The First Spitfire

This is an article that I found in an edition of the Aero Modeller dated March 1943. I have a few of these old magazines and they are great source of information.

“From the experiance gained with the floatplanes, the Supermarine Aviation works produced in 1934 a fighter which was constructed on generally the same lines as its predecessors. It was a monoplane with a low wing cranked from the roots to obviate the use of a long undercarraige, which an airscrew of suitable size would otherwise have necessatated. The fighter was built to Air Ministry specification F.7/30 and consquently its performance was somewhat restricted by military reqirements. It was not altogether successful, though it attained a speed of somewhere around 230 m.p.h. It is interesteing in that it was powered by a 600 h.p. Rolls Royce Goshawk II evaporatively cooled motor, which was then unproven. The condensors were fitted in the leading edge of the wing to reduce drag. In view of the low power of the motor compared with the high power of the present day Spitfire, and also the large size of the F.7/30 (its wingspan was 45Ft 10 in.) it is surprising that the maximum speed was as high as 230 m.p.h.
The F.7/30 first publicly appeared in the New types Park at hendon in 1934, and was coloured a light silvery grey. It bore the serial number K 2890, and carried roundels on the wings and on each side of the fuselage. The rudder bore vertical red ,white and blue stripes, with the red the foremost.
In 1936 the first Spitfire made its appearance more-or-less as we know it to-day. It differed considerably from the older machine and was much nicer to look at. The big flared undercarraige of the F.7/30 had disappeared and instead a neat pair of rectractable legs was fitted. The new machine was much smaller with a span of 36ft 10 in. , and a maximum speed of 346 m.p.h. nearly 120 m.p.h. faster than the F.7/30.
The Spitfire has been continuously developed and equiped with various armanent combinations, and the latest version, the MK IX , now has a maximum speed of well over 400 m.p.h.” 🙂