26.04.2009, 03:48
I don't doubt they went to France without it. A lot of them still had the original flat-top canopies and two-bladed props, too. Until the Battle of Britain began in earnest, it seemed a case of simply 'find what you can and use it'. However I am quite sure that armour did become standard during the Mk.I production run; how early or late I can't say for certain, but from a few of the sources I've read over the years, there was a definite point where it was standardised in the Mk.I and later increased in the Mk.II, along with other additions such as the toughened glass windscreen. When the aircraft entered service in 1938 Supermarine and Vickers would take suggestions from the pilots into account and, when possible, implement them into all future production aircraft; the domed canopy for taller pilots, the introduction of an engine-powered hydraulic pump, the faster-turning starter and the improving of oil seals were all issues brought up by pilots as they began to try out the new fighter, and all of these issues were resolved in one way or another (although the Spitfire remained a leaky aircraft for its entire service life, it was an improvement over the inital production aircraft). As aircraft were lost in combat or accidents, newer aircraft featuring these improvements would be brought in, and some squadrons got hold of these faster than the others, so I guess you could say that by 'standard' I mean 'standard on replacement aircraft'. The British military has always had a very funny idea of what constitutes standard, in my experience; a lot of it seems to have been down to the pilots themselves.
However, as it has been shown that the ingame Mk.I is in fact a Mk.II for all intents and purposes, I certainly would not be opposed to the lessening of its armour load or even its removal. To be honest I wouldn't complain if someone went ahead and made the even earlier Spitfires, too - perhaps for a France campaign, or a 'Phoney War' mission. I have quite an interesting account of an encounter between a formation of Ju88s and the newly-introduced Spitfire Mk.I up in Scotland, I'd like to see something like that ingame. I certainly want the new aircraft (particularly those most sorely missed, the Do-17 and the British heavies, not so much the fantasy-waffe or less commonly-used types), but I don't see much problem with adding more variants of the Spit seeing as the 109 is receiving exactly the same treatment. Why shouldn't they? They were two of the most widely-used aircraft of the war, in all their many iterations...
However, as it has been shown that the ingame Mk.I is in fact a Mk.II for all intents and purposes, I certainly would not be opposed to the lessening of its armour load or even its removal. To be honest I wouldn't complain if someone went ahead and made the even earlier Spitfires, too - perhaps for a France campaign, or a 'Phoney War' mission. I have quite an interesting account of an encounter between a formation of Ju88s and the newly-introduced Spitfire Mk.I up in Scotland, I'd like to see something like that ingame. I certainly want the new aircraft (particularly those most sorely missed, the Do-17 and the British heavies, not so much the fantasy-waffe or less commonly-used types), but I don't see much problem with adding more variants of the Spit seeing as the 109 is receiving exactly the same treatment. Why shouldn't they? They were two of the most widely-used aircraft of the war, in all their many iterations...