Roland Dudley says:
| As I recall, the original Spitfire was not land
| based but had pontoons and was carried shipboard. In fact, I
| believe the fuel tank(s?) was in its large center float. 1936 sounds
| about right for the first model.
Not quite. Roland is referring to the Schneider trophy racers that
were the ancestors of the Spit. The Schneider was a seaplane race
held regularly (annually? semi-annually?) with the trophy going to the
custody of the winner until the next race, like the America's cup. By
winning the race three times in succession, Great Britain got the trophy
permanently and the races ended.
The Schneider airplanes were specialized racers, designed for that
particular race. Low-wing, open cockpit monoplanes, they were pure
seaplanes, with twin pontoons and no wheels. Since it was a lap race
around an oval, all of the turns were in the same direction and I believe
all the fuel was in just one of the pontoons. I believe no more than
two or three of each model were built, and they may have been one-offs.
The engine was the Rolls-Royce 'R', the precursor of the Merlin.
Dave Van Horn
|