Spitfire F Mk IX

Spitfire F Mk IX

Spitfire Mk Vb

Spitfire F Mk XVI

Spitfire F Mk IX

Spitfire Mk Vb

Spitfire F Mk XVI

Britain

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.3	4.3	4.7

Class:

Fighter

Research:18 000

Purchase:47 000

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This page is about the British fighter Spitfire F Mk IX. For other versions, see Spitfire (Family).

Description

The Spitfire F Mk IX is a rank III British fighter with a battle rating of 4.3 (AB/RB) and 4.7 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.35.

Because the muzzle velocity of both the Hispanos (870 m/s) and the MGs (854 m/s) is practically the same you could put tracers on the MGs and air targets belt on the Hispanos. This is a great way for players to get a feel of where to aim in RB and it's easier to hit your shots maximising your efficiency and potentially saving ammo. A downside to this is that the element of surprise is short lived as your enemy will see the tracers flying past him and he will quickly react. Another thing is that short bursts are required with the cannons especially without the cannon upgrades as they overheat (and thus jam) very quickly.

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
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 8,537 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
627	609	11500	18.1	18.7	15.8	15.8	380
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 8,537 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
676	650	11500	16.4	17.2	24.4	19.5	380

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		290	~10	~5

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 321	< 400	< 350	> 470

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,100 m	1,400 hp	1,624 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
8,000 m	1,160 hp	1,346 hp

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
• 3 mm Steel - Armour plate on top of fuel tanks
• 4 mm Steel - Armour plate on pilot's seat. Behind pilot is another 6-7 mm steel plate
• 3 mm Steel - Armour plates around ammunition

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Spitfire F Mk IX is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, wing-mounted (120 rpg = 240 total)
• 4 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (350 rpg = 1,400 total)

Suspended armament

The Spitfire F Mk IX can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 1 x 250 lb G.P. 250 lb Mk.IV bomb (250 lb total)

Usage in battles

As a Spitfire Mk IX at its realistic mode battle rating, the most common and dangerous opponents are Bf 109's, normally the G2/Trop and F4 variants both of which often benefit from a better team composition on the axis side. When facing them you should never attempt to hold an extended dogfight above 5,000 m as you will lose a significant portion of the engine power in comparison to them, instead, you should take the fight below 5 km where you can outrun a Bf 109 F4, although Fw 190's and the German variant P-47 will catch up easily at the lower altitude.

The advantages of your plane in both an up-tier and down-tier remain largely the same in that you can out-turn almost anything except all models of the A6M 'Zero' and the A7M 'Reppu' along with earlier spitfires you might face such as the Italian Spitfire Mk Vb/Trop. In this scenario you should play cautiously and try to energy fight them, extending away and climbing. For head-ons, since the armament of 2 x 20 mm and 4 x 7.7 mm machine guns are rather lacklustre. You usually should avoid these. If you really want to, though, use stealth rounds and fire from 1,000-1,400 metres away from the target while using a 500 m convergence. However, this spitfire does best at mid-close ranges (200-600 metres) with either 400 m or 300 m convergence. The wing-mounted guns aren't really good for head-ons.

Another aspect to consider and adjust your playstyle to is that while the acceleration and turn time is good, engine overheating in RB and SB should be managed using manual engine controls and pulling more than 9G's while rolling puts you at risk of ripping your wing off. Additionally, since the Inline engine is very vulnerable to damage and the Spitfire requires lots of time on target, practice proper methods of attacking bombers using boom and zoom tactics as tail-sitting enemy bombers with decent defensive armaments like the Me 264 and the He 177 is not likely to end well at all.

Manual Engine Control

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

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 7 mm	Offensive 20 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs	New 20 mm cannons
III	Wings repair	Engine		SBC mark 25	Mk.II year 1942
IV		Engine injection	Cover		Mk.II year 1943

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Great maneuverability
• Good roll rate
• Good low-level performance
• Larger ammo supply of 120 RPG for the 20 mm cannons, compared to the Spitfires with the Type 'B' wings with 60 RPG
• Machine gun ammo pool of 350 RPG makes for good, prolonged backup weapons
• Faster than previous Spitfire versions due to a newer engine
• Performing quick negative G manoeuvres will not shut off the engine (RB/SB)
• You can actually use tracers belts for machine guns, which means this aircraft can help new RB player with shooting.
• Like previous versions of British planes, the tracer belts are composed entirely of incendiary bullets (IT and AP-I).
• Incredibly fast climber, out-climbs 109s when upgraded

Cons:

• Ammunition pool for 20 mm still relatively small, must be conservative when shooting
• Cannons overheat and jam quickly, especially when in stock configuration
• When 20 mm runs out or jams, the plane is left with only four 7.7 mm machine guns
• Poor high altitude performance (above 5000m)
• Poor acceleration
• Roll rate starts stiffening at ~400 km/h
• Liquid-cooled engines mean one hit to the cooling system can force a return to the airfield for repairs (RB/SB)
• Very difficult to attack bombers, as the engine is very susceptible to damage from enemy gunners
• Fragile airframe
• Catches fire easily, not all fuel tanks are self sealing
• 20mm incredibly inaccurate even at close ranges when stock

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 single-engine, all-metal, low-wing monoplane fighter. While the Mk VII and Mk VIII variants was being designed, a Spitfire Mk III was tested in September 1941 with the new Rolls Royce 60 in the hopes of developing an interim fighter to use as a stop gap measure. The new Spitfire performed exceptionally well, and was rushed into production as the Mk IX. The Air Fighting Development Unit described the Mk IX as 'outstandingly better than the Mk V especially at heights above 20,000 feet' and even though it was not fitted with the modified control surfaces under development for the Mk VII and Mk VIII, the Mk IX was more than capable of meeting the Focke-Wulf FW190 on favourable terms. The Mk IX was fitted with the Type C 'universal' wing and originally carried the tried and tested combination of two 20mm cannon and four 0.303 inch machine guns, but in later versions the four 0.303 machine guns were replaced with two .50 calibre guns.

A total of 5,665 Mk IX were produced and 262 more Mk Vs were converted to Mk IX. Intended as a transitional stop-gap measure for the Mk VII and Mk VIII, the variant remained in production until the end of the war, ultimately becoming the most mass-produced Spitfire version. This mark was also used as a fighter-bomber and as a reconnaissance aircraft. Further modifications were incorporated into the Mk IX throughout its service life, such as a gyroscopic gunsight, bubble canopy and modified engine intercooler. Widely considered to be the most capable fighter in the world at the time of its introduction, it would take the introduction of the Rolls Royce Griffon engine to push the Spitfire into its next stage of evolution.

Notable pilots

• 

  The Spitfire F Mk IX was the fighter in which Douglas Bader flew as flight lead of 300 aircraft over London for a victory flyover in June 1945.

Media

The Shooting Range #92 - Metal Beasts section at 05:10 discusses the Spitfire F Mk IX.

See also

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• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.