The Spitfire Mk. VIII was going to use the larger Merlin engines so the airframe of the earlier Mk.
V had to be redesigned. This kept the new mark from entering service until June 1943. The Mk.
VIII was produced in 3 versions; the standard fighter F.VIII with the 1,560 hp Merlin 61; the high
altitude fighter HF.VIII with the 1,655hp Merlin 70 and the low altitude fighter LF.VIII with the 1,705
hp Merlin 66. The Mk. VIII was going to be the answer to the Fw-190.

The Spitfire Mk VIII was developed from the high altitude Mk VII. The Mk VIII had 3 variants; the
HF High Flying, LF Low Flying and the F were the standard version. There were 1,652 Mk VIIIs
built with a large number being sent to the Mediterranean, Eastern Front as well as India, Burma
and Australia. RAAF Spitfire A-58-602 was built as an HF.VIII for the RAF with serial MV133. It
arrived in Australia on October 25, 1944 but didn’t reach 457 Squadron until January 23, 1945
and was flown by Wing Commander H. R. Gibbes who ended the war with 10 ¼ victories and 14
probables.

Specifications For Supermarine Spitfire H.F Mk VIII

Role – Fighter Bomber

Mk VIIIs Built – 1,658

Crew – 1

Performance
Engine - Rolls-Royce Merlin 70 liquid-cooled V-12 piston with 2 speed 2 stage supercharger
Horse Power
1,710 hp @ 11,000 ft
1,475 @ 23,250 ft
Propeller – 4 x wooden blade Rotol Constant Speed 10 ft 9 ins (3.22 m) in diameter
Fuel - Aviation Gasoline 100 Octane
Tanks
Fuselage Capacity: 90 Imperial Gallons 108 U.S. Gallons (409 Litres)
Wing Capacity (2): 30 Imperial Gallons 36 U.S. Gallons (136 Litres)

Speed
@ 21,000 ft (6,400 m) – 404 mph (650 km/h)
Cruise – 253 mph ( 407 km/h)
Climb To 20,000 ft (6,096 m) – 6.7 minutes
Service Ceiling – 41,500 ft (12,649 m)
Range With drop Tanks – 1,180 miles (1,900 km)

Dimensions
Wingspan – 36 ft 10 ins (11.23 m)
Length – 31 ft 3.5 ins (9.54 m)
Height – 12 ft 7.75 ins (3.86 m)

Weight
Empty – 5,800 lbs (2,631 kg)
Loaded – 7,767 lbs (3,523 kg)

Armament
Wings
2 x 20 mm Hispano cannons
4 x .303 Browning MGs
Bombs
1 x 500 lbs (454 kg)
or
2 x 250 lbs (227 kg)

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