Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXe

Plane: Supermarine Spitfire Mk IXe

Weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): / 7,300lb /

Wing Area: 242sq ft

Wing Loading: / 30.2lb/sq ft /

Length: 31' 3"

Span: 36' 10"

Wing Aspect Ratio: 5.6

Engine: 1,650hp Rolls Royce Merlin 70 Inline

Flaps: 2 settings

Visibility:

• Front: Good
• Sides: Good
• Rear: Fair

Control Feel:

• Slow: Excellent
• Near Sustained: Good
• Fast: Poor Roll/Rudder, Good Elevators

Stall Speed 1k (No Flaps/Full Flaps) 90/85mph

Guns:

Ordnance:
0: none
1: 1x500lb bomb
2: none
3: none

Fuel Time/Percent: 43 seconds/percent

Power/weight (Empty/Loaded/Max): / 4.4lb/hp /

Corner Velocity: 270mph

Durability: Fair

WEP time: 5 minutes

Maximum Angle-of-Attack (no flaps/full flaps): 18/16.5 degrees

Wing Incidence Angle (no flaps/full flaps): 5/4.5 degrees

Accleleration:

Climb:
1k-5k: 44s
5k-10k: 65s
10k-15k: 66s

Zoom Climb:
1k 400mph: +5,300ft
1k 300mph: +3,400ft

Dive:

Max Speed

Turn Performance

Corner Speed and Radii (1,000ft):

Speed: 270mph
Radius: 531ft
Sustained Turn Speed: 160mph
Sustained Turn Radius: 609ft
Full Flaps Speed: 120mph
Full Flaps Radius: 473ft

Roll Rate:
150mph: 5.0s
200mph: 3.7s
250mph: 4.2s
300mph: 5.4s
350mph: 7.9s
400mph: 11.4s

Minimum Full-Flaps Full-Power Split-S altitude:
150mph: 900ft
200mph: 1000ft
250mph: 1500ft
300mph: 1800ft

Hoof's Tips and Opinions:

The Supermarine Spitfire IX was rushed to service to deal with the Focke-Wulf threat when the Luftwaffe started testing their new plane in England. In order to prevent disrupting production significantly, the Spitfire IX uses the same fuselage and wings of the Spitfire V, which it was replacing (later, new wing designs came out allowing the Spitfire to have several different armaments, including the "e" wing armament seen in Warbirds). A new improved engine was developed, and the Spitfire IX branched into two flavors, the high altitude version (that seen in Warbirds) with the Merlin 70 engine, which had a service ceiling of approximately 44,000ft, allowing it to do very well against high altitude Messerschmitts, and the low altitude version, using the Merlin 66 engine. Both engines produced the same base power, about 180hp more than the Spitfire V. On the flip side, the new engine and other tweaks added almost 700lbs of weight to the plane. The new plane was nowhere near as outclassed by the Focke-Wulf A-3 as the Spitfire V was, as it could dive with the Focke-Wulf fighter, accelerate with it, outclimb it and outturn it. Top speed was still lower, but that no longer mattered as much due to the difference in climb performance, especially above 7,000ft.

As far as Warbirds goes, the Spitfire IX is a more "muscular" plane than the Spitfire V (to use Fletchman's term). It accelerates better, climbs better, does better at vertical maneuvers, and dives better. It doesn't turn quite as well, and the high speed/radius of it's sustained turn, a real asset for the Spitfire V, now becomes a liability, as planes that can turn with/outturn a Spitfire IX will gain a decent advantage due to their smaller turning radius.

On the flip side, the Spitfire IX dives extremely well. This allows her to keep right on the six of all but the fastest divers when they attempt to disengage from a turnfight. Her high speed retention, like all the light planes of Warbirds, is not so good, although she does quite well. Her sustained speed is not the best, and she will lose most of the fast planes in an extended chase, but her excellent diving ability allows her to disengage where the Spitfire V would not be able to.

The planes to avoid like the plague in co-alt situations are the SpitV and the P38L/J. The F6F, with it's smaller turning radius makes it a serious threat, as does the Ki84. This is a plane that's "supposed" to be able to turn well, but many will find her seemingly outturned, especially on the 2nd merge in a co-alt post-head-on situation. And often the SpitIX pilot will find the enemy getting the shot after a pass about a second or two before the SpitIX pilot does, adding to the frustration and the sense that the SpitIX doesn't turn well, which isn't really true.

As far as a "training" plane, the SpitIX is almost always flown after a SpitV. Many situations where the SpitV can't quite get there in a situation, the SpitIX will get right in there and do what you want. This and it's higher horsepower make the SpitIX a tempting choice for the budding energy fighter. And as an energy fighter, the SpitIX starts to show it's true colors, because just like the Bf109F, the SpitIX can't quite outturn the enemy, but turn good enough to deliver a coup de grace shot on a target that has been worked on for a while, and deliver this killing blow much sooner than the traditional energy fighters. The SpitIX pilot will find himself less and less reliant on the plane's turning ability and turnfights to get kills and will start to use the excellent diving ability of the SpitIX and the excellent climbing ability to start branching out into the BnZ style and E fighting style techniques. This is the main reason I recommend the SpitV/SpitIX progression for learning the art of air combat in WB, since the P38L, while a better plane, really offers no incentive to progress to other planes. A P38L pilot will try another plane, find it lacking compared to the P38L and go right back. A spitV pilot, who will do almost as well at first, will find the SpitIX appealing later on due to it's extra horsepower, but will soon find it's turning ability not quite there, and will be fare more open to trying another plane out (like the Ki84 or P38L or 109F or F4U), since they will not be radically inferior to the SpitIX in many ways like they are to the P38L.

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