Aviation art prints of the spitfire
fighter aircraft Spitfire MKIV by aviation artist Ivan Berryman and Barry
Price. Aviation art prints available from aviationprints.co.uk.
Royal
Air Force fighter aircraft, maximum speed for mark I Supermarine Spitfire, 362mph
up to
The Seafire 47 with a top speed of 452mph. maximum ceiling for Mk I
34,000feet up to 44,500 for the mark XIV. Maximum range for MK I 575
miles . up to 1475 miles for the Seafire 47. Armament for the various
Marks of Spitfire. for MK I, and II . eight fixed .303 browning Machine
guns, for MK's V-IX and XVI two 20mm Hispano cannons and four .303 browning
machine guns. and on later Marks, six to eight Rockets under the wings or
a maximum bomb load of 1,000 lbs.
Designed
by R J Mitchell, The proto type Spitfire first flew on the 5th March 1936.
and entered service with the Royal Air Force in August 1938, with 19
squadron based and RAF Duxford. by the outbreak of World war two, there
were twelve squadrons with a total of 187 spitfires, with another 83 in
store. Between 1939 and 1945, a large variety of modifications and
developments produced a variety of MK,s from I to XVI. The mark II
came into service in late 1940, and in March 1941, the Mk,V came into
service. To counter the Improvements in fighters of the Luftwaffe
especially the FW190, the MK,XII was introduced with its Griffin
engine. The Fleet Air Arm used the Mk,I and II and were named
Seafires.
By the end of
production in 1948 a total of 20,351 spitfires had been made and 2408
Seafires. The most produced variant was the Spitfire Mark V, with a
total of 6479 spitfires produced. The Royal Air Force kept Spitfires
in front line use until April 1954.
Great Pilots Group Captain Sir
Hugh Dundas CBE DSO DFC DI Cocky
Dundas flew Spitfires with 616 Sqn during some of the heaviest air
fighting of the Battle of Britain. With several victories to his name he
was shot down on August 22nd and wounded. Later this distinguished pilot
flew in Douglas Baders famous Tangmere Wing, and subsequently commanded
successively Typhoon and Spitfire Wings. Sir
Hugh Dundas (22 Jul 1920 - 10 Jul 1995) Served with 616 sqd 1939 - 1941,
56 sqd 1941 to 1942, 324 wing north Africa, Sicily and the first wing to
move to Italy 1943 - 1944, 240 wing 1944 - 1945 in Italy.
