Time & effort?
I think, in 1940, they were more concerned about fending off Goering’s hordes which were, quite literally, breathing down our necks at the time, than creating a handful of trainers. Therefore, fighters took the precedence.
And it’s also possible that, because of the Spitfire’s generally docile handling characteristics, the powers-that-be didn’t feel a need for a trainer version at all – the Harvard being the intermediate step between Tiger Moth and Spitfire with its greater power, retractable landing gear etc.
That makes sense to me Daz.
Whilst it had more power than say a Harvard, for an aircraft of it’s class, the Spitfire was, as you say was very docile and had superb low speed handling qualites, which is exactly what you want from a fighter, as it’s pilot might have very few hours flying time, and also have to bring it back in a wounded or fatigued state.
Whilst the Hurricane did have a wider track undercarriage and a better forward view on the approach, the Spitfire is generally considered the easier to land (except in a strong crosswind perhaps), as explained here by Andy Sephton quite a long time ago!
I’ll see if I can find his post.
I think the main factor though would have been that developing a trainer version at the time would have caused delays with development & production of the fighter version, and held back development of the later marks.
Cheers
Paul
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