Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I
This page is about the premium British fighter Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I. For other versions, see Spitfire (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I is a premium rank II British fighter with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB) and 3.0 (RB/SB). It was introduced in Update "Starfighters".
General info
Flight performance
Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.
Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 4,572 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
Stock | 545 | 535 | 10000 | 16.1 | 16.5 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 300 |
Upgraded | 599 | 571 | 14.8 | 15.1 | 27.3 | 19.4 |
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 | + | - | ||
760 | 270 | N/A | N/A | 230 | ~11 | ~6 |
Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
< 321 | < 400 | < 350 | > 500 |
Compressor | Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
---|---|---|---|
Setting 1 | 4,490 m | 1,140 hp | 1,311 hp |
Survivability and armour
- 38 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
- 4 mm Steel plate in pilot's seat.
- 6-7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I is armed with:
- 8 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (350 rpg = 2,800 total)
Usage in battles
The Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I is an excellent low to medium altitude dogfighter. Lacking a supercharger, it shouldn't be used at high altitudes. In Air RB, it's best to climb to around 3500-4000 meters (11,500-13,200 feet) where the Merlin XII engine performs optimally. After climbing, release WEP and reduce throttle to below 95% to cool the engine until you've found a target. When engaging opponents, diving should be carefully executed to avoid speeds of 450 KM/H (280 MP/H) or greater, where control surfaces begin to suddenly stiffen. In combat, the light airframe and powerful engine provides a respectable rate of climb and an incredibly tight turning circle, combined with its eight browning machine guns, it is capable of eliminating enemy targets in short, controlled bursts. Poor weapon management will deplete your 2,800 rounds of ammunition quickly because individually, the machine guns are not very powerful. Concentrate and aim for the engine, cockpit or wings where your bullets will be most efficient at destroying vital components, such as wing spars or control surfaces.
Defensively, it's most susceptible to experienced Bf-109 pilots who know not to engage early model Spitfires in turning engagements. When forced in an energy fight or outnumbered, reduce the altitude of your opponent(s) and make-way towards your team. Use your roll rate and tight turning radius to avoid enemy fire where possible. The plane is capable shaking enemy fire due to its nimbleness. If no teammates are around, force the enemy to be low and slow, use your superior turn and roll-rate with flaps to get the edge. This includes against Japanese aircraft. Zeroes are the only contemporary capable of turning with this Spitfire, use your flaps and manage your engine throttle carefully, rolling scissors is an excellent maneuver to get the edge against light Japanese fighters.
Landing the Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I is easy, the plane doesn't like to give up speed easily, so roll 90 degrees left and right banking low and hard to reduce speed. Once around 200 KM/H (125 MP/H), deploy your landing gear to perform a fast landing. Flaps are unnecessary unless making an emergency landing.
Manual Engine Control
MEC elements | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
Oil | Water | Type | ||||
Controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Not controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Separate | Not controllable 1 gear |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Eight 7.7 mm machine guns provide great anti-fighter power
- Great turn rate
- Good roll rate at low speed
- Better-than-average top speed
- Great rate of climb
- Better engine power than Mk Ia
- Decent amount of armour, a front 38 mm glass and rear 4-7 mm steel plates
Cons:
- Machine guns only effective if the target is hit in continuous bursts
- Machine gun armament lacks the long range hitting power of cannons
- Ammo can run out quickly in prolonged, uncontrolled bursts
- Quick kills against large bombers without a pilot snipe is difficult, prolonged engagements expose the Spitfire to the defensive gunners
- Machine guns cannot penetrate heavily armoured targets
- Bad high altitude performance
- Roll rate stiffens dramatically at ~350 km/h
- Pulling negative G's and rolling the plane (Realistic/simulator only) can cause the carburettor (engine) to fail
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).
In-game description
The Supermarine Spitfire was a British fighter which served with various nations from the late 1930s up into the 1950s. It was a single-engine, all-metal, low-wing monoplane with retractable landing gear. Various modifications served as fighters, interceptors, high-altitude fighters, fighter-bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. A total of some 20,300 Spitfires of all types were built during the war, including two-seater trainers.
In the summer of 1939, an early Spitfire Mk I was fitted with the new Rolls Royce Merlin XII engine, which had a higher output of 1175 HP and was fitted with a Coffman engine starter instead of the previous Merlin's electrical starter system. This, combined with the Rotol variable pitch propeller which had been used on many Spitfire Mk Is would now form the powerplant of the new Spitfire Mk II, although some production models used the De Havilland propeller. The Mk II was some 6-7 mph faster than the later Spitfire Mk I, but still slower than the original Spitfires before a series of modifications increased the aircraft's weight. As with the Mk I, the Spitfire Mk II was produced with either eight machine guns as the Spitfire Mk IIA, or two 20mm cannon and four machine guns as the Mk IIb. The earlier problems with cannon fitted to the Mk IB had now been solved by introducing a belt feed system to the weapon to replace the earlier drum, turning the cannon on its side and fitting a blister on the wing to house the new mechanism.
920 Spitfire Mk IIs entered service; 750 Mk IIA and 170 MK IIB, although fighters used in the air-sea rescue role were later designated Mk IIC. The Spitfire II quickly replaced the Spitfire I, with the older variant being relegated to use in Operational Training Units. By April 1941, RAF Fighter Command had completed re-equipping with the Mk II, although this too would soon be replaced by the Mk V.
Media
Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
- other literature.
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) · Weizman's Spitfire LF Mk.IXe · ▄Spitfire FR Mk XIVe |
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 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 · ▄MiG-21 Bison |
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 |