Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber

Power Plant:

(F.VIII)

One 1,276 kw (1,710 hp) Rolls Royce Merlin 63 twelve-cylinder Vee liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

Armament:

Two 20 mm Hispano cannon with 120 rounds per gun; four 7.69 mm (0.303 in) Browning machine guns with 350 rounds per gun; one 227 kg (500 lb) and two 113 kg (250 lb) bombs

History:

Probably the most famous piston-engined fighter aircraft, the Spitfire was conceived as the Supermarine Type 300 single-seat fighter and was designed by a team led by Reginald J Mitchell.  The design produced the smallest, simplest fighter that could be built around the new Rolls Royce PV-12 engine, with an armament of eight machine guns.  Of light alloy monocoque construction, with a single-spar stressed-skin wing and fabric-covered control surfaces, the prototype (K5054) was flown on 5 March 1936 powered by a 739 kw (990 hp) Rolls Royce Merlin C engine.  It soon thereafter attained a maximum speed of 462 km/h (349 mph).

The Spitfire, as it was named soon after the prototype had been flown, was immediately placed in production for the RAF as the Mk I. Production continued until 1947 when the last models, the Seafang and Spiteful, were delivered.  Progressive development led to the installation of the Rolls Royce Griffon engine in late production models.  This engine had a greater capacity than the Merlin.

The total number of Spitfires built was 20,334, of which 2,053 were Griffon-engined variants.  In addition, the type was ‘navalised’ in that it was fitted with an arrester hook and associated equipment and was known as the Seafire when embarked upon aircraft carriers.  About 390 Seafires were built.  As mentioned, the ultimate developments were the Seafang and Spiteful.  In 1947 a Seafang 32 attained 795 km/h (494 mph) at 8,687 m (28,500 ft) with a Griffon 101 engine.

The Spitfire was mainly flown in combat in the European Theatre, where many Australians flew the type with the RAF. However, a considerable number were also operated in the Pacific Theatre with the RAF and RAAF.  Following the commencement of Japanese attacks on Australia in February 1942, it was thought an invasion might be imminent and the RAAF was short of suitable fighter aircraft.  Plans were put in train to develop the CAC Boomerang, but this did not fly until May 1942, and it was three months before production commenced. Appeals were made to the United Kingdom and the United States for fighter aircraft to defend Australia, the US diverting 25 Curtiss P-40Es, these arriving two weeks after Darwin was first bombed.  Britain indicated it would assist and allocated three Spitfire squadrons, two of these being Nos 452 and 457, Australian Empire Training Squadrons which had been operating in Britain with the RAF.  The third was No 54 Squadron RAF, which had flown Spitfires in the Battle of Britain.

The first Spitfires to be seen in Australia were the Mk Vs of No 54 Squadron, RAF, which operated in the defence of Darwin, NT from October 1943.  A total of 245 Spitfire VCs was allotted to Australia, all being taken on charge by November 1943. All, with the exception of A58-163, which was a Mk VB, were Mk VCs and nearly all had the Mk 46 Merlin engine.  They were sent by the British Government following a request by the Australian Government for fighters.  A further 11 aircraft failed to reach Australia as the vessel on which they were being conveyed, the Silver Beech, was sunk in April 1943; whilst another Mk VC (EE731) arrived in Australia in March 1943 but was not allocated an RAAF serial, eventually being converted to instructional airframe status after it had an undercarriage collapse at Mildura, VIC in August 1943.

The Mk VC was fitted with a 1,097 kw (1,470 hp) Rolls Royce Merlin 45 engine giving a maximum speed of 602 km/h (374 mph) at 3,962 m (13,000 ft).  The armament consisted of four 20 mm Hispano cannon and four 7.69 mm (0.303 in) Browning machine guns.  The Mk V series was used widely in Australia and saw operational service in New Guinea and as far across the Pacific as Morotai, where General Macarthur decided Australian Squadrons would not be further involved in the invasion of the Philippines.

The next version to be seen in Australia was the Mk VIII, some 410 examples of this model being supplied to the RAAF.  Powered by the 1,276 kw (1,710 hp) Rolls Royce Merlin 63 engine, the Mk VIII had a maximum speed of 657 km/h (408 mph) at 7,620 m (15,000 ft), and an armament of four 20 mm Hispano cannon, or two cannon and four 0.303 in Browning machine guns plus bombs. The first Mk VIII arrived in October 1943, most of the aircraft received arriving in 1944 and early 1946.  About 120 went straight into storage on arrival, were scrapped in 1948 and 1949, and were not flown here.  The last 159 were HF.VIIIs with the high altitude Merlin 70 engine, very few of these flying in Australia as they were surplus to requirements at that stage of the war.

Spitfires in Australia were flown by Nos 79, 85, 451, 452, 453 and 457 Squadrons, RAAF.  In addition, several RAF squadrons served in Australia, including Nos 54, 548 and 549.  RAAF Spitfires were serialled: Spitfire F.VC A58-1 to A58-185 and A58-200 to A58-259; Spitfire LF-VIII A58-300 to A58-550; and Spitfire HF-VIII A58-600 to A58-758.  Serials A58-551 to A58-599 were not allocated.  Once P-51 Mustangs started to be delivered for RAAF service the Spitfires were taken out of service and scrapped.  In early 1946 some 339 Spitfires were in long-term storage.  A total of 13 Mk VIIIs and one Mk VC was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy in October 1948 for ground training duties, being used to taxi around dummy aircraft carrier decks at HMAS Albatross at Nowra, NSW to give crews handling experience.  All eventually had met their fate on the fire dump by 1952.

The Spitfire’s main service in this region was in the defence of the ‘Top End”, and to this end it was very successful.  No 1 (Churchill) Wing comprised No 54 Squadron RAF and Nos 452 and 475 Squadrons RAAF.  Notable operations included: on 15 March 1943 Spitfires intercepted 22 Mitsubishi G-3M bombers and 27 Mitsubishi A6M fighters over Darwin, accounting for six bombers and two fighters.  On 20 June 1943 25 Japanese bombers escorted by fighters were intercepted, with 16 enemy aircraft being shot down.  Japanese aircraft thereafter sporadically continued to attack Darwin and were met by defending Spitfires.

More than 150 Spitfires survive around the world, and some 50 are airworthy.  In September 2000 at a display in the United Kingdom 22 Spitfires attended and flew in formation.  In Australia considerable interest has been shown in the type and a number survive, although in recent years at least three have been exported.  One (A58-758 – VH-HET – ex MV239) was restored to airworthiness at Scone, NSW and is now based in a museum at Temora, NSW being regularly flown at airshows on the eastern seaboard.  This aircraft, along with A58-671 (ex MV154), was obtained in the early 1950s by Bankstown, NSW aviation identity, Sidney Marshall.  MV239 eventually went to Colin Pay at Scone and was restored as VH-HET; and MV154 was exported to the United Kingdom where it was restored as G-BKMI.

A Mk VB VH-FVB (ex BL628) is under restoration, and registration VH-XIV has been reserved for a Mk XIX (ex RM797), an ex Royal Thai Air Force aircraft. A Mk HF VIII (A58-615 – ex MT834) is under restoration at Yunta, SA. A Mk VC EE583, recovered from Goodenough Island, is with the South Australian Aviation Museum.  Others are under restoration; and there is a few fibreglass replicas in museums and on poles. Static display survivors include: Mk II P7973 in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, ACT; Mk VC A58-246 (ex MA863) at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, VIC; and a Mk 22 PK481 at the Air Force Association Museum in Perth, WA.

In December 2005 a Victorian collector obtained Spitfire XVIIIe from the United Kingdom. This aircraft (SM969) was originally delivered to the Indian Air Force as HS877 in July 1949, later becoming G-BRAF with Warbirds of Great Britain Ltd, making its post restoration flight on 12 October 1985.

In New Zealand Mk XVI TE288 is at the RNZAF Museum at Wigram; Mk XVI TE456 is at the Domain War Memorial Museum in Auckland but painted as TE425;  and Mk XVI ZK-XUI (ex TB863) was airworthy with the Alpine Fighter Collection in Wanaka but in March 2006 was exported to the Temora Aviation Museum in Australia where it became VH-XVI on 17 July 2006; Mk XIV ZK-XIV (ex NT799) is airworthy with the Aviation Trading Co of Cambridge; and a further Spitfire was imported in early 2008, being a two-seat Mk IX, which became ZK-WDQ (c/n CBAF 5487 – ex N367MH) to Lasbrook Holdings of Auckland.

In May 2008 two Supermarine Spitfire Mk V projects were placed on the Australian Civil Aircraft Register as VH-CIP (c/n 3074) and VH-CIQ (c/n 5406) to an operator in South Australia.  A Spitfire was to be exchanged with the RAAF Museum at Hendon as per an agreement in 2009 which would see a Douglas Havoc restored to display standard by Precision Aerospace of Wangaratta, VIC in exchange for the Spitfire.  However, after some restoration on the Havoc, the exchange did not proceed, the Havoc being exported to the Pima Air Museum in the United States.

A Spitfire Mk IX MH603 arrived in Australia in April 2009 for Pays Air Service of Scone for restoration to airworthiness.  This aircraft is to be painted in the colours of No 331 (Norwegian) Squadron when completed.  A second Spitfire Mk IX BS548 is also undergoing restoration at Scone and is to be completed as a TR.IX, the fuselage being completed in the United Kingdom and the wings and other parts being manufactured in Scone.  This aircraft was shot down on 17 April 1943 whilst flying with No 341 Alsace Squadron.  It is known some 20 Spitfire projects are underway in Australia. Spitfire A58-246 was restored in USAAF markings and is on display at the USAF Museum at Dayton, Ohio.

At one stage Aviation Australia, a company owned by the Queensland Government and based at Brisbane Airport, obtained two Supermarine Spitfires as training aids but eventually decided they had no training value and the aircraft, a Mk V LZ844 and a Mk IX TE566 (ex ZU-SPT), were sold and shipped to the United Kingdom in May 2011.  In July 2011 a Supermarine Spitfire VIII was registered to Mr A Wilson of Frome Downs Station, via Yunta, SA the registration VH-ZPS (c/n 446635 – A58-467, MD338) being allotted but the aircraft is not known to have been completed and flown.  Another Spitfire with an Australian connection was Mk IXc RR232, an ex-South African aircraft which spent sometime at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross, Nowra and was partially restored for display.  Restoration has now been completed and it is flying in the United Kingdom as G-BRSF. In early 2020 a Spitfie LF XVI beame ZK-NLJ (c/n TB252) registered to AVspecs Ltd Beechlands, Auckland.

A replica of a Mk I Spitfire (K9789), the fourth Spitfire built, the original of which was delivered to No 19 Squadron RAF in 1938, was built by Mr Victor Weston of Cooran, QLD.  A non-flying replica, it was placed on display at the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra but in 2014 was placed in storage to make way for the display of the General Dynamics F-111C A8-129.

In 2018 Fighter Pilot Adventure Flights based in Queensland acquired Spitfire LF.XVIe TE392 from the Lone Star Flight Museum in Texas,  stating it was also acquiring a TR.9 two-seater for adventure flights, this aircraft to be imported in 2019.