SPITFIRE  Mk XIVc CG
145 Sqdn - CFS3
V4.00.164

This aircraft was built by  GregoryP using the Version 4.00.164 AvHistory 1% Assembly Line process.  It is based on the new CFS3 Spitfire MkXIVc visual 3D model created by and painted by Josh Ziebarth "ZUYAX".  LODs and 3D modeling guidance was provided by Mathias Pommerien, whose assistance was greatly appreciated.  Please see the orginal aircraft readme file included for additional credits and information.

ZUYAX painted this plane to represent Spitfire RM787, a Mark XIVc flown by Wing Commander Colin Grey, 145 Sqdn. Lympne, October 1944.



Born in New Zealand, Colin Grey starting operational flying with the RAF 54 Squadron in 1939 in the Spitfire Mk I.  He saw action over Dunkirk and downed his first aircraft, a Bf109E, in May 1941.  He became one of the more successful pilots to survive the Battle of Britain, recording 16 enemy aircraft through November of that year.  He flew with several squadrons during 1941 and after a rest tour returned to command 64 Squadron flying Mark IXs in 1942.  HE went on to command 81 Squadron, also in Mark IXs and added 5 more victories.  In May 1043 he was promoted to wing Commander and led 322 Wing in the Silicy campaign.  In mid 1944 he commanded Detling and then Lympne wings flying Makr XIVs.  By the end of the War, Grey had become New Zealand's leading ace, recording 27 destroyed, 2 shared destroyed, 6 probable destroyed and 12 damaged.  The majority of these scores were achieved with the Spitfire Mk IX.  After the war he stayed in the RAF and retired as a Group Captain.

Without question the Supermarine Spitfire line was the most successful evolution of a fighter aircraft during World War II.  With significant improvements in engine and airframe, the Spitfire progressed through a seemingly endless series of variants that each managed to equal of excell thier opponents of the period.  Ironically, the most successful and most heavily produced variants were the models classified as so called "interim types".  Like its predicessors the Mark V and the Mark IX, the Mark XIV was itself an interim type and the most impressive Spitfire to see significant combat during the conflict. 

By late 1942, work was well underway on the so called "Supper Spitfire", a significant redesign that was to be powered by the Rolls BRoyce Giffon engine.  The Giffon was considerably more powerful than the most advanced version of the Merlin line.  Development of the Super Spitfire lagged and a one stage version of the Griffon was first fitted to a Mark VIII airframe to produce the Mark XII, an intermim low altitude optimized type pressed into service to counter marauding by low flying FW190s.  The Mark XII was successful as a low altitude fighter but severly limited by its single stage supercharger.  Thus the Air Ministry decided to explore a two stage version to serve until the Super Spitfire could be produced.  The result was the Mark XIV, essentially a Mark VIII airframe mated with a two stage superacharged Rolls Royce Griffon engine and a five bladed prop. The first six protypes were literally that but the production aircraft incorporated additional strengthing of the wings and fuselage, an increase in rudder size and considerable tinkering with control balance to manage the increased torque of the Griffon engine.

The Mark XIV was an awesome flying machine, perhaps best described by some of the pilots that flew it.  No propeller aircraft of the war could match its climb and few could match its speed.  As noted by Wing Commander Pete Brothers "[it] was able to climb almost vertically - it gave many Luftwaffe pilots the shock of thier lives when, having thought they had bounced you from a superior height, they were astonished to find the Mark XIV climbing up to tackle them head on, throttle wide open!"  As described much later by the late Jeff Ethell, "[w]hile the Merlin-engine versions run very smoothly, the larger Griffon-engine machines feel as if they are angry. The sound from the exhaust stacks and the vibration transferred to the seat of the pants communicates visceral power, almost a desire to go kill something. Any hot-rod lover would enjoy this sensation of unbridled horsepower, this impatience to be turned loose and hunt. Every fighter I've been in is great fun to fly but only a very few are brutally straight about why they exist. The Griffon Spitfire is one such machine."

Moreover, while some late war variants of other previously successful fighter aircraft sacrificed some measure of their handling for performance gains, the Mark XIV retained the harmony of control and dominence in turning that was a hallmark of the early versions in the line.  As concluded from its flight testing at the Air Fighting Development Unit in Duxford in early 1944, "All around performance of the Mark XIV is better than the Mark IX at all altitudes....  Its manoeuvrablitiy is as good as a Mark IX.  It is easy to fly but should be handled with care on take off and landings."

No 610 Squadron was the first to equipe with Mark XIV in January 1944, followed shortly by 91 and 322 Squadrons.  Conversion was generally straight forward although since the Griffons rotated in the opposite direction, some care was required to adjust to opposite rudder necessary to mangage the massive torque.  In view of thier speed, Mark XIVs were initially deployed to counter the V1 threat and eventually rotated to Belgium and northern France.  By this time in the war, air combat opportunities were limited but the Mark XIV demonstrated its superiority in the few encounters it had.  A Mark XIV also had the distinction of destroying the first jet Me 262.   

Like the other Spitfire variants, the Mark XIV was produced in various subvariants.  The C wing model was equiped with the usual C wing armament of 4 x .303 cal machine guns and 2 x 20mm hispano cannons.  The E model substituted the E wing armament by replacing the .303s with two .50 cal machine guns mounted inboard of the cannons.  Most E models were also produced with the bubble canopy and cutback fuselage for improved visability.  Many Mk XIVs were also produced or modified in the field with clipped wings.  A few versions were equiped with counter rotating props.

BEAR
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