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Re: Natural metal Spitfires.
Not quite true, Franek. Stripping the paint off will save quite a bit of weight, and the resulting metal finish (if properly done) will be slightly smoother than the paint, thus reducing skin-friction drag slightly. It won't make the aircraft fly noticeably faster, but will allow it to claw a little extra altitude. So it would be a reasonable thing to try if you needed to operate on or near the ceiling of the fighter - to intercept an Ar.234, perhaps.
Can this scheme can be linked to HF-engined airframes?
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