Stability and Control characteristics of the Early Mark Spitfires

[Crumpp]

The "instability" was low velocity flutter and was not caught until the end of the war.

The tail problems turned out to be due to elevator flutter and were cured by modifying elevator balance, but that didn't happen until very near to the end of the war.

http://www.airvectors.net/avcfury.html

The RAE did not have a standard for stability and control.

ONCE again, there is nothing else in the Operating Notes in either the Typhoon or the Tempest that pertain to any kind of longitudinal stability issue. Had their been an issue, it would reflect in the cautions.

This is in sharp contrast to the early Mark Spitfires whose Operating Notes are filled with warnings of symptoms that are the result of longitudinal stability.