter Command was thrashed by the Luftwaffe during the offensives of 1941 and 1942.
Any Mk of Spitfire was a good aircraft in my humble opinion, alongside the Hurricanes, Mosquitos, and Lancaster, without them who knows what might have happened. 😀👍🇬🇧🏴
Interesting video I like the way you covered the planes service in the far east Thanks for that
The Mark IX and Mark VIII have the same relationship as the Mark XIV and the Mark XVIII - the XIV was the interim to get the Griffon engine into service faster - ironically using the airframe of the VIII (see some other comments to that effect). And the XVIII was meant to be the definitive Griffon fighter - but arrived too late to see action in WW2.
All the Marks of Spitfire were proof of Mr RJ Mitchell's ground breaking original design during the planes life it got bigger and better engine's and armaments, it filled many roles from High altitude photo sweeps to Ground attack but the one thing it did poorly was Aircraft carriers its narrow undercarriage lead to more loses than enemy action.
The Sad thing is Mr Mitchell died from cancer in June 1937, we can but wonder how he would have improved the Spitfire and would his 4engine bomber been as good and what design would he have done for a jet engine plane.
The Mk. VIII never missed the bus, they just was not ready to produce it in the bigger numbers yet. The Mk. IX was able to build up pretty quickly with the existing tooling and equipment to have it mass produced quicker. And as time went by, the improvements made on the Mk. IX pretty much made it look almost the same as the Mk. VIII. They should just group the numbers of the Mk. VIII, Mk. IX and Mk. XVI as the same plane.
Great doco. For your future reference, we (Aussies) pronounce the RAAF as the R, double A, F. Rolls off the tongue much easier. Subscribed.