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Yes indeed, I forgot about Vickers. The key thing about the Spit was that Supermarine's offer was the only potential 109-beater on the table. It reminds me of the Fairey Fox I back in the 1920s with its American Curtiss engine. Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard bought a single squadron just to kick a complacent British aero engine industry back into life. Had war been looming back then, it might well have become a mainstay fighter-bomber. By contrast, had the Bf 109 not been looming in 1934/5, the Spit might well have remained a similar historical curiosity. Mass production was not finally taken out of Vickers-Supermarine's hands and put under Ministry control until they had tried and failed to organise it themselves, it had not been the original intent (Supermarine were by then a subsidiary of Vickers). Comparison with a twin-engined job such as the Whirlwind is a little invidious.

<blockquote data-quote="steelpillow" data-source="post: 238612" data-attributes="member: 10779">Yes indeed, I forgot about Vickers. The key thing about the Spit was that Supermarine's offer was the only potential 109-beater on the table. It reminds me of the Fairey Fox I back in the 1920s with its American Curtiss engine. Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard bought a single squadron just to kick a complacent British aero engine industry back into life. Had war been looming back then, it might well have become a mainstay fighter-bomber. By contrast, had the Bf 109 not been looming in 1934/5, the Spit might well have remained a similar historical curiosity. Mass production was not finally taken out of Vickers-Supermarine's hands and put under Ministry control until they had tried and failed to organise it themselves, it had not been the original intent (Supermarine were by then a subsidiary of Vickers). Comparison with a twin-engined job such as the Whirlwind is a little invidious.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="steelpillow, post: 238612, member: 10779"] Yes indeed, I forgot about Vickers. The key thing about the Spit was that Supermarine's offer was the only potential 109-beater on the table. It reminds me of the Fairey Fox I back in the 1920s with its American Curtiss engine. Air Marshal Sir Hugh Trenchard bought a single squadron just to kick a complacent British aero engine industry back into life. Had war been looming back then, it might well have become a mainstay fighter-bomber. By contrast, had the Bf 109 [i]not[/i] been looming in 1934/5, the Spit might well have remained a similar historical curiosity. Mass production was not finally taken out of Vickers-Supermarine's hands and put under Ministry control until they had tried and failed to organise it themselves, it had not been the original intent (Supermarine were by then a subsidiary of Vickers). Comparison with a twin-engined job such as the Whirlwind is a little invidious. [/QUOTE]

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