Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe

Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe

Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe

Britain

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.3	5.7	5.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

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This page is about the gift British fighter Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe. For other uses, see Spitfire (Family).

Description

The Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe is a gift rank IV British fighter with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB/SB) and 5.7 (RB). It was introduced in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory". The plane is painted after the camouflage scheme of the plane Canadian pilot James Prendergast used in the No.414 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, flying reconnaissance and ground attack missions over Europe before the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day. It was removed from the store after the 2018 Summer Independence Day Sale.

The Spitfire FR Mk. XIVe was a purpose built low altitude Reconnaissance Airframe. This plane is an example of the 1945 "e" equipped with a clipped "e" type wing, allowing it to mount the respectable armament of 2 cannons and two .50 calibre, a camera for reconnaissance and have a bubble canopy. The short wing tips vastly increase the roll rate of the aircraft but sacrifice some horizontal and vertical manoeuvrability. The powerful Griffon Mk.65 allowed it to climb better than the majority of enemy fighters at nearly all attitudes; however, the performance drop at altitudes, compared to full winged XIVe's is noticeable.

Prendergast's Spitfire in-game, as of patch 1.55

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 8,077 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	12,000	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	400
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 8,077 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	12,000	??.?	??.?	?.?	?.?	400

Details

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

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Max Static G
		+	-
794	260	~15	~9

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 321	< 400	< 470	> 250

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
8,600 m	1,320 hp	1,824 hp

Survivability and armour

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armored windscreen
• 4 mm Steel plates in pilot's seat
• 4-7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
• 12.7 mm Steel plate between the fuselage fuel tank and oil cooling system
• 6 mm Steel plate in front of liquid cooling system
• 3 mm Steel boxes around wing ammunition

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, wing-mounted (135 rpg = 270 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 machine gun, wing-mounted (260 rpg = 520 total)

The armament of 1 x Hispano MK II and 1 x M2 browning 12.7 mm Mg per wing is more than adequate for all but the heaviest of targets, cannon ammunition is low at only 120 RPG or 240 total. 20 mm ammo should be conserved as much as possible .50 calibre should be used vs. soft targets and on shots intended to force an enemy to manoeuvre. Neither can damage AI medium or heavy tanks but both can damage pillboxes when aimed properly.

Suspended armament

The Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe can be outfitted with the following ordinance:

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

Usage in battles

Make sure to climb every match, better off having too much energy than too little. 30-45 minutes of fuel is practically required in RB When faced with an enemy of lower “E” (energy) state at equivalent altitude, zoom climbing and the diving is incredibly effective. This can even be effective VS the infamous Yak 3P.

Rope-a-dope and scissors make good defensive tactics; lowering throttle may be needed to compensate for the lack of flaps. Also using the high roll speed and decent turning can throw off an enemies aim but will cost you some speed.

Conserve ammo! Use your MG’s to conserve cannon ammo whenever possible.

Head to head is possible but not recommended due to the fragile engine, a better tactic is to fake a head on but use your roll and turn speeds to dodge the enemy. However, Hispano cannons are very effective at due to their lack of tracers, high velocity and damage.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not controllable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm	Offensive 20 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 12 mm MGs	New 20 mm cannons
III	Wings repair	Engine			Mk.II year 1942	HMBC mk.2
IV		Engine injection	Cover		Mk.II year 1943
This is a premium vehicle: all modifications are unlocked on purchase

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast climber (best at roughly 300 kph (185 mph) at 20 degrees)
• Excellent vertical manoeuvrability
• Good zoom climber
• Fast acceleration
• Fast roll rate
• Well-armed
• Cools well at 100% throttle
• Dive speeds and handling is very good

Cons:

• Engine is water cooled and susceptible to damage
• Requires slow landing speeds
• Higher stall speed than unclipped Spitfires
• Low ammo for cannons
• Lacks Combat flaps
• WEP has considerably higher fuel usage, take at least 30 minutes, preferably 45

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>, as well as adding them at the end of the article. 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 Mk.XIV was a single engine, single seat fighter which served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

In 1941 the Spitfire Mk.IV was the first Spitfire to be trialed with the new Rolls Royce Griffon engine. By the time the Griffon Spitfire entered service with the RAF in February 1943, subsequent modifications had redesignated the aircraft as the Spitfire Mk.XII. As successful as this new Spitfire was at low altitudes, the Mk.XII’s performance was actually inferior to the Merlin engine Mk.IX at medium and high altitudes. Thus, the Spitfire Mk.XIV entered service as an interim fix. Fitted with a Rolls Royce Griffon 65 with two-stage supercharger producing 2050 hp, the Mk.XIV immediately corrected many of the performance shortcomings suffered by the Mk.XII. The fuselage was strengthened to harness the powerful engine and a five bladed Rotol propeller replaced the earlier four bladed examples. Early models were fitted with the Type C wing although later Mk.XIVs were equipped with the Type E wing housing two 20mm Hispano cannons and two .50 caliber Browning machine guns or four 20mm cannons, as well as a high visibility teardrop canopy. A common modification to the Mk.XIV was the clipped wing, which increased roll rate and gave a marginal increase to speed, but at the most of rate of climb.

The Spitfire Mk.XIV entered service with Nos. 91, 322 and 610 Squadrons in southeast England where it saw notable success as an interceptor against V-1 Flying Bombs but also as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force in operations over occupied Europe. Spitfire Mk.XIVs were also planned for use in the Far East but whilst a number of airframes were shipped to Burma, none were operational before the end of the war. The Spitfire Mk.XIV met mixed reviews from its pilots; whilst there was no doubt of the huge performance increase the new variant offered, it was uncomfortable to fly and lacked the balance and control harmonization of earlier Merlin engine Spitfires. Just under 1000 Spitfire Mk.XIVs were produced with exports being employed by the Air Forces of India, Belgium and Thailand.

Media

The Shooting Range #95 - Metal Beasts section at 03:42 discusses the Spitfire FR Mk XIVe.

The Shooting Range #124 - War Machines section at 00:28 discusses the Griffons.

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

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