Airfix 1/48 Seafire MK47 (07106)
At the same time as the Supermarine Spitfire was achieving its immortal fame in the Battle of Britain of 1940, the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm was seriously handicapped with obsolete and outclassed fighter aboard the carriers.
Although promised a folding wing 'Sea Spitfire' for service in October 1940, Winston Churchill cancelled this project in March of that year due to the more desperate requirements of the RAF. It was October 1942 before the first front line unit, No.801 Squadron aboard HMS Furious, received a full complement of Seafire IBs, which were conversions of Spitfire Vb airframes. After this slow start, production and development of the Merlin-engined Seafires increased to adequate levels to enable the FAA to make effective use of them for the rest of the war. Seafire development had lagged behind that of the Spitfire, for Griffon-engined Spitfire XIIs had entered RAF service in 1943, but it was not until after the war, in September 1945, that the first of the FAA's Griffon-engined Seafires, the Mk.XV, saw service, although this was soon followed by the F.17 which was the first to feature the lower profile rear fuselage and 'bubble' canopy, together with a strengthened undercarriage and better ground/deck clearance. From 1943 onwards, the planning of the late mark Spitfires and Seafires ran in parallel, so that the next version of the Seafire developed was the F.45, a navalised variant of the Spitfire F.21, and this entered limited service with second-line units in 1946. The two final versions, the Mks. 46 and 47, were the navalised equivalents of the Spitfire Mks.22 and 24; although both of these Seafires featured contra-rotating propellers and could carry cameras for the reconnaissance role, the Seafire F/FR.47s also had a chin-mounted air intake, folding wings and short-barrelled cannons. The Mk.46s only served with two second line units, including No.1832 Squadron, RNVR, while the Mk.47s equipped two front line units, Nos.800 Squadron went the honours of carrying out the last combat sorties of the Spitfire/Seafire family when, in June 1950, the Korean War started. HMS Triumph joined forces with the US Navy carrier USS Valley Forge, and until Triumph was withdrawn from the conflict in September 1950, the Seafires had carried out 245 air patrols and 115 strike missions against land and sea targets without any losses due to enemy fire. The Seafire 47 was powered by a 2,375hp Rolls Royce Griffon 85 engine, giving it a maximum speed of 723km/h (452mph) at 6,242m (20,500ft). Wing span: 11.24m (36ft 11in). Length: 10.45m (34ft 4in). Height: 3.88m (12ft 9in). Armament: Four Hispano 20mm cannons, and up to eight 27kg (60lb) rocket projectiles or up to 675kg (1,500lb) of bombs beneath the fuselage and wings.
Polystyrene Cement and Paints Required = Common 104, 123, 1321, 1322, 1325, 135, 171, 19, 24, 33, 53, 56, 61, 69, 71, 85, 90, 98. Seafire FR47, No. 800 Naval Air Squadron, HMS 130 | |
Antics
Search
Index
Checkout
Back