Spitfire (General Aviation) by Tony Holmes

Author:Tony Holmes [Holmes, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Spitfire
ISBN: 9781472812810
Publisher: Osprey Publishing Ltd
Published: 2015-05-19T16:00:00+00:00

ENGAGING THE ENEMY: MALTA

During the defence of Malta the Spitfires generally used the ‘B’ armament, and while the initial Mk VC Trops had been delivered with a ‘C’ arrangement, two of the cannon were soon taken out due to frequent jamming caused by faulty ammunition. Pilots also noted improved performance with two cannon removed. The Hispano had a useful range of 600 yards for air-to-air fighting, with a total firing time of between ten and 12 seconds, while the machine guns could be fired for a further five seconds. The low weight-offire and slight penetration of the .303in shells meant that pilots had to open fire at extremely close range to do any serious damage.

While the Spitfire is regarded as one of the best fighters of World War II, there is good reason to infer that it was not the best gun platform. Weapons that were easily harmonised when jacked up in the hangar would be subject to a number of twisting forces while airborne. Propeller torque, engine vibration and the lightness of the Spitfire’s structure led to torsional flexing of the fuselage and flying surfaces. At high power settings precise sighting would be lost, along with the ability to score first-round strikes at ranges beyond 200 yards. Weapon harmonisation was also an issue, as the machine guns were not harmonised with the cannon. Rather than being set to converge at a point ahead of the gunsight, they were aligned to fill a volume of air in front of the fighter with as much lead as possible.

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