Seafire question…

Complete conjecture time.

Could it just be a Spitfire LF.Vb which has had a Vokes filter fitted as a way of dealing with the dust problems they were encountering in Normandy at the time? Individual exhaust stacks were fitted to Mk.Vs as well as mass balanced elevators.

Hard to tell without the photo…probably hard to tell with the photo.

Anne

I didn’t think that Mk Vs used the individual exhaust stubs. All the Mk Vs I have seen or seen pictures off had the siamesed exhausts as per the Mk II

No, they definitely did. There are photos of the American spotter unit (I forget their name/designation) that used MkVs, and at least one or two of them had six-stub exhausts.

If I remember correctly, it was a MkV that was trialled with individual exhaust stubs (along with other performance-enhancing mods) back in 1942…

In fact, thinking about it, more than a couple of Spitfire Vcs were fitted with six-stub exhausts in the Mediterranean theatre.

Just a thought, I wonder if this photo was from the invasion of Southern France in August 1944? I have recently spoken with two Seafire pilots who flew Seafire LIII’s in support of that invasion. Their aircraft would have had the filters as they were flying on and off of North African and Italian strips as well as the carriers. But, did the Seafires in that August 1944 campaign wear invasion stripes? As well as the LIII one of those two pilots also flew an LIIc on some ops.

No, they definitely did.

Correct – many surviving Mk V’s were later retro fitted with individual stacks.

I didn’t think that Mk Vs used the individual exhaust stubs. All the Mk Vs I have seen or seen pictures off had the siamesed exhausts as per the Mk II

Not common but it was a mod that started to appear around 1943 and added a few mph to your speed. I think you lost the exhaust gun heating but if you’re in a LF.V that shouldn’t matter that much.

Anne

Thanks guys you’ve improved my knowledge and now given me another one. I thought gun heating was electric not off the exhaust

No, there was a pipe leading off the third stub (on either side?) that ducted heat to the guns.

I’d say that by late 1943/early 1944 individual exhausts were pretty much standard on Mk Vs and the fishtail ones were rare on them.
If I understand correctly, the Vokes filter was not a ‘tropical’ filter (I think filtering air doesn’t help with temperature) it was to prevent dust entering the engine. It is usually associated with tropicalised Spitfires because they happened to be the first ones used from unprepared fields in dusty conditions.

I have pictures of Seafire III’s with both types of exhaust, and several with the Vokes filter but only with the earlier “3 stack” exhaust.

any chance of a scan of the picture being posted Dan?

US Navy Spitfires of VCS-7.

Mk V’s in RAF livery with full ‘Invasion Stripes’.

Mark

I didn’t think that Mk Vs used the individual exhaust stubs. All the Mk Vs I have seen or seen pictures off had the siamesed exhausts as per the Mk II

The Shuttleworth Trust Mk Vc has individual stacks, which I understand were original fit- but don’t quote me on it.:)

Case of my Rolls-Royce Tech Rep who used to ask, How do you know some markV’s didn’t come with those stub’s? Have you seen ALL the MkV’s………………………

US Navy Spitfires of VCS-7.

Mk V’s in RAF livery with full ‘Invasion Stripes’.

Mark

Any photos in your collection of those birds Mark?

Guess I should have looked a bit first. Nice images of those US Navy flown Spit Vs here:

http://www.spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2008/01/spitfires-in-us-navy.htm

None with the Vokes filter however. Some with multiple exhaust stacks.

Thanks guys. Isn’t it amazing what you can learn if you stay here long enough? I am always amazed by the wealth of knowledge on this forum and just how quickly a query gets answered. I can’t even get questions about nwork answered that quickly by the company I work for.

The Shuttleworth Trust Mk Vc has individual stacks, which I understand were original fit- but don’t quote me on it.:)

Depends what you mean by ‘original fit’. As the Spitfire was built in 1942 it is unlikely it had the individual exhausts on leaving the factory. But it is likely they were fitted to it during WW2.

The Shuttleworth Trust Mk Vc has individual stacks, which I understand were original fit- but don’t quote me on it.:)

The preservation history is interesting – It had six stub exhausts at restoration (as NN-D) in the 70s, as did pretty much every Merlin in the air then. It was one of the first Merlin powered aircraft to get the three stub exhausts, when still painted as NN-D – IIRC, these were swapped with another collection for the Operation Crossbow V-1 the Shuttleworth Collection then owned. Since then there have been quite a few more three stub ejector exhaust sets on Spitfires and Hurricanes. I don’t recall when it was switched back to the six stubs.

Regards,

Since the talk went to AR501 and 6 exhaust stacks. I saw this photo on a website by the son of a Dallachy Strike Wing officer

http://williammullen.blogspot.com/

It shows AR511 with six exhaust stacks. Photo taken in 44-45. Clipped wings and the same style prop and spinner that AR501 had when I first saw her in 1980. Could be that AR501 had the same set up since the war.