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Airfix A02108 Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc 1:72 |
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| A much more complicated aeroplane than the Hawker Hurricane which preceded it into RAF service, the Spitfire represented the pinnacle of aviation design when the first examples were delivered to No.19 Squadron at Duxford in the summer of 1938. As the clouds of war were gathering, the RAF were going to need as many of these magnificent aeroplanes as they could get.
The Spitfire has the distinction of being the only Allied fighter to be in continuous production throughout the Second World War and was constantly upgraded to keep it at the forefront or wartime fighter technology. The Spitfire Mk.V combined the additional power of the Rolls Royce Merlin 45 engine with the original Mk.I/II airframe (plus a number of design improvements for the proposed future Mk.III) and proved to be more than a match for the latest Luftwaffe fighter. Spitfire Mk.V fighters were produced at a spectacular rate with almost 6,500 manufactured. Seeing service in every theatre the Allies contested the war, Spitfire Mk.Vs fought in the home defence role above the deserts of North Africa and jungles of the Far East.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc 307th Fighter Squadron, Twelth Air Force, United States Army Air Force, La Senia, Algeria, November/December 1942.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Vc No.2 Squadron, South African Air Force, Gioia del Colle, Italy, October 1943. |
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