Hi

If any one can help out...I'll be very gratful...

1. The Mk 2 had an upgraded Merlin (1175 hp) and improved pilot armour. Was there any visible exterior differences?

2. Some Spits had clipped wings for faster low level flight I believe.
From what mark did they start clipping?


Many thanks
Cheers
Peter
:-)

Peter,

Open to correction, but I believe that the only visble change to the MkII was a small bulge for a revised starter on the starboard cowling.
So far as I know, the clipped wing was first applied to the MkV, then to the Mks IX, XII.

Peter,
Awhile back I was also curious about the differences from the mkI to the mkII. Here is a link to that thread, it may have some info that might help...

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/64429&page=1

Leon

Peter

The Spitfire Mk.V was the first mark to have clipped wings. The reason why the span was reduced was to increase the rate of roll. This meant that the aircraft could change direction quicker. A distinct advantage in a dogfight. In terms of top speed there was minimal change between the wing types, a few mph here and there. The biggest change was in rate of climb which was distinctly slower for the clipped wing version.

David

Hi Peter

The Mk III Spit was designed with clipped wings but only one machine of this Mark actually flew as it was not put into production.

Harri

Many thanks to all of you splendid chaps.

Excellent tips...

Again many thanks.
Cheers
Peter
:-)

Just a thought...

well sort of.
After visiting www.bbmf.co.uk and seeing the Lancaster in its Dark Earth and Dark Green camo I wondered why bombers seem to have retained this till the end of the war.

Night duties? i.e. They would be flying over water at night so would it have made any difference?

Whereas fighters for example were changed to Darks Grey and Green as this, I read, was superior to Dark Earth and Dark Green when over water and was equally efficient over land.

And I thought it was for when they were on the ground???

Any additional muses?

Thanks for listening
Cheers
Peter
:-)

The Dark Earth/Green camouflage was developed for the conditions over the British mainland and for hiding the aircraft on the ground. After the Battle of Britain the RAF were increasingly operating more over the European Continent and the old camouflage was not suitable. Experiments were carried out and it was decided that the simplest solution was to replace Dark Earth with Ocean Grey and Sky with Medium Sea Grey. Ocean Grey has a bluish cast which helped at the higher altitudes that the aircraft were flying at as well as giving better protection whilst crossing water (Channel/North Sea). As Bomber Command operated at night it was not necessary to change the camouflage and also they still required hiding on airfields during the day.

Night fighters and special operations aircraft were painted all over with Night. This colour was developed to counter search lights for which it was effective. However, it was found that on moon lit nights particulary, it actually made the aircraft more visible, especially from above. Special operations aircraft such as the Lysander quickly had the grey/green camouflage repainted on the upper surfaces and night fighters eventually changed to an all over grey/green camouflage.

Hi Peter

Not all lancasters kept the green/brown camo,617 sqdn had green grey camo for daylight operations when using the grand slam bombs.

Dennis

Hi
and again thanks to Antoni
for confirming my thoughts and expanding my knowledge no end.

And Dennis....you've just winkled out a mote of memory lurking in the potting shed of my very untidy mind.
I thought I read somewhere a few Lancs were turned out in the grey/green camo. You just confirmed it.

Again many thanks to both of you.

Cheers
Peter
:-)

C. Rupert Moore was allowed to inspect a 617 Squadron B1 Special, in June 1946, and the colour samples, that he took, gave an upper camouflage of Light Green & Light Earth, including the fins/rudders (both sides,) fuselage sides (complete,) and Ocean Grey for the undersides. He wrote an article, about this, in Scale Models, January 1976, for the then-new Tamiya Dambuster/Grand Slam 1/48th Lancaster.
Edgar Brooks