for new Spitfires was placed, or better said,

the program for converting Spitfires Mk.I

and II into Spitfires Mk.V was ordered.

Spitfire Mk.Va and Mk.Vb

Later production Spitfire Mk.Vb featuring the asymmetrical lower bulges under the

cannon well, tropical filter and a drop tank (photo: Simon Erland).

Squadron Leader M Rook, Commanding Officer of No. 43 Squadron RAF, and noted as

the tallest pilot serving in the RAF at the time, poses with his Supermarine Spitfire

Mk.Vc, JK101 ‚FT-Z‘, at Jemappes, Algeria. The aircraft is fitted with a Vokes tropical filter (photo: IWM).

8

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While the Spitfires Mk.V, re-built at Rolls-Royce, were trialed, the program of converting Spitfires Mk.I was under way at

Supermarine. In the middle of March 1941,

another aircraft, X4922 built in Eastleigh

at Spitfire Mk.I assembly line, arrived at

Boscombe Down. It already featured Merlin

45 and was test-flown on February 7. During

the trials it was fully armed and equipped

and reached the maximum speed of 603 kph

at the altitude of 6,344 meters, to which

it climbed in 7.1 minute. The operational

ceiling was 11,499 meters. In Eastleigh, in

the second half of February, a total of 23

Spitfire Mk.I airframes, mostly cannon version Mk.Ib, received Merlin 45, thus becoming

the first Spitfires Mk.Vb. Several airplanes

were also produced with eight wing machine guns and became the first Spitfires Mk.Va.

Besides the engine, the equipment of these

aircraft corresponded to Spitfire Mk.I standard including the smaller oil cooler with

U-shaped intake which was the cause of

higher oil temperature of the first Spitfires

Mk.V and posed a certain risk of engine

overheating. The first unit to receive Spitfires Mk.Vb was No. 92 Squadron commanded

by S/Ldr Jamie Rankin, which up until then

was flying Spitfires Mk.Ib. The first Spitfire Mk.Vb X4257 was delivered to the unit

on February 16, but since Rolls-Royce in

Hucknall was gradually converting current

Mk.Ibs, sent over from the unit, to Mk.Vb

standards, No. 92 Squadron was fully equipped with “fives” only in the beginning of

April.

During March, the Supermarine assembly

lines were switching to Spitfire Mk.V production and by the end of the month 12 Mk.Vb

and 26 Mk.Va were built, with Mk.I still in

production. In April the Mk.V production

was at the full speed resulting in 36 Mk.Va

and 22 Mk.Vb completed. The last manufactured Mk.I was R7257, also produced in

April. By the end of May, the RAF squadron

Nos. 54, 74, 603 and 611 were equipped

with new Mk.V. The production at Supermarine ran until October 1942 and its final

output was 1,352 airframes out of which 94

were versions Mk.Va, 780 Mk.Vb and 478

Mk.Vc.

The CBAF (Castle Bromwich Aircraft Factory) launched the Spitfire Mk.V production

in June 1941 while it was fulfilling the

contract for 1,000 Mk.IIs, signed on April

12, 1939. Gradually the company received

another eight orders to produce Spitfires

Mk.V, of which the last one, from May 1942,

largely transitioned to the manufacture of

modernized Spitfires Mk.IX. Until the end

of April 1943, the total production at CBAF

reached 3,003 Spitfires Mk.Vb and 1,474

Spitfires Mk.Vc.

Since the summer 1943, the Mk.V production was under way at Westland company located in Yeovil in county of Somerset.

Westland manufactured various versions of

Spitfire Mk.V until November 1943 and ultimately delivered a total of 140 Mk.Vb and

495 Mk.Vc.

In the summer 1943, the Mk.V production

was under way at Westland company located in Yeovil, in the County of Somerset.

Westland manufactured various versions

INFO Eduard - January 2022