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geofflambert -> RE: Battle of Britain 75th Anniversary Air Show pics (9/22/2015 11:33:38 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Reg
quote:
ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury
Is there an easy way to identify which one is which?
If you get to see them from above/below, the spitfire has elliptical wings* while the hurricane's wings are straight.
(* Note some late Spitfire MkVs had the wing tips removed giving a square tip and improved roll rate).
BTW: That formation in post 4 appears to be led by a Packard engined, clipped wing, bubble canopy Spitfire Mk XVIe which looks significantly different from Warspite's picture of a Mk1 above. (The design evolved over the war).
The tail surface area on the Spit is generally less, the wings are broader front to back at the fuselage, the engine compartment is proportionately larger and the Spit usually has a four bladed prop and the Hurri three. In theory the most efficient number of blades would be one if you could balance it somehow. Since you're somewhat limited in the length of the blades (it's not good if they hit the ground) you have to add blades to take full advantage of greater engine power. Just looking at the Spit's wings you know it's going to be a kite, sort of like the difference between a Fokker Dr-1 and a Camel. edit: I meant a Sopwith Camel, not the four legged kind the Arabs fly.
Reg, why the Packard engines? Was it because the P-51's were sucking up all the Merlin's? That's something way over my head (not that that's saying much) but the difference between a P-51 with a Packard and a P-51 with a Merlin is huge, not so much for a Spit I suppose.
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