page_title: Supermarine Spitfire operational history
section_title: The Fw 190 Challenge
hierarchical_section_title: Supermarine Spitfire operational history / European offensive 1941–1943 / The Fw 190 Challenge
caption_attribution_description: English: Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb of the American 334th Fighter Squadron. This aircraft was assigned to Steve Pisanos, who had previously flown it under British colours before as part of 71 Squadron in the RAF, one of the Eagle Squadrons. The serial of the aircraft is EN783. The photo has evidently been altered (probably censored) as the lower nose air intake has disappeared.
context_page_description: The Supermarine Spitfire, the only British fighter to be manufactured before, during and after the Second World War, was designed as a short-range fighter capable of defending Britain from bomber attack and achieved legendary status fulfilling this role during the Battle of Britain. According to fighter ace J.E. "Johnnie" Johnson it was the best conventional defensive fighter of the war.
  The fighter evolved into a multi-role aircraft capable of operating in different environments. For example, the Spitfire was a pioneer in the role of the unarmed, photo reconnaissance aircraft that relied on high speed and high altitude to avoid detection and attack.
  Post-war the Spitfire was to continue to serve as a front line fighter and in secondary roles for several air forces well into the 1950s. The last offensive sorties made by RAF Spitfires were flown by 60 Squadron Mk XVIIIs over Malaya on 1 January 1951.
context_section_description: The introduction of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in late 1941 along the Channel front came as a complete surprise to Fighter Command. At first it was assumed that the new radial-engined fighters were Curtiss 75-C1s which had been captured from the French. It soon became clear that the new aircraft easily outperformed the Spitfire V and appeared to be more heavily armed. Very little was known about this fighter until 23 June 1942 when Oberleutnant Armin Faber of JG 2 landed his Fw 190A-3 at RAF Pembrey by mistake. In comparison, tests, the new German fighter proved superior to the then-current Mk Vb in all aspects except turning radius.
  
  The Fw 190 was at least 25 to 30 mph faster than the Spitfire V, and could climb and accelerate to combat speeds more quickly. Spitfire pilots who flew over enemy territory using the standard technique of flying at low rpm and high boost pressures to economise on fuel often found themselves in trouble when intercepted by Fw 190s. If "bounced" while cruising at low speeds it could take a Spitfire up to two minutes to accelerate to top speed. The only way it was thought that a Spitfire could evade attack was to cruise at high speed and go into a shallow dive with the throttle open. Provided the Fw 190 was seen in time, it could be forced into a long stern chase. As a result of the high number of casualties being inflicted on Spitfires the Air Tactics Department (A.T.D) issued a guide on the optimum engine settings to use while flying over enemy territory: in part it read: 
  2. At the present stage of the war, the enemy in France is equipped with the Fw 190, a fighter with an excellent rate of climb and good acceleration. To defeat this aircraft and to avoid casualties on our side, our aircraft must fly as fast as possible whenever they are in the combat zone.
  "The Focke-Wulf 190 certainly gave the British a shock", wrote Douglas Bader in his autobiography Fight for the sky; "it out-climbed and out-dived the Spitfire. Now for the first time the Germans were out-flying our pilots." They were also outgunning them. For the best part of the year, and until the arrival of the Spitfire Mk IX, the Fw 190 commanded the skies.
  From late 1942, in an attempt to achieve some degree of parity with the Fw 190, some squadrons received the L.F Mark VB. This version had reduced diameter supercharger impeller blades on the Merlin for optimum performance at lower altitudes and the wing-tips were removed and replaced by short fairings to improve their rate of roll. These aircraft were unofficially known by their pilots as "clipped, cropped and clapped" Spits, referring to the fact that many of these Spitfires, thus modified, had seen better days ("clapped out").
  The flight performance of an early Mk IX, which was flown against the Focke-Wulf in July 1942, was found to be closely comparable. Still, at altitudes of 18,000–20,000 ft (5,500–6,100 m) and at 3,000 ft (910 m) and below, the AFDU noted the Fw 190 was "a little faster". Once again the Mk IX had a superior turning radius although it could be outdived and outrolled by the German fighter. The Spitfire being tested was hampered through being fitted with an old float-type carburettor: the great majority of Mk IXs were fitted with negative-G carburettors. These results contributed to the further development of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 series engine into versions optimised for High (70 series) Medium (63) and Low (66) altitude performance: this led to the use of the prefixes H.F, F, and L.F which were later applied to the Mks VII through to IX, depending on which version of the engine was installed, e.g., L.F Mk. IX.
  The Spitfire V units continued to take heavy casualties, often inflicting little damage in return, throughout 1941 and well into 1942. Once the Mk IX started arriving in sufficient numbers this trend started to even out, although the 190s in particular continued to be a serious threat. Hans "Assi" Hahn claimed 53 of his 108 kills against Spitfires and Josef "Pips" Priller claimed 68 of his 101 victories against the type, making him the highest scoring "S
caption: A Vb of 71 (Eagle) Squadron, a unit manned by volunteers from the USA. In September 1942 this unit was disbanded and its pilots and aircraft transferred to the USAAF, becoming the 334th Fighter Squadron, part of the 4th Fighter Group.
exif: {"Image Tag 0x5100": "0", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "120", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3518"}