Stability and Control characteristics of the Early Mark Spitfires

[NZtyphoon]

Originally Posted by CaptainDoggles

Yeah, there are lots. But this thread is about the Spitfire. You just "randomly chose" the 190, I'm sure.

Not because it was a German aircraft gimme a break.

As far as I can tell there are no rules against citing German aircraft as an example of potentially deadly flight characteristics - FYI four books I have bought in the last few months are on the Do 335, the Ar 234 the Bf 110/Me 210 and 410 series and the JG26 war diaries pt 1, so attempting to claim anti-German bias on my part is a waste of time.

Back to the Spitfire - with all the claims being made that early marks of the Spitfire had bad longitudinal stability how did this show itself in real life? Apart from a set of pilot's notes and a NACA report, stating that it did not meet certain criteria, how much evidence exists of pilots complaining that they were nearly killed by a sudden, dangerous stall leading to a spin while pulling up in a tight turn? Are there any reports from Luftwaffe pilots stating that a Spitfire they had bounced lost its wings while trying to escape? Is there anything proving that Spitfires were destroyed between 1939 and 1941 because of bad longitudinal stability?