Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Spitfire with 'pointy' wings

Clipped wings on Spitfires gave them better speed and manoeuvrability (especially roll rate) at low altitudes and I have a few Spitfire models with clipped wings in the collection (see here and here). The opposite of clipping a Spit's wings is to extend them. Having such extended, pointed wings generated more lift at high altitudes. 

Of course, I'd kept my eye out for a Spitfire model with 'pointy' wings, but it took me quite a long time before I saw a listing of a Mk VIII with pointed wings on eBay. This was an already built kit, but it looked absolutely fine, so ...

And as far as I can ascertain, this a picture of the actual aircraft (JF404) that the model is based on:


Increased performance aside, from an esthetical point of view, the standard elliptical wing shape, originally designed by Beverley Shenstone, leaves 'clipped' and 'pointy' wings far behind for me.

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Spitfire with 'pointy' wings

Clipped wings on Spitfires gave them better speed and manoeuvrability (especially roll rate) at low altitudes and I have a few Spitfire mode...