GTP Alternative Cool Wall: 1938-1948 Supermarine Spitfire

1938-1948 Supermarine Spitfire

  • Total voters
    89
  • Poll closed .
Roger the Horse

Roger the Horse

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Nominated by @Leggy1

1938-1948 Supermarine Spitfire

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Manufacturer: Supermarine
First Flight: 1936
Production: 1938-1948
Retired: 1961
Engine: Rolls-Royce Merlin (V12, 27 litres) or Rolls-Royce Griffon (V12, 37 litres). 1,030 hp to, in later Griffon powered marks, 2,340 hp. All liquid cooled.
Role: Single-Seater Fighter, Fighter Bomber or Photo-reconnaissance aircraft.
Top Speed: 345 mph to 454 mph in later marks
Range: 376 miles to 510 miles on internal fuel.
Loaded weight: 2,799kg (6,172lb) to 4,490kg (9,900lb)
Dimensions: wingspan of 9.9m (32ft 6in) to 12.24m (40ft 2in), length of 9.12m (29ft 11in) to 10.46m (34ft 4in).
Service Ceiling: 34,400ft (10,485m) to 43,100ft (13,135m).
Armament: 8x Browning .303in machine guns on the original wing type versions that fought in the Battle of Britain. Later adapted to take cannons, rockets and a bomb. For specs of all marks see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarine_Spitfire_variants:_specifications,_performance_and_armament
Number Built: 20,351
Unit Cost: £12,604 in 1939

It is rumoured that, when Hitler was growing frustrated with the Luftwaffe's failures in the Battle of Britain, he asked Herman Goering: "What do you want to wipe out this air force?" He was told: "A squadron of Spitfires."​
 
Bandits at 8 O'clock move in behind us
Ten ME-109's out of the sun
Ascending and turning our Spitfires to face them
Heading straight for them I press down my guns

Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live,
Aces high.
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Sub Zero.
 
THE coolest WW2 fighter aircraft. And WW2 fighter aircraft are generally cool. The Mk. 24 is the sexiest plane of all times. Of all times!
 
Well it was amazing. The only plane it really had huge issues with was the Zero but a few upgrades sorted that out.

Late versions are what are known by some as super props. Fills the roles of both a turning fighter and an energy fighter very well. Other planes that are like this are the N1K Shiden and the F8F Bearcat.


Not all Spitfires had the classic wings though. They could be clipped to improve roll rate at the expense of turning ability.

Both of these are Spitfires.

spitfire_ix_ofmc_spitfire_v_tfc_lq.jpg


Final vote. SZ.
 
Amazing, beautiful plane. One of my all time favourites. A wonderful piece of aesthetic and practical engineering.

However, it's still a tool of war, and therefore cannot be cool. Most reluctant uncool vote ever. :indiff:

Now, if it was this (or any of the other Supermarine Schneider Trophy entrants):
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That would be the easiest sub zero ever.
 
Was also wearing red stars to fight on the Eastern Front and protect the sky over Leningrad.
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However, Soviet Air Force usually used the Spitfires for air defence, as an interceptor, because of its high speed and performance on high altitude - in air combat, the Soviet fighters (Yaks and Lavkas) performed better.

amarynceos
However, it's still a tool of war, and therefore cannot be cool. Most reluctant uncool vote ever. :indiff:
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Isn't this a tool of war what I see on your avatar (the StuG III Ausf.F)? :D
 
I actually think the Hawker Hurricane was the cooler RAF fighter of WWII. With this being the aviation equivalent of the S1 E-Type, though not quite as overrated.

Cool.
 
Rage Racer
Isn't this a tool of war what I see on your avatar (the StuG III Ausf.F)? :D
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Yup. I have a lifelong fascination with humanity's nasty tools of war. ;) Hundreds of books on the subject in my bookshelves, thousands of hours designing and depicting fictional ones. But if it's meant to kill, it just ain't chill. :D
 
Rage Racer
Was also wearing red stars to fight on the Eastern Front and protect the sky over Leningrad.
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Three also had Yugoslav roundels. Supporting troops and going on reconnaissance missions under the RAF (though flown by yugoslav partisans trained in britain). Disbanded in 1945 from the RAF they were incorporated in the 1st fighter regiment of the Yugoslav air force.

Spitfires_of_the_No_352_%28Y%29_Squadron_RAF%2C_aka_Balkan_Air_Force_%2818_August_1944%29.jpg
 
"You get into an American fighter, but you put a Spitfire on." - A USAF pilot in WW2.

Beautiful, to look at, to hear and to fly. SZ.

The de-armed, super sleek photo-recon version is my favourite:

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Fun fact: the first plane shot down by a Supermarine Spitfire was a Hawker Hurricane.
 
Definitely SZ, and on the short list of greatest planes of all time. But not at the top of that list :P
 
The Rolls-Royce Merlin sends shiver down any aircraft aficionado's spine. Sub Zero
 
amarynceos
However, it's still a tool of war, and therefore cannot be cool. Most reluctant uncool vote ever. :indiff:
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The Spitfire was a weapon of defense, primarily. Without it, it's possible Britain would have fallen.

Without Britain, the United States would have had no land base to launch a campaign to retake Europe from. No bombers pounding German factories. No way to soften up the opposition. America would only be able to attack Germany via long distance strikes, with its shipping fleets vulnerable to both German U-Boats and aircraft.

Without Britain, the African campaign would have possibly failed. With Africa under control, Germany wouldn't need to overextend itself into Russia so much... Or they could even have razed the oil fields around Stalingrad without needing to take them.

Eventually, you would expect the combined factories of the American and Russian superpowers to overwhelm whatever Germany could put into play. Eventually. But it would have been a much longer war if Britain had fallen for lack of an air superiority fighter.

-

Uh... it's a pretty, pretty aeroplane. Sub zero.
 
NT_03
The most iconic British airplane by far.

SZ.
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I'm in a minority in that the Spitfire isn't my favourite aeroplane or even my favourite British aeroplane. Favourite overall is tough to say, but the de Havilland Comet is my favourite British commerical plane, the Harrier or Vulcan my favourite British military aeroplane.

The Spitfire is still cool, mind.
 
The Spitfire is a stunning plane, with a sountrack to match, but I agree with @Liquid, the Vulcan is my favourite British millitary plane simply because of it's sheer size, imposition and sound. SZ.
 
One of the most beautiful planes ever designed. Anything other than a SZ would be sacrilege.
 
Leggy1
...have no engine for it's P51 Mustang, basically a license-built RR Merlin.
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Meh. I am sure they would have developed something else around the Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp. The Mustang might have been an entirely different plane but I see something replacing it if there was no Merlin.
 
haitch40
Meh. I am sure they would have developed something else around the Pratt and Whitney R2800 Double Wasp. The Mustang might have been an entirely different plane but I see something replacing it if there was no Merlin.
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The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 (V12), but was fitted with the Merlin after testing of the Allison version revealed that the high-altitude performance was bad. Of course another engine would be found, but the Merlin must have been the best option.
 
Leggy1
The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 (V12), but was fitted with the Merlin after testing of the Allison version revealed that the high-altitude performance was bad. Of course another engine would be found, but the Merlin must have been the best option.
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I know that. But the with the limitations of the Allison engine it didn't have a hope in hell of becoming the USAAC main fighter.

Overall the Mustang was just a result of the British saying they thought the P40 was a good platform to improve but in it's current state a flying piece of junk. So if Britain fell the Mustang would never have existed even with the Allison engine.
 
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