Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc

From War Thunder Wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
RANK 4 FRANCE
Somua SM PACK
This page is about the premium gift British fighter Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc. For other versions, see Spitfire (Family).
Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc
spitfire_ix_plagis.png
GarageImage Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc.jpg
Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc
AB RB SB
5.3 5.7 5.0
Show in game

Description

John Plagis was the highest scoring Southern Rhodesian ace of the Second World War, achieving at least 16 aerial victories. Plagis flew the Spitfire LF Mk IX (coded "5J-K", tail number ML214) between 20 June to 7 October 1944 and scored four air victories. While participating in Operation Market Garden, he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Arnhem, Netherlands, though he was able to walk away with only minor injuries. His squadron was later re-equipped with Mustang IIIs, in which he served in bomber escort roles until the end of the war. After the war, he flew Gloster Meteors and other jet aircraft until his retirement in 1948.

The Spitfire LF Mk IX is very much a short range, point interceptor fighter and the stand out fighter in the mid Spitfire line-up. It features an exceptional rate of climb, whilst still retaining the manoeuvrability of its early lineage. The LF Mk IX is considered by many to be the perfect Spitfire due to its balanced all-round performance and impressive statistics. The last of the Merlin-engined Spitfires before progressing on to the Griffon-powered variants, it has the perfect balance of turning performance (second only to its Japanese counterparts) as well as its "Boom and Zoom" capability that becomes more possible with later model Spitfires. The Mk IXc is also equipped with the hard-hitting quad cannon armament of the Spitfire Mk Vc, allowing every opportunity for a critical shot to be easily taken advantage of.

Plagis' Spitfire was introduced in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory" and was removed from the Gaijin store in May 2016. It has been made available again in the store for the 2020 "80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain" event and the 2021 May sale. It has also been available in-game for Golden Eagles Ge icon.png for a limited time during the British 2018 "Royal Air Force Centenary", the 2021 and 2022 "Battle of Britain Day" and the 2022 "Spitfire Mk.IX first flight" mini-events.

General info

Flight performance

Max speed
at 4 878 m659 km/h
Turn time15 s
Max altitude11 500 m
EngineRolls-Royce Merlin-66
TypeInline
Cooling systemWater
Take-off weight4 t

The Spitfire LF Mk IX is very much a short range, point interceptor fighter and the stand out fighter in the mid-Spitfire lineup. It features an exceptional rate of climb, whilst still retaining the manoeuvrability of its early lineage. The LF IX is considered by most to be the perfect Spitfire due to its balanced all-round performance and impressive statistics. The last of the Merlin engine Spitfires before progressing on to the Griffon powered variants, has the perfect balance of turning performance (second only to its Japanese counterparts) as well as its "Boom and Zoom" capability that becomes more possible with later model Spitfires.

Characteristics Max Speed
(km/h at 4,878 m)
Max altitude
(metres)
Turn time
(seconds)
Rate of climb
(metres/second)
Take-off run
(metres)
AB RB AB RB AB RB
Stock 632 611 11500 16.4 17.0 22.2 22.2 320
Upgraded 731 690 14.8 14.8 43.3 31.8

Details

Features
Combat flaps Take-off flaps Landing flaps Air brakes Arrestor gear
X X X X
Limits
Wings (km/h) Gear (km/h) Flaps (km/h) Max Static G
Combat Take-off Landing + -
774 270 N/A N/A 230 ~12 ~6
Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons Rudder Elevators Radiator
< 321 < 400 < 450 > 250

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person
Speed of destruction
Structural774 km/h
Gear270 km/h
  • 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
  • 4 mm Steel plate in pilot's seat
  • 6-7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
  • 3 mm Steel plates above and around the fuselage fuel tank
  • 3 mm Steel plates around the wing ammunition

Modifications and economy

Repair cost
AB1 695 Sl icon.png
RB4 699 Sl icon.png
SB5 236 Sl icon.png
Crew training10 000 Sl icon.png
Experts290 000 Sl icon.png
Aces940 Ge icon.png
Research Aces960 000 Rp icon.png
Reward for battleAB / RB / SB
Talisman.png 2 × 90 / 220 / 440 % Sl icon.png
Talisman.png 2 × 166 / 166 / 166 % Rp icon.png
Modifications
Flight performance Survivability Weaponry
Mods aerodinamic fuse.png
Fuselage repair
Mods radiator.png
Radiator
Mods compressor.png
Compressor
Mods aerodinamic wing.png
Wings repair
Mods new engine.png
Engine
Mods metanol.png
Engine injection
Mods oil.png
150 octane fuel
Mods armor frame.png
Airframe
Mods armor cover.png
Cover
Mods ammo.png
bmg303_belt_pack
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods ammo.png
hispano_belt_pack
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods weapon.png
bmg303_new_gun
Mods weapon.png
hispano_mk2_new_gun
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods pilon bomb.png
SBC mark 25
Mods gun camora mod.png
Mk.II year 1942
Mod arrow 0.png
Mods gun camora mod.png
Mk.II year 1943

Armaments

Offensive armament

Ammunition240 rounds
Fire rate600 shots/min
Ammunition1 400 rounds
Fire rate1 000 shots/min

Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc is armed with:

  • 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, wing-mounted (120 rpg = 240 total)
  • 4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (350 rpg = 1,400 total)

Suspended armament

List of setups (1)
Setup 11 x 250 lb AN-M57 bomb
Main article: AN-M57 (250 lb)

Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

  • Without load
  • 1 x 250 lb AN-M57 bomb (250 lb total)

Usage in battles

Plagis' Spitfire is a capable fighter which plays similar to the Spitfire Mk.IX, but with minor changes.

A recommended play-style is climbing directly through the enemies climb path to cut it off and get directly above them using your superior climb rate. This will stop them from getting above you into their favourable territory.

If this fails, try baiting the enemy planes down to a lower altitude and turn engaging in a turn fight with them.

Some tactics to drag them down without getting shot down yourself are these:

  • When they are diving on your six pull up to a 40-degree angle, when they are 0.80 km away from you, please note that this only works when they approach from a high angle, otherwise roll down and then hard left.
  • When they engage from the sides roll and go towards their direction, do not perform a head-on but dive under them, if they follow they will burn a lot of energy.
  • If they engage from the front for a boom and zoom dive down and turn hard left and then immediately a hard right shaking them off or wasting their energy.

As for climbing, the optimal airspeed is 240 km/h, or use 20 degrees for a rush and 30 degrees to gain altitude fast. Do not dive over 700 km/h if this happens, pull up slowly. Wings will rip with positive G forces at 540 km/h after that make small turns. The aircraft can not handle negative G forces at all, only perform under 300 km/h recommended to roll over.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer Pitch Radiator Supercharger Turbocharger
Oil Water Type
Controllable Controllable
Auto control available
Not controllable
Not auto controlled
Controllable
Auto control available
Combined Controllable
2 gears
Not controllable

As with all the other British planes, this plane is also very forgiving when using Manual Engine Settings.

  • Prop pitch: This should be set to 100% when climbing to utilize its superior climb rate. This will come in handy both at the start of a match and during combat. However when in level flight or chasing another plane this can be set back as far to 70-80% to get a few more km/h (or mph).
  • Radiator: as soon as you unlock the radiator module you can set this to 30% and leave it there for the entire match. On Sicily however, you want to set it to 35-40% until you reach 6,000 m (19,685 feet).
  • Supercharger: Switching this at 2,000 m (6,561 feet) will give you quite a boost in performance and it will retain it's climb rate up until 4,500 m after it will suffer miserably but still climb better than almost every plane. Therefore the supercharger gears should be switched at 2 km (6,561 feet) altitude.

Pros and cons

Pros:

  • One of the best climb rates of any propeller driven aircraft in the game
  • Excellent low altitude performance
  • Great all around manoeuvrability
  • Good low-level performance (below 7 km)
  • The .303 Brownings have similar ballistics with the Hispanos and can act as a guide when aiming
  • Good dive control
  • Great energy retention

Cons:

  • Not a lot of ammo, must be conservative when shooting
  • Hispanos tend to jam quick, leaving you with only the machine guns
  • Poor mid-high altitude performance
  • Fragile, will not take any punishment at all
  • .303 Brownings don't do much damage
  • Really low flap ripping speed
  • Average acceleration

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Notable pilots

Top scoring Southern Rhodesian ace pilot John Plagis and highest scoring pilot of Greek origin of WW II. Plagis flew the Spitfire Mk IXc towards the end of the war before transitioning to Mustang IIIs.

Media

Skins
Videos

See also

Other late Merlin-engine LF variant Spitfires

External links


Supermarine
Spitfires 
Merlin engine  Spitfire Mk Ia · Spitfire Mk IIa · Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I · Spitfire Mk IIb
  Spitfire Mk Vb · Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · Spitfire Mk Vc · Spitfire Mk Vc/trop
  Spitfire F Mk IX · Spitfire F Mk IXc · Spitfire F Mk XVI
  Spitfire LF Mk IX · Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc
Griffon engine  Spitfire F Mk XIVc · Spitfire F Mk XIVe · Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe · Spitfire F Mk XVIIIe · Spitfire F Mk 22 · Spitfire F Mk 24
Export  ▄Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · ▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc · ▂Spitfire Mk IXc · Spitfire Mk IXc · Spitfire Mk.IX (CW) · Spitfire LF Mk.IXe Weizman's
Seafires  Seafire LF Mk.III · Seafire F Mk XVII · Seafire FR 47
Export  ▄Seafire LF Mk.III
Jet fighters  Attacker FB 1 · Attacker FB.2 · Scimitar F Mk.1 · Swift F.1 · Swift F.7
Hydroplanes  Walrus Mk.I

Britain fighters
Fury  Fury Mk I · Fury Mk II
Nimrod  Nimrod Mk I · Nimrod Mk II
Gladiator  Gladiator Mk II · Tuck's Gladiator Mk II · Gladiator Mk IIF · Gladiator Mk IIS
Sea Gladiator  Sea Gladiator Mk I
Hurricane  Hurricane Mk I/L · Hurricane Mk.I/L FAA M · Hurricane Mk IIB/Trop
Sea Hurricane  Sea Hurricane Mk IB · Sea Hurricane Mk IC
Martin-Baker  MB.5
Spitfire (early-Merlin)  Spitfire Mk Ia · Spitfire Mk IIa · Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I · Spitfire Mk IIb · Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · Spitfire Mk Vb · Spitfire Mk Vc/trop · Spitfire Mk Vc
Spitfire (late-Merlin)  Spitfire F Mk IX · Spitfire LF Mk IX · Spitfire F Mk IXc · Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc · Spitfire F Mk XVI
Spitfire (Griffon)  Spitfire F Mk XIVc · Spitfire F Mk XIVe · Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe · Spitfire F Mk XVIIIe · Spitfire F Mk 22 · Spitfire F Mk 24
Seafire  Seafire LF Mk.III · Seafire F Mk XVII · Seafire FR 47
Typhoon  Typhoon Mk Ia · Typhoon Mk Ib · Typhoon Mk Ib/L
Tempest  Tempest Mk II · Tempest Mk V
Sea Fury  Sea Fury FB 11
Twin-engine fighters  Hornet Mk.I · Hornet Mk.III · Whirlwind Mk I · Whirlwind P.9
  Foreign:
Australia  ▄Boomerang Mk I · ▄Boomerang Mk II
France  ▄D.520 · ▄D.521
USA  ▄Martlet Mk IV · ▄Corsair F Mk II · ▄Hellcat Mk II · ▄Thunderbolt Mk.1 · ▄Mustang Mk IA

Britain premium aircraft
Fighters  Tuck's Gladiator Mk II · ▄Boomerang Mk I · ▄Boomerang Mk II · ▄D.520
  ▄Martlet Mk IV · ▄Corsair F Mk II · ▄Hellcat Mk II · ▄Thunderbolt Mk.1 · ▄Mustang Mk IA
  Hurricane Mk.I/L FAA M · Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I · Spitfire F Mk IXc · Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc · Spitfire F Mk XIVc · Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe
  Typhoon Mk Ib · MB.5
Twin-engine fighters  Hornet Mk.I · Whirlwind P.9
Jet fighters  Attacker FB.2 · Hunter FGA.9 · Lightning F.53 · Meteor F Mk.8 Reaper · Sea Vixen F.A.W. Mk.2 · F-4J(UK) Phantom II
Strike aircraft  ▄Wirraway · Beaufighter Mk I (40-mm) · Wyvern S4
  Harrier GR.1 · Strikemaster Mk.88
Bombers  ▄Avenger Mk II · ▄Boston Mk I · ▄Catalina Mk IIIa · ▄DB-7 · ▄Havoc Mk I · ▄Hudson Mk V · Swordfish Mk II