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Monday, December 13, 2010

FR 47






Here are some images of Airfix's 1/48 scale Seafire FR 47.
From Wikipedia "

The final version of the Seafire was the Seafire F. and F.R Mk. 47. There was no true prototype, instead the first production aircraft PS944 and PS945 served as trials aircraft. As the "definitive" carrier based Seafire the Mk 47 incorporated several refinements over earlier variants. After the first four aircraft, with manually folded wings, the Mk 47 incorporated hydraulically powered wing folding, the outer wings folding upwards in one piece, without the folding wingtips of earlier marks. All Mk 47s adopted the Rotol contra-rotating propellers as standard. The Mk 47 also featured a long supercharger air-duct, the intake of which started just behind the spinner, and a modified curved windscreen, similar to that used on the Mk XVII. Other features unique to the Mk 47s were the modified horizontal tail units, which used spring-loaded elevator tabs, a large inertia weight in the elevator control system and beading on the trailing edges of the elevators. These changes improved longitudinal stability, especially when the aircraft was fully loaded. The modified windscreen proved to be unpopular with pilots because of continual problems with misting, and the thicker, repositioned frames obstructed visibility during deck landings. In spite of recommendations to change the windscreen back to a standard Spitfire 24 unit, this was never done. Performance tests showed that the Mk 47 was slightly slower than the Mk 46 in maximum and climbing speeds, mainly due to the long supercharger air intake, which was less efficient than the shorter type fitted to earlier Seafires. The Seafire 47 saw action with 800 Squadron on board HMS Triumph during the Malayan Emergency of 1949 and during the Korean War in 1950. However, in 1951 all Seafires were withdrawn from front-line service. In all 90 F. and F.R Mk 47s were built, all by Supermarine. The last aircraft of the 22,000 of the entire Spitfire/Seafire lineage VR971 left the production line at Supermarine on 28 January 1949.

7 comments:

Diego said...

These two models I have not. Everything you do so well that I think might sound redundant.

Greetings
Diego

-Warren Zoell said...

Gracias Diago - Alabanza nunca es redundante :O)

El kit Seafire 46/47 fue puesto en libertad hace unos 10 años, pero no lo he visto desde entonces.

Pat Tillett said...

Very nice! It looks so real...

-Warren Zoell said...

It's winter light! I love it!

Anonymous said...

Seafires were very fragile for carrier use. More were lost in landing accidents than in combat. That all changed when the counter-rotating prop types came into service. Torque and rudder wash were eliminated.... so the pilots loved them. Very nice model.

Dave

-Warren Zoell said...

Thanks Dave - Contra rotating props and duel trim tabs really helped eliminate the torque problem.
I wonder if there is a Spiteful model kit available 48 or 32.

Anonymous said...

Hi Warren,

I remember seeing a resin Spiteful kit in 1/48 scale on ebay. I bid on it but I lost. I don't think the kit is in production anymore.

Dave