Amazing sounding Spitfire - Spitfire AR501

The Shuttleworth Collection's Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. Vc, AR501, G-AWII, flying at Old Warden during the Shuttleworth Flying Festival of Britain Airshow 2021, with pilot Willy Hackett at the controls. Initially Hawker Hurricane Mk.II, P3717, G-HITT is part of the routine, but then they separate and the film concentrates on the Spitfire alone.
This Spitfire was built in 1942 by Westland Aircraft of Yeovil, Somerset.
By 1940 the Mark V Spitfire had been developed around a Mark II airframe, strengthened to receive the latest Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 and 46 engines. More were produced than any other variant of the Spitfire.
The Mark V was designed to improve the flying characteristics of the Mark II. Some were designed for ground attack with bombs, machine guns and cannon, and some with all cannon armament.
The Mk. VC had a 'universal wing' enabling it to be armed with three different sets of armaments. The Mk. VC served mainly in overseas theatres, especially in the Middle East. First production models were delivered in late 1941.
This aircraft was built as an F. Mk. VC - a general altitude fighter. It had the universal armament wing and a Rolls Royce Merlin 46 engine, developing a maximum of 1415 horsepower, with an altitude rating of 19000 feet.
Initial going to RAF 8 Maintenance Unit (MU) at Little Rissington (22/6/42), it then went to 6 MU Brize Norton (7/7/42) before issue to 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron at Exeter (19/7/42).
On 15/3/43 AR501 was severely damaged on the ground at RAF Exeter, when a Mosquito collided with her. Repairs to AR501 were completed off site at 67 MU, Taunton and Westlands at Yeovil.
It then went to 33 MU, Lyneham (17/7/43) and 3501 Servicing Unit, Cranfield (6/8/43) before issue to 504 (City of Nottingham) Squadron at Church Stanton (Culmhead), Somerset (18/8/43).
AR501 then went to 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron (10/10/43). The squadron was engaged on bomber escort duties protecting raids across the English Channel against V-1 rocket launch sites.
In post war years it became an instructional airframe at Loughborough College and was acquired by the Shuttleworth Collection in 1961 and was displayed for many years in the clipped wing configuration wearing the 1942-43 livery of No.310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron.
Returned to flight for the Battle of Britain film, a major overhaul was then carried out in the early 1970s. She was airworthy from 1977-2005, then removed from service for another overhaul.
In mid 2000 the elliptical wingtips were refitted when the aircraft took part in the filming of the movie 'Pearl Harbor'.
Between 2005 and 2018 a complete strip down and rebuild to original specification was completed.
Today, Spitfire AR501, appears in the livery that it wore when serving with 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron in 1943.
Why were the wings clipped?
From early 1941 the German Focke Wulf Fw190 appeared. Allied losses began to mount as this latest adversary had a significant advantage over the Spitfire, with an incredible rate of roll and manoeuvrability.
To increase the roll rate of the Spitfire and improve its fighting qualities, the wingspan needed to be reduced. The wingtips were a separate piece constructed from wood with an aluminum skin. They were attached with two bolts and a number of small screws to hold a covering strip where the wing and the tip joined. These were removed and a simple fairing fitted instead.
A test flight was arranged by the Air Fighting Development Unit at RAF Duxford, comparing a standard wing Spitfire Mk V with the new modified version at various heights up to 25,000 feet. The clipped Spitfire wing made the aircraft 5 mph faster at 10,000 feet and slightly faster at 25,000 feet, but with better acceleration across the board. In a dive, the clipped wing aircraft pulled away from the standard version and in a dogfight, the improved roll rate meant it could shake off the pursuing unmodified Spitfire. Climb performance wasn’t affected much and there was no noticeable change to the take-off and landing performance.
The Spitfire wing is quite large and blocks out a lot of the ground from the pilot’s perspective, which could potentially hide an enemy aircraft, but the removal of the wingtips takes over four feet from each side, improving the under wing view considerably.
Having improved the performance of the Spitfire Mk V, in conjunction with supercharger modifications (although losses were still heavy against the FW190s), the latter stages of the war saw the clipped wing configuration became a very common, almost standard specification on Mk 9 and Mk16 Spitfires, as high altitude sorties became fewer and low altitude missions such as ground strafing became a priority.
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[@andrewmontgomery5621]

Mr Dawson:"Spitfires, George. Greatest plane ever built."

[@andrewmontgomery5621]

The Spitfire is an National Treasure.

[@CharlieGolfAviation]

Such a beautiful sound!! Great video

[@HighFlight]

Thanks. 👍

[@Baseloiter]

Had to Google the reg as I'm not familiar with different models of spitfire mk vc , so that's mk 5 and c for Czech then? Must try old warden one day.

[@HighFlight]

Matt, I'd recommend Old Warden, lots of historic aircraft and relaxed airshows. A very good day out. The Mk.5 Spitfire was produced in 4 different versions - A, B, C, B(T) - differences were generally in the type of wing, mark of engine, armament - the B(T) was a tropical version. The 5c had what was called a 'universal wing' and either a Merlin 45 or 46 mark engine.

[@harryspeakup8452]

@@HighFlight Not quite, there were never any Spitfire V trainers. The first was a converted VIII and all the others were rebuilt out of IX

[@HighFlight]

@@harryspeakup8452 Thank you for the correction. I rechecked my source - Morgan/Shacklady 'Spitfire the History'. I thought the 'B (T)' stood for 'trainer' but it was a 'T' for 'Tropical'. Interestingly on page 303 the book refers to a one off local modification to a Spitfire VC by 261 Squadron at Catania, Sicily in 1944. It says 'A second cockpit was installed in front of the original on a VC, and it was used mainly for communication duties'. There's no accompanying picture, so I can only suppose that a fuel tank was removed and it was replaced just with a basic seated cockpit with no controls. It also refers to a local Russian conversion of a Mk.IX by adding a closed cockpit behind the original and does include a picture. Neither was an official production version of course and you're right about the Mk.VIII - (the well known G-AIDN) and all of the others being IXs. Thankyou again for pointing out my error. Steve.

[@waynester71]

That first fly past.. Brothers in Arms! 👊🏼🔥 Clipped, cropped & clapped? 😉

[@HighFlight]

Strangely enough, 'Brothers in Arms' was one of my considered titles!👍

[@453421abcdefg12345]

It certainly ruins the beautiful lines and balance of the Spitfire when they leave off the wing tips, I wonder just how much it improved the roll rate? Chris B

[@HighFlight]

In an AFDU trial at RAF Duxford between a clipped-wing Spitfire and a standard Spitfire Mk Vb: Air Fighting Development Unit at Duxford Clipped-wing (32ft 6ins) Spitfire versus standard wing (36ft 10ins) Spitfire The following information comes from flight trial held late in 1942. 'Roll rate for a standard Spitfire was 105 degrees per second at 200mph. This was increased for the clipped-wing version to 175 degrees per second at the same speed. It should be noted that the clipped-wing version suffered the same difficulties in the rolling plane as the standard fighter as the speed of the aircraft increased. The response to aileron movements is very quick and very crisp. Four dogfights were carried out, starting with the standard Spitfire on the tail of the clipped-wing Spitfire. On two occasions the clipped-wing Spitfire evaded so rapidly in the rolling plane that it was able to lose the standard Spitfire and reverse the positions in about 20 seconds. On the third occasion the clipped-wing Spitfire was also able to lose the standard Spitfire. The fourth occasion was at 25,000ft and the standard Spitfire was able to keep the clipped-wing Spitfire in sight. The minimum turning circle of the clipped-wing Spitfire at 20,000ft has been increased by 55ft at 1,025ft compared with the Fw190 turning circle of 1,450ft (RAE Farnborough figures). This slight increase does not therefore detract from the fighting qualities of the aeroplane in any way, since the clipped-wing version is unlikely to be in combat with the standard Spitfire.'

[@453421abcdefg12345]

@@HighFlight A very interesting comparison, interesting to see the advantage was only at the lower level, so it would be an advantage to keep low down but as its role was ground attack that is where it would normally operate.

[@martindearman6666]

Not Sure About the CLIPPED Wings

[@HighFlight]

@@martindearman6666 Although it doesn't look as good, I'd be sure if I was flying it in 1944, there was a FW190 on my tail and the difference meant I could win the combat or survive the encounter!