Delete comment from: Elements Of Power
Think Defense. I don't disagree with a thing you wrote. I contemplated getting into the design lineage weeds for the Spit because really it was Mitchell's Schneider Trophy work where he came to 'speed-focused' design conclusions that would lead to the Spitfire having a thinner airfoil than its contemporaries, and the structural approach he used to incorporate the evaporative cooling systems in the wing of the Type 224 was employed for other purposes in the type 300. Thank Heaven that the RR overcame their stuffy company culture to get involved in aviation racing in the 20's or we might never have had the great Merlin and Griffon V-12s.
I also agree that the War made the economics of the time even more critical. It was an early key decision by England to continue to put money to the Spitfire production effort instead of accelerating the higher risk projects in the Hawker pipeline. It paid off in giving the Hawkers time to mature, and in the discovery that through upgrades the Spitifre would not become obsolete as early as many in 1936-9 assumed, although the differences between the first and the last Spits should have triggered a new aircraf designation somewhere in the timeline - later ones are that much more evolved. If an armed Spitfire had the range of later planes, I doubt if some of Tempest/Furies would have even been built.
Have a good one!
Mar 31, 2012, 4:13:23 PM
Posted to The F-35 and Pining For Simpler Times...That Weren’t