Supermarine Spitfire Mk I

Plane: Supermarine Spitfire Mk I

Mass: 2739kg

Engine: 1,030hp Merlin III

Horsepower:  990hp max brake horsepower

Wing Area: 22.5 meters^2

Weapons:

Ammo belting:

7.7mm MG: ap, ap, ap, ap, tracer

Stall Speed: 126kph(79mph) clean/113kph(70mph) dirty

Best Climb Speed IAS: 252kph(157mph) IAS

Maximum Reasonable AoA: 12.0 degrees

Top Speed Chart:

WEP Top Speed: 485kph(301mph)

Climb Rate chart:

Roll Rate:

Turn Rate: (sustained) Flaps Up:   175kph(109mph), 110m(361ft) radius, 25 deg/sec

Turn Rate: (sustained) Flaps Down:  Accelerated stall not possible with flaps down

Visibility:  Good, somewhat difficult to check behind.   

Control Feel vs Speed:  Good

WEP power boost percent: 3%

Safe WEP time: Over 10 minutes

General Comments:

The Supermarine Spitfire is arguably the best Allied fighter of the war.  While the P51 was faster and had longer range, it required the Spitfire's Merlin engine to do it, and wasn't as good a turning or climbing aircraft.  No other fighter, except for the German Bf109, saw the growth of engine power that the Spitfire experienced.  Starting from about 1,000hp for the production Spitfire Mk 1, the final variant, the Griffon powered 2,050hp version flew at 454mph.

However, at the beginning of the war, the Spitfire Mk I was available only in small numbers, and did not overtake the Hurricane until after the Battle of Britain.  Those that did fly became famous, as people think of the Spitfire when they think of the Battle of Britain, and not the Hurricane which flew in greater numbers and shot down more airplanes. 

The Spitfire Mk I came not a moment too soon, as the Hurricane was significantly outclassed by the latest generation of German Bf109s.  The Spitfire leveled the playing field.  Even though at low altitudes the 109 was slightly faster, and climbed better until about 7km, the Spitfire outturned it and usually fought on home terrain. 

In WW2OL, the Spitfire is the best fighter in the initial planeset.  It is almost as fast as the Bf109, outturns it, and handles better on the edge than the Bf109.  While the Hawk 75 is more nimble and the Hurricane outturns the Spitfire, no other plane has the combination of assets that the Spitfire has. 

The landing gear can be tricky to handle, as it's narrow stance makes ground loops easy.  This becomes more and more a problem as the engine power increased.  Be careful when taxiing and taking off or landing. 

The early model Spitfire did not fly with pilot armor (although it did have armored glass in the windscreen).  This means a stray 7.92mm round can end your flight early.  Fortunately, it's relatively easy to turn hard when someone is making a pass on you, and this should keep you out of trouble, *if* you see the attacker approach.

The weapons package is rather interesting due to the spread out placement of the guns.  There are eight .303 calibre machineguns that can hurl out more than 150 rounds per second, creating a shotgun type effect.  This is most effective if the target is in the convergence zone of the guns.  This spread is also useful in close during snapshots as it greatly increases the likelyhood of a lucky round hitting something critical.  However, it is much less effective when the target is beyond convergence range as most of the rounds will miss even when the target is perfectly lined up.  This can be frustrating in a chase.

One thing to note about the Spitfire is the fact that it isn't the best diving plane in the game.  It can get a lot of speed going, however it has high stick forces, and it's unusually thin wings succumb to a twisting behavior that causes aileron reversal to occur at speeds faster than 477mph IAS.  This high speed control problem, which was partially remedied by spring tabs in the Mk V and later, was never truly resolved, and this ends up being the later model Spitfire's primary weakness.  Ironically, it's excellent low drag characteristics mean it can reach high speeds easily in a dive.  Typical Fw190a4 escape tactics rely upon this issue, taking advantage of the 190's excellent high speed rolling characteristics to outmaneuver a Spitfire and engineer an escape.

A quirk of the early Merlin engines was the carburetor system that was unable to deliver fuel under negative G loads.  This means that if you push the nose over, you will lose power until you pull positive G again.  This can be annoying when you want to fly inverted to examine the ground, and when trying to follow a fighter who does a negative G evasive maneuver.

Specific Matchup Comments:

Spit1 vs Bf110C:  The Spitfire Mk I was a large reason that the Germans were forced to send Bf109s with their Bf110s as escort.  The Bf110 simply cannot compete with the Spitfire.  The Spitfire is faster, climbs better, rolls better, turns better, and has better high speed handling until about 600kph.  Once you get behind a Bf110, it's only a matter of time before he goes down, unless you run dry of ammunition first.

Spit1 vs Bf109E4: The Bf109E4 is your primary opponent.  You turn better, but they climb better, so expect an energy fight and 109's to try to start a fight above you.  If you find yourself in this situation, you will be forced into a defensive posture, and your goal is to sucker him into over committing so that he blows his energy advantage.  Being above a Bf109E4 isn't necessarily an asset, because if you're too high, you will get going too fast diving on him and your ailerons will lose their effectiveness.  The unusual gun arrangement on the Spitfire is an asset in a turnfight, but a detriment when chasing a fleeing 109 who is not in the convergence zone.  Be aware that the Bf109E4 has decent protection from .303 fire from directly behind.

Spit1 vs Bf109F4: The Bf109F4 is much more dangerous than the Bf109E4.  Your climb disadvantage is substantial, and the Bf109F4 is 45kph faster than you are on the deck.  In addition, the improvements in the Bf109F4 help it turn better, making it much harder to outturn a 109F in a flatturn, especially if he drops his flaps.  The best bet, if you can arrange it, is to upgrade to the Spitfire Mk V, or better yet, the Spitfire Mk IX to take on Bf109F4's.

Spit1 vs Ju87b: This is included here because many pilots don't know how to handle a Stuka properly.  They think "Oh, it's a bomber, it can't turn" and promptly get shot down as the Ju87b outturns them.  The Ju87b turns better than the Spit1.  Now before you grab the pitchfork and head down to CRS, there are a few things to point out.  The Ju87b has one of the lowest wing loadings in the game.  It has huge thick wings, which generate a lot of lift (and a good amount of drag).  It is designed to haul a big airframe, two crewmembers, armor, bombs, and lots of ammo on a relatively low amount of power.  It also has to do this while being draggy as heck.  It accomplishes this by having huge thick wings (remember how gliders fly with no power?  big wings).  What this means is that this airplane can turn.  Just like a light biplane that has only 100hp, but can turn on a dime, the Ju87b can use its huge wings to turn well.  It *will* outturn you if you flatturn it.  The two biggest problems a Stuka has are speed and climbing ability.  If you go vertical, the Stuka will die.  If you fly fast, the Stuka will die.  If you try to run away, you will get away.  If you try to turn with it for an extended amount of time, it will get a nice canopy shot on you and you will die.  It also flies so slowly that you will easily overshoot it if you are not careful.  Most turnfighters used to beating 109s in turnfights don't know how to handle a better turning plane.  Learn, or you will become very frustrated with the Stuka.