In 1942, 36 Spitfires were under investigation for structural failures and in 24 cases the tail unit broke off in flight.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Juha
IIRC the structural failures were mostly confined to early Spit Vs and the problem was firstly cured by installing bobweights to elevators control cables and then more elegantly by local strengthening.
|
Structural integrity problems were common to all Spitfires.
Spitfire X4268 was used to investigate wing failures, and Spitfire P7251 was used to investigate tailplane failures. The following list is just the tip of the iceberg, but enough to indicate that Spitfires were not suitable for dive bombing...
Spitfire I -- K9838 -- Structural failure in dive.
Spitfire I -- N3191 -- Both wings snapped off in dive.
Spitfire I -- X4354 -- Wing snapped off in dive.
Spitfire I -- X4381 -- Wing snapped off in dive.
Spitfire I -- X4421 -- Both wings snapped off in dive.
Spitfire I -- X4662 -- Wing snapped off in dive.
Spitfire I -- X4680 -- Wings/tail snapped off in dive.
Spitfire I -- X4621 -- Failed to recover from dive.
Spitfire I -- N3284 -- Broke up in flight.
Spitfire I -- N3286 -- Broke up in flight.
Spitfire I -- P9546 -- Structural failure in flight.
Spitfire I -- P9309 -- Lost wing in flight.
Spitfire I -- X4234 -- Lost wing in spin.
Spitfire I -- P9322 -- Broke up in flight.
Spitfire I -- R6706 -- Aileron failure and crash.
Spitfire I -- X4854 -- Wing snapped off in flight.
Spitfire II -- P7352 -- Broke up in dive.
Spitfire II -- P7522 -- Both wings snapped off in dive.
Spitfire II -- P7593 -- Wing and tail snapped off in flight.
Spitfire II -- P8183 -- Wing snapped off in flight.
Spitfire II -- P8644 -- Wing snapped off in flight.
Spitfire II -- N8245 -- Structural failure in flight.
Spitfire II -- P7911 -- Flap failure and crash.
Spitfire IV -- AA801 -- Structural failure in flight.
Spitfire V -- BL531 -- Both wings snapped off in dive.
Spitfire V -- AA876 -- Disintegrated in dive.
Spitfire V -- AD555 -- Flap failure and crash.
Spitfire V -- BL303 -- Flap failure and crash.
Spitfire V -- BL407 -- Structural failure suspected.
Spitfire V -- AB172 -- Structural failure in flight.
Spitfire V -- AA970 -- Structural failure in flight.
Spitfire V -- BL290 -- Wing snapped off in flight.
Spitfire V -- BR627 -- Wing failed in spin.
Spitfire V -- BL389 -- Pilot thrown from aircraft in dive.
Spitfire V -- EP335 -- Wings, fuselage, tail, damaged in dive.
Spitfire VI -- AB200 -- Wings buckled in dive.
Spitfire VII -- MD128 -- Mainplane buckled during evasive action.
Spitfire IX -- BS251 -- Structural failure in dive.
Spitfire IX -- BS385 -- Structural failure in dive.
Spitfire IX -- BS441 -- Disintegrated in dive.
Spitfire IX -- PL387 -- Disintegrated in dive.
Spitfire IX -- BS404 -- Structural failure in spin.
Spitfire IX -- PT876 -- Lost wing in spin.
Spitfire IX -- MH349 -- Wing failed during aerobatics.
Spitfire IX -- MJ843 -- Port wing, tailplane broke off in loop.
Spitfire IX -- MA308 -- Wings severely buckled around cannons.
Spitfire IX -- MH692 -- Tail section damaged in dive.
Spitfire XI -- EN409 -- Multiple wing rivet failure in dive.
Spitfire XI -- EN409 -- Prop/gear broke off in dive.
Spitfire XII -- MB850 -- Spine of fuselage broke in dive.
Spitfire XVI -- SL724 -- Crashed after recovery from dive.
Spitfire XVI -- TD119 -- Crashed after recovery from dive.
December 30th, 1941, a Spitfire Vb of 306 (Polish) Squadron was seen to lose a wing north of Brest. Probably another structural failure, but I'm guessing this one may have been hit in the wings by gunfire before folding up. The pilot was identified as Flight Lieutenant S. W. Zielinski (KIA).
After the Spitfire Mk V went into service it was discovered that several aircraft dived straight into the ground for no apparent reason. The Accidents Branch determined that firing the 20mm guns could damage the oxygen system, causing the pilot to lose consciousness. I'm not certain what they did to fix it.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
Indeed several aircraft returned damaged but this was not that very common and more a myth than a problem
|
In 1944, the Biggin Hill fighter station took stock of their Spitfires and found 35 with badly damaged engine mounts caused by high speed dives. It was simply not designed for the stresses of fighter-bombering.