GREAT FIGHTERS

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume 52, Issue 3270, 31 May 1943, Page 6

GREAT FIGHTERS

THE LATEST SPITFIRES SUCCESSES IN TUNISIA ASTONISHING SUPERIORITY After the announcement on April 22, that Mark Nine Spitfires were in action in Tunisia, it can be revealed that it was these Spitfires which, with American Warhawks, met the German air transport fleet of Tunisia on April 18, engaged the fighter escort, shot down 16 and left the transports almost unescorted for the massacre in which 45 Junkers 52’s were then destroyed. The immediate success of Britain’s latest Spitfires, whose existence was revealed exactly five months earlier, opens a new chapter in the world leadership which the Spitfires have maintained unbroken since they were born 19 years ago. Twenty-one years ago (1922) the world air speed record was 129.7 miles an hour. Two years later R. J. Mitchell designed the Spitfire, the first ancestor of the Supermarine 5.4 monoplane which immediately set up a new record of 226 m.p.h. In 1926 the Supermarine 5.5 won the Schneider Trophy at a speed of over 281 m.p.h. In 1929 the Supermarine 5.6 won the trophy at 328 m.p.h. and then- established a new record of 357 m.p.h. In 1931 the Supermarine 5.68 won the last trophy race at the record speed of 407.5 m.p.h. Yet to-day, 12 years later, the speed of the 5.68 in a power dive is the normal speed of the Spitfire fighter, which was never designed for racing—such is the unbroken record of British designing skill.

The name Spitfire was invented by the British ace, Air Vice-Marshal A. Orlebar, now Deputy Chief of Combined Operations, who set up in 1929 the record with the Supermarine 5.6. The first Spitfire fighter, built in 1930, was redesigned in 1931, UleHc m 1935, tested in 1936, and delivered to the R.A.F. in 1938, a year before the war. Two years later, small in number's though great in quality, the Spitfire emerged victorious from its baptism of fire in the Battle of Britain, as Spitfire 9 has done in Tunisia. Reasons For Success The reasons for the Spitfire’s success include its eight-gun equipment, its engine, and the design of the aeroplane. When it is remembered that German designers faced precisely the same problems as the British, the fact that the Spitfire had a wing loading of only 25 pounds a square foot compared with 31 pounds a square foot in the Messerschmitt 109 shows clearly the astonishing superiority of the British design. the wing loading (the best index of design, since it determines manoeuvrability,) is sometimes raised to make room for compensating advantages; yet the M. 109 had none—it is less manoeuvrable, lighter armed and armoured, and slower. The Germans’ latest attempt—the Focke Wulf 190*—is even less manoeuvrable, with a wing loading of 40 1 pounds a square foot. No wonder the German expert Kranzle in the technical paper “Luftwassen” admits that the 'Spitfire is far ahead of its time, adding: “Many instructive design solutions are to be found in this aeroplane.” Thus the British design of 1934 is still better than the German design of 1943!

The Spitfire has small petrol tanks, heavy armament, etc. As a short range fighter it is the best in the world. Yet an even finer tribute to the Spitfire’s design is the fact that it is basically so perfect that the Spitfire could be adapted with equal success to tasks for which it was never intended. Its first modification was for desert warfare, i.e., ‘‘the tropicalised Spitfire.” The new model reached' Malta in March, 1942, and may well have saved the island for its present offensive role. In Egypt its first victory was on June 9, 1942, since when its record has become world famous. Of the Spitfire’s 90,000' parts, every one moving or exposed had to be protected against sand an<l a huge bulge for special cooling was add-ed beneath the nose of the propeller, which had to be modified for. the rarefied atmosphere. Yet, despite these handicaps to its intended design, the Spitfire became also the best fighter for tropical conditions in the world. Ready Adaptability In November, 1942, a highly specialised German aeroplane, the Junkers 86P, designed with an enormous wing span to fly higher than any existing fighter - for reconnaissance, appeared in the Mediterranean for' the first time. Bri.ish technicians modified Hie Spitfire Mark V.C. toffy thousands of feet higher than intended. 'As a result, the first Junkers 86P was shot down at 40,00-0 feet, the next at 45,000 feer, and the next at nearly 50,000

feet. With no more than improvised adjustments to its design, the Spitfire thus became also the highest flying fighter in the world. The most astonishing development was the Spitfire modification for aircraft carriers, i.e., the seafire, which was largely responsible for the safety of the North African armada in November, 1942.

In September, 1939, the fastest, seaborne fighter did 180 m.p.h. against 350 m.p.h. by the land-based Spit-fire—to-day, thanks to the Spitfire’s versatility, British aircraft carriers have the fastest fighter on land or sea. Despite modifications for the low landing speed needed to absorb the strain of the arrester gear, and “breaking” the wings for stowage, the Spitfire’s design is basically so perfect that it became the first land fighter in the world able to be adapted for seaborne use. The fact that the Spitfire is now the best all-round fighter in the world is due not only to its fuselage design but also to engine design. In 1929 the best engine was the British Kestrel 600 h.p. Four British designers, discussing an engine for the Supermarine S 6, wanted an engine of the same size but producing 2000’ h.p. Thus, while Mitchell designed the ancestor of the Spitfire, they designed the ancestor' of the Merlin engine; into the same space as the Kestrel, British designers crammed 2300' h.p., i.e., a 400 per cent, increase of power enabling British aeroplanes to raise the world record by 41 per cent, in two years. A Great Engine The first Rolls Royce engine called “Merlin” was b.uilt in 1936 and fitted to both the Spitfire and the Hurricane—hence it can be said to be largely responsible for the victory of the Battle of Britain. The British air expert, Peter Masefield, said: “The brightest star in the worlds is’ the Merlin engine, which saved the world in 1940.” As in the case of the Spitfire fuselage, improvement in the Merlin engine has been continuous. Before the war Spitfires (with twobladed wooden propellers) had the Merlin 2, the 1940 Spitfires had the Merlin 10/followed by the Merlin 20 : (giving 14.5 per cent, for power at 27 per cent, greater height, with only 8.5 per cent, increase in weight); and the Spitfire 9 has the Merlin 61 (double the powet of the Merlin 10). The Merlin’s designer stated on Janualy 17,1943: “We have only scratched the surface of the Merlin’s possibilities. Better though it is than any other engine, it is still only in its • lusty infancy.” The main reason for the Merlin’s superiority is seen from the United States Office of War Information statement in December, 1942: “The fighter designer faces the problem of a ’power plant which develops its maximum Horsepower at lower altitudes and loses its effectiveness at higher altitudes.” British designers overcame the problem by inventing a two-stage, two-speed supercharger, giving sea level pressure up to moie than 40,000 feet (compare the German supercharger giving sea level pressure only up to 20,000 feet). A further reason why the Merlin gives the best results at all heights is the pioneering of variable pitch propellers by the British designers, Helesham and Beacham, enabling the 'Spitfire to carve through rarefied air where other propellers do not grip. Finally, it is worth pointing out that although the Spitfire is perhaps the finest example of the world leadership of British aircraft design, its qualities are not unique. Thus, the Hurricane is equally versatile (as a short range day fighter, night fighter, fighter bomber, catapult aeroplane at sea, and anti-tank aeroplane in Tunisia). The Lancaster heavy and Mosquito light bombers are also the fastest of their class in the world, and the new Napier Sabre engine (fitted to the Typhoon fighter) rivals the Merlin as the most powerful liquidcooled engine in the world. In fact, the Spitfire is merely the embodiment of the Royal Air Force’s world leadership of British Civil aviation m peace.