A.P. 15451, P & L 4 . N .

PILOT'S NOTES FOR

S P I T F I R E IX, XI & XVI

M E R L I N 61. 6 3 . 66 , 70 o r 266 E N G I N E

- PREPARED BY DIRELTIOP.( OF THE MINISTER OF SUPPLY

J.--&* ?'I -.

PROMULGATED &Y ORDER OF THE AIR COUNCIL

NOTKS T 0 CSEHS

'1'111s puhlication is

AIR ~ I I N I S T R Y AIR PL~BLICATION 1 5 6 5 ~ ~ P & L--P.S. September I 946 Pilot's Notes (Rep~inted--Fetrztavy I 947) 3rd Edition

SI'ITFIRE TX, X1 R. 11-1 PII,OT'S NOTES ;rd Edition. Z'his Edition supelspdes ull prezious issues.

FL7EI O I L A N D C O O L A N T S Y S T E M S

Fuel tanks . . , . . . . . . . . . 2 Fuel cocks . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fuel pumps . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Fuel contents gauges and pressurc ivarning light . . 5 Oil system . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Engine coolant system . . . , . . . . 7 Intercooler system . . . . . . . . . . 8

h I A I N S E R V I C E S

Hydraiilic system . . . . . . . , . . 9 Electrical system . . . . . . . . . . 10 Pneumatic system . . . . . . . . . , I I

X I R C R . I F T C O N T R O L S

Trimming tabs . . . . . . . . . . I z Vndercarriage control . . . . . . . . 1 3 Unciercarriage i. ii d ' icators . . . . . . . . 14 L7ndcrcarriage n arning horn . . . . . . 1 j Flaps control . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 IYheel brakes . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Flying controls locking gear . . . . . . . . I S

E N G I N E C O N T R O L S Para . Throttle . . . . . . . . Propeller control . . . . . . Supercharger controls . . . . Intercooler protector . . . . . . Radiator flap control . . . . Slow-running cut-out . . . . Idle cut-off control . . . . . . Carburettor air intake filter control . . Cylinder priming pump . . . . Ignition switches and Starter buttons Ground battery starting . . . .

O T H E R C O N T R O L S

Cockpit door . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Slidirig hood controls . . . . . . . . 31 Signal discharger . . . . . . . . . . 32

P A R T 1 1 - H A N D L I N G

Management of the fuel system . . . . . . . . Preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . Starting the engine and warming up (Merlin 61 and 63

engines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Starting the engine and marming up (Merlin 66. 70 and

266 engines) . . . . . . . . . . . . Testing the engine and services . . . . . . . . Check list beforc takc-off . . . . . . . . . . Take-off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Climbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Aying . . . . . . . . . . . . Stalling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Spinning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Diving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aerobatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Check list before landing . . . . . . . . . . Approach and landing . . . . . . . . . . Mislanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Beam approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . After landing . . . . . . . . . . . .

P A R T 1 1 1 - O P E R A T I N G D A T A Para .

Engine data.. Merlins 61, 63. 66. 70 and 266 . . . . 51 Flying limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Position error corrections . . . . . . . . . . 53 Maximum performance . . . . . . . . . . 54 Economical flying . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Fuel capacities and consumption . . . . . . . . 56

P A R T I V - E M E R G E N C I E S

Undercarriage emergency operation . . . . . . 57 Failure of the pneumatic system . . . . . . . . 58 Hood jettisoning . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Forced landing . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Ditching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Crowbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

P A R T V - I L L U S T R A T I O N S Fig . Instrument panel . . . . . . . . . . . . I Cockpit-port side . . . . . . . . 2 Cockpit-starboard side . . . . . . . . . . 3 Fuel system diagram . . . . . . . . . . 4

AIR PUBLICATION 15651, P & L--P.N. Pilot's Notes

P A R T I

N O T E . - T ~ ~ numbcrs quoted in brackets after items in the text refer to key numbers of the illustrations in Part V.

I N T R O D C C T I O S

1. (i) T h e variants of the Spitfire IX, X I and XVI are dis- tinguished by prefix letters denoting the general operating altitude or role and the suffix letter (e) is used u~here .cj-in. guns replace .303-in. guns. T h e aircraft are all essentially similar, but the following table shows the main features that give the various versions their distinguishing letters:

F I X Merlin 61, 63 or 6 3 ~ ; two 20-mm. and four .303-in. guns.

L F I X Merlin 66; t u o 20-mm. and four ,303-in. guns.

L F I X (e) Merlin 66; two 20-mm. and two .cj-in. guns. HF IX Merlin 70; two 20-mm. and four ,303-in.

guns. H F I X (e) Merlin 70; two 20-mm. and two in. guns. PR X I Merlin 61, 63, 6 3 ~ or 70.

F XVI Merlin 266; two 20-mm. and two .5-in. guns.

(ii) Merlin 61 and 63 engines have S.U.float-type carburettors, but on Merlin 66, 70 and 266 engines these are replaced by Bendix-Stromberg injection carburettors.

(iii) All these marks of aircraft are fitted with Rotol 4-bladed hydraulic propellers and on the majority of the aircraft the wing tips are clipped.

(iv) Later R'Ik. IX and XVIs have "rear view " fuselages which incorporate " tear-drop" sliding hoods.

6

P A R T I - D E S C R I P T I V E

F U E L , 011 , A N D C O O L A N T S Y S T E h i S

2. Fucl tanks (see Fig. 4).-Fuel is carried in t n o tanks mounted one above the other (tlie lo~z-er one is self- sedling) fornard of the cockpit. Il'lie top tank feeds into tlie hottorn tank and fucl is dclivered to the carburettor, through a filter, by an engine-drivcri pump. On Rierlin 61 aiid 63 engine installations there is a fuel cooler, while on e1idi.i-Strornber carburettor installations a de- aerator in the carburettor, for scparating accuniulated air frorn thc fiiel, is vented to the top tank. Latcr hIk. IX and all F. 3Ik. XVI aireraft mount t ~ v o additional fuel tanks with a cornbined capacity of 7j gallons (66 gallons in aircraft with " rear viem " fuselages); they are fitted in the fuselane behind the cockpit. These tanks

U

should only be filled for special operations at the discretion of the appropriate Area Commander and normally their cocks should be \\ired OFF. If fitted in aircraft with " rear vicw " fuselages, they must not be used in any circumstances.

\ . I , . l T h e ciipacities of the main tanlcs are as follows : 1':irt I T o p tank . . . . . . . . 48 gallons > a rzi. 2

Hottoni tank . . . . . . 37 gallons or 47* gallons ~ - -

Total . . . . . . 8.5 gallons or 95* gallons P- -~ -

* O n some aircraft; generally those 55-ith " rear-1-iew" fuselages. On PR X I aircraft there is a 66-gal. tank in ench wing, bririging the total capacity u p to 217 gal. These tanks feed the engine direct by gravity and the cocks are controlled by the t\vo levers (red and grecn) fitted on the Icft-hlnd side belon. the rudder trim control. X contents xauge for the port tank is on the left- hand side and one for the starboard tank is hiph up on the right- hand side of the instrument panel.

:In ;iuziliary " blister" drop tank of 30, 45 or go-gal. capacity ("TI the PR \(I, of 170 pa1.i can be fitted under the fuselage; these tanlcs reed the engine direct and do not replenish the main tanks. T o iiieet the possibility of engine cutting d u i to fuel boiling in \v:irtii weather at high altitudes, the maiii tanks are pressurised; pressurising, hon-ever, impairs the self-sealinc properties of the tanlis zind should be turned OFF if a tank is hc)led.

3. Fuel cocks.-The cock control for the niain tanks is a lerer (47) fitted below thc engine startiiig pushbuttons

P A R T I - D E S C R I P T I V E

and the pressurising control (50) is below the right-hand side of tlie instrument panel. The cock control (58) and jettison lever (59) for the auxiliar? droh tank are mounted together on the right-hand side of the cockpit, below the iindercarriage control unit. T h e jettison lever is pulled up to jettison the drop tank, but cannot be operated until the cock control is moved forward to the OFF position. Thc cock for the rear fuselage tanks (when fitted) is to the left of the seat.

q. Fuel pumps.-On Bendix-Strombcrg carburettor in- stallations an electric booster pump, operated by a switch on the left-hand side of the cockpit, is fitted in the lolver main tank. On early aircraft this pump is not fitted, but a hand wobble pump is provided instead, just forward of the remote contactor.

NOTE.-^^ aircraft which have rear fuselage tanks a second pump is fitted (in the lower rear tank) and thc control switch described above then has three positions.

5. Fuel contents gauges and pressure warning light.-The contents gauge(19)ontheright-hand sideof tlie instrumcnt panel indicates the quantity of fuel in the lower main tank when the adjaccnt pushbutton is depressed. On aircraft with rear fuselage tanks a gauge (for the lo~ver rear tank onlg) is mounted beside the main tanks' gauge. 'l'his also operates when the main tanks' gauge pushbutton is depressed. On later L.F. hlk. XVI aircraft the two gauges are mounted together, the left-hand dial (which is calibrated only up to 50 gallons) indicating the contents of the main tanks. 'l'he fuel pressure n arriing liglit ( I 8) is operative when the switcli (34) on the throttle quadrant is on anci Comes on at any time when fuel pressure at t h ~ carburettor falls appreciably belo~v normal.

6. Oil system.-Oil is supplied by a tank of 7.5 gallons oil capacity under the engine mounting, which is pressurised to 2+ Ib./sq.in., and passcs through a filter before en- tering the engine. An oil cooler is fitted in the underside

P A R T I - D E S C R I P T I V E

of the