Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB

Supermarine / Westland / Castle Bromwich · United Kingdom · first flew 1941 · fighter

The Spitfire Mk VB mated the Mk V airframe with the 'B' wing carrying two 20 mm Hispano cannon and four 0.303 Browning machine guns, giving RAF Fighter Command a decisive punch over the Bf 109F in 1941. It was the most common Mk V sub-variant.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, elliptical
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	9.12 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Standard RAF Spitfire of 1941–42 with two Hispano cannon
Merlin 45 or 46 engine, rounded wing tips retained
Dominant variant during the Circus and Rhubarb sweeps over France

Externally very similar to the VC; standard VBs retain the full elliptical wing tip and show two cannon blisters on the underside of each wing leading edge.

Specifications

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB has a length of 9.12 m (30 ft).
It has a wingspan of 11.23 m (37 ft).
Its maximum speed is 602 km/h (374 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Production of the VB began in early 1941 at Supermarine, Castle Bromwich, and Westland, eventually totalling over 3,900 aircraft — more than any other single Spitfire mark. The type equipped Fighter Command through the sweeps over occupied Europe and was urgently shipped to Malta and the Middle East during 1942.

Variants

Sits between the eight-gun VA and the universal-wing VC; the clipped-wing VB with reduced-span tips was introduced for low-level operations.

Where you'll see it

Served with the RAF, RCAF, RAAF, Polish, Czech, Norwegian, and Belgian squadrons; also supplied to the Soviet Union and US Army Air Forces.

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