Description
The Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe was a late-war variant of the famous Spitfire fighter, designed and built to be an effective low-altitude interceptor and fighter-bomber. It was essentially a Spitfire Mk. IX with some key differences.
The “LF” in its designation stood for “Low Fighter,” indicating its role at lower altitudes, which were crucial in the final stages of the war for attacking ground targets and V-1 flying bombs. To optimize it for this role, most LF Mk. XVIes were equipped with “clipped” wings, where the elliptical wingtips were removed. This enhanced its roll rate and low-altitude performance at the expense of some high-altitude maneuverability.
The aircraft was powered by a Packard Merlin 266 engine, a version of the British Merlin 66 engine that was license-built in the United States. The “e” in the designation indicated its armament configuration, which typically consisted of two 20 mm Hispano cannons and two .50 caliber Browning machine guns. Many of these aircraft also featured a cut-down rear fuselage and a bubble canopy, which significantly improved the pilot’s all-around visibility.
Produced from 1944 until the end of the war, the Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe was used extensively in Northwest Europe, particularly for ground attack missions and defending against the V-1 and V-2 rocket attacks. It represented the final major Merlin-powered Spitfire variant before the transition to the more powerful Griffon engine.
Set consists of 8 fine metal 1:600th/3mm scale miniatures.
Producer: ‘Oddział Ósmy’ sc Marcin Kaźmierczak i Tomasz Kołuda, ul. Piotrkowska 107, 90-425 Łódź, Poland
