The Spitfire VII also had the leading edge fuel tanks, mainly to give enough fuel to climb up to 40,000 feet+ and then to ensure a reasonable endurance once there. These held 14 gal each, and the main tanks were also enlarged to hold 96 gal, thus giving it an internal fuel capacity of 124 gal – 40% more than any other Merlin engined Spitfire. The MkVIII had a similar tank arrangement.
The longest sortie flown by 131 (County of Kent) sqdn with their Spitfire VIIs was a 609 mile round trip, for which they were airborne for 3hrs 50min.
I’ve got some nice Spitfire VII pix if anyone’s interested?
Geoff.
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