Show description

The troubles experienced with this aircraft rendered it unsuitable for operational flying and a restriction was imposed in which it was only allowed to fly locally at reduced airspeeds. On arrival at Boscombe Down the aircraft was flown in the condition in which it was received and when flying at over 200 mph IAS it was noted that it flew left wing low, this tendency increasing so that at 300 mph IAS the control force needed to fly straight and level was very large, so much so that it was virtually impossible to bank to the right.

In the event the Spitfire XII was never used in the dive-bombing role and was to remain as a low altitude fighter throughout its service life. The testing carried out at Boscombe Down and Duxford had shown that the Griffon-Spitfire had great potential. The Mark XII was one of the fastest fighters of its day at low level and if this level of performance could be extended to higher altitudes, as was likely if a more advanced version of the Griffon was to be used, the Spitfire was assured of matching anything that Germany could produce.

A number of dives were made up to 450 mph IAS, the only difficulty being the heavy rudder which was incapable of countering the Spitfire’s normal tendency of yawing to the left when trimmed for all-out level flight. To maintain balanced flight it was necessary to utilise the rudder trimmer. Recovery from these dives was normal and the Spitfire XII did not shown any sign of tightening on the pull out or of producing excessive accelerations. At the opposite end of the speed range, the stalling characteristics were very similar to other Spitfires and at the weight tested the stalling speed flaps and undercarriage up was 75 mph IAS, with 65 mph IAS being noted with flaps and undercarriage down.