Viper, you know that I respect you because of your factual approach, and yes, there are a lot of misconceptions about the Spit wing design, but according to a gentleman in the UK who owns and regularly flies his Spit MkIX, his Hurri IIb and P-51D, the maneuverability of the Spit is unparalleled, simply because its wing behaves and performs better, albeit being more prone to torque along its span and flex ("the whole plane feeling is of extreme agility and flimsiness, it was obviously an aeroplane that has been based on a sport design and not conceived for war").
As for wing sturdiness, I have walked to the wingtip of a Mustang without the plane making a single movement, but you wouldn't be able to do the same on a Spitfire. A cannon strike on the single spar Spit wing is more likely to do more damage and above all weaken the structure enough to cause a fracture than on a robust Mustang double spar.
Let's not forget that a Mustang is almost twice the weight of a Spitfire!
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05-06-2011, 08:42 PM
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