Air Power Series>1:48 die-cast display model>Spitfire>HA8303

General Background

The Spitfire Mk. VIII was to going to use the larger Merlin engines so the airframe of the earlier Mk. V had to be redesigned. This kept the new mark from entering service until June 1943. The Mk. VIII was produced in 3 versions; the standard fighter F.VIII with the 1,560 hp Merlin 61; the high altitude fighter HF.VIII with the 1,655hp Merlin 70 and the low altitude fighter LF.VIII with the 1,705 hp Merlin 66. The Mk. VIII was going to be the answer to the Fw-190.

The Aircraft

The Spitfire Mk VIII was developed from the high altitude Mk VII. There were 1,652 Mk VIIIs built with a large number being sent to the Mediterranean, Eastern Front as well as India, Burma and Australia. RAAF Spitfire A-58-602 was built as an HF.VIII (HF – High Flying) for the RAF with serial MV133. It arrived at the Australian 457 Squadron on January 23, 1945 and was flown by Wing Commander H. R. Gibbes who ended the war with 10 ¼ victories and 14 probables.

Specifications :

Role :	Fighter Bomber
Crew :	1
Crew :	1 X pilot
Performance :
Engine:	Rolls-Royce Merlin 70 liquid-cooled V-12 piston with 2 speed 2 stage supercharger
Horse Power:	1,710 hp @ 11,000 ft
	1,475 @ 23,250 ft
Propeller:	4 x wooden blade Rotol Constant Speed 10 ft 9 ins (3.22 m) in diameter
Fuel:	Aviation Gasoline 100 Octane
Tanks:	Fuselage Capacity: 90 Imperial Gallons 108 U.S. Gallons (409 Litres)
	Wing Capacity (2): 30 Imperial Gallons 36 U.S. Gallons (136 Litres)
Speed:	@ 21,000 ft (6,400 m) – 404 mph (650 km/h)
Cruise:	253 mph ( 407 km/h)
Climb To 20,000 ft (6,096 m):	6.7 minutes
Service Ceiling:	41,500 ft (12,649 m)
Range With drop Tanks:	1,180 miles (1,900 km)
Dimensions:
Wingspan:	36 ft 10 ins (11.23 m)
Length:	31 ft 3.5 ins (9.54 m)
Height:	12 ft 7.75 ins (3.86 m)
Weight:
Empty:	5,800 lbs (2,631 kg)
Loaded:	7,767 lbs (3,523 kg)
Armament:
Wings:	2 x 20 mm Hispano cannons
	4 x .303 Browning MGs
Bombs:	1 x 500 lbs (454 kg) or
	2 x 250 lbs (227 kg)