28.09.2008, 18:00
yeah, you're right except that a IX with the shorter air intake and rounded rudder is still just an early IXc. The engine air intake was extended about mid-way through the series I think.
Reflected, Sheddan, no there wasn't. It's often misquoted, particularly by pilots of the era, as they made the distinction.
Johnny Checketts also talks about having his own MKIXb in his biography as well. But they never existed as official designations.
As I mentioned earlier, the Spitfire suffixes came from the wing fitted. All the way through the series.
Ia (8 machine gun wing), Ib (2 cannon, four machine guns), IIa (8 machine gun wing), Va (8 machine gun wing), Vb (2 cannon, four machine guns), Vc (universal wing- 2 cannon, four machine guns or 4 cannon), IXc (universal wing), IX e (2 cannon, 2 .5in machine guns) etc
The 'c' wing was determined to be the standard once it had been developed, which is why aircraft that only used the one type of wing MKVII, MKVIII as an example have no suffix. This is also why the early Ixs were just F. IX, LF. IX, HF. IX with no suffix. The IXc designation was retrospective once the 'e' wing began to be fitted.
The confusion arose with the pilots because the new aircraft used converted Vc airframes, with the same armament as fitted to the Vb, installed in a 'c' wing, which had various alternate installations.
These aircraft had a number of things different to later IXs, identification light on the spine, different cannon blisters (the wider ones, vs the narrow ones of later models) and smaller balances, and used the Merlin 61 or 63 engine. They were also the first of the type, so like Mustangs, Messerschmitts, P-47s - whatever, it followed that this should have been the IXa, and these aircraft were commonly referred to as IXa. Once the aircraft fitted with the Merlin 66 started to come out, (the LF.IXc) these new a/c were referred to as IXb.
BUT. As I mentioned, these were never official designations for the IX. The official designations were F. IXc, LF.IXc, HF.IXc and F. IXe, LF.IXe, HF.IXe, and ONLY related to the wing and engine fitted to the aircraft, not the armament. F, LF, HF relates to the engine (and role - the engine was optimised for altitude performance High, Medium or Low), c or e refers to the wing. The IX never used the a or b Spitfire wing, hence there never was a IXa or IXb. It's also why there was never a MK XIVa or b, or a MKXVIa or b, though the XIV dropped the F, LF, HF prefix since it was only fitted with the Griffon 65 engine and used the F or FR prefix depending on whether it was fitted with cameras.
Reflected, Sheddan, no there wasn't. It's often misquoted, particularly by pilots of the era, as they made the distinction.
Johnny Checketts also talks about having his own MKIXb in his biography as well. But they never existed as official designations.
As I mentioned earlier, the Spitfire suffixes came from the wing fitted. All the way through the series.
Ia (8 machine gun wing), Ib (2 cannon, four machine guns), IIa (8 machine gun wing), Va (8 machine gun wing), Vb (2 cannon, four machine guns), Vc (universal wing- 2 cannon, four machine guns or 4 cannon), IXc (universal wing), IX e (2 cannon, 2 .5in machine guns) etc
The 'c' wing was determined to be the standard once it had been developed, which is why aircraft that only used the one type of wing MKVII, MKVIII as an example have no suffix. This is also why the early Ixs were just F. IX, LF. IX, HF. IX with no suffix. The IXc designation was retrospective once the 'e' wing began to be fitted.
The confusion arose with the pilots because the new aircraft used converted Vc airframes, with the same armament as fitted to the Vb, installed in a 'c' wing, which had various alternate installations.
These aircraft had a number of things different to later IXs, identification light on the spine, different cannon blisters (the wider ones, vs the narrow ones of later models) and smaller balances, and used the Merlin 61 or 63 engine. They were also the first of the type, so like Mustangs, Messerschmitts, P-47s - whatever, it followed that this should have been the IXa, and these aircraft were commonly referred to as IXa. Once the aircraft fitted with the Merlin 66 started to come out, (the LF.IXc) these new a/c were referred to as IXb.
BUT. As I mentioned, these were never official designations for the IX. The official designations were F. IXc, LF.IXc, HF.IXc and F. IXe, LF.IXe, HF.IXe, and ONLY related to the wing and engine fitted to the aircraft, not the armament. F, LF, HF relates to the engine (and role - the engine was optimised for altitude performance High, Medium or Low), c or e refers to the wing. The IX never used the a or b Spitfire wing, hence there never was a IXa or IXb. It's also why there was never a MK XIVa or b, or a MKXVIa or b, though the XIV dropped the F, LF, HF prefix since it was only fitted with the Griffon 65 engine and used the F or FR prefix depending on whether it was fitted with cameras.