WIX Archives

Were spitfire airframes so delicate? (or expendable?)

Posted by Jagan on Sun Oct 13, 2002 07:34:24 AM


I was reading a borrowed copy of the excellent 'Spitfire International' and going thru the some of the attrition details. It seems almost every prang that resulted from an undercarraige collapse or a belly landing was designated as Cat E (Writeoff). (even aircraft nosing over)

Were all these Cat Es realy writeoffs? Certainly the records dont mention any afterlife after a belly landing or a wheels up landing. Is this a result of the construction method of the Spit? Or was it easier to just strike the aircraft, canibalise them for newer aircraft rather than to repair them? How does this compare with the Hurricane.

PS: On a differnt note, the amount of info on that book is awesome and wonderful. Now there are some hundreds of crash locations mentioned, just need to go out and look for them!

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