Well now, you don’t need pointy wings, pressurisation and twin stage/twin speed supercharged engines to get a Spit up to silly heights.
Heading out of East Mids towards Nottingham. How high can I get this Low Level MkXII?
5000ft, and climbing well over my home county. The MkXII is right at home at this altitude.
At 22,000ft the MkXII is now at the limit of it’s normal combat altitude, but still going strong.
25,000ft, well outside the MkXII’s combat envelope now, Will she make the big 30K?
30,000ft. Although the air speed is dropping off now, she still wants to go a bit higher. Can she reach the magic 35K?
At 33,600ft, she has just about reached her altitude limit. A sharp pull back on the stick gains a 100ft or so, but the stall comes on quickly and it’s back down we go. I could most likely have made 35K had I dived a bit to gain some air speed, but I think 33K is a respectable altitude for a dedicated Low Level fighter.
Back in her element, fast and low along the Lincolnshire coast.
And to finish off my little adventure, my trade mark “too fast” landing with plenty of tyre smoke!
Parked up, engine off. Time for a splash of fuel and a cup of tea before trying to find my way back to Nottingham. Now if I just knew where I was.
A few quick Spit facts.
The MkXII was the first Griffon engined Spitfire to enter RAF squadron service with 41 and 91 squadrons in 1943.
Only about 100 were built and all were dedicated low-level fighters. Used mostly in home defence, their main task was intercepting low flying Fw190’s making nuisance raids on Southern England.
In it’s short front line service, only one pilot achieved “Ace” status whilst flying the MkXII.
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