Difference between revisions of "Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc"
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== Description == | == Description == | ||
<!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' --> | <!-- ''In the description, the first part should be about the history of and the creation and combat usage of the aircraft, as well as its key features. In the second part, tell the reader about the aircraft in the game. Insert a screenshot of the vehicle, so that if the novice player does not remember the vehicle by name, he will immediately understand what kind of vehicle the article is talking about.'' --> | ||
| − | + | John Plagis was the highest scoring Southern Rhodesian ace of the Second World War, achieving at least 16 aerial victories. Plagis flew the Spitfire LF Mk IX (coded "5J-K", tail number ML214) between 20 June to 7 October 1944 and scored four air victories. While participating in Operation Market Garden, he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Arnhem, Netherlands, though he was able to walk away with only minor injuries. His squadron was later re-equipped with Mustang IIIs, in which he served in bomber escort roles until the end of the war. After the war, he flew [[Meteor F Mk 3|Gloster Meteors]] and other jet aircraft until his retirement in 1948. | |
| − | The | + | Introduced in [[Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory"]], Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IX is very much a short range, point interceptor fighter and the stand-out fighter in the mid Spitfire line-up. It features an exceptional rate of climb, whilst still retaining the manoeuvrability of its early lineage. The LF Mk IX is considered by many to be the perfect Spitfire due to its balanced all-round performance and impressive statistics. The last of the Merlin-engined Spitfires before progressing on to the Griffon-powered variants, it has the perfect balance of turning performance (second only to its Japanese counterparts) as well as its "Boom and Zoom" capability that becomes more possible with later model Spitfires. However, being equipped with the "C" type wing, the Mk IXc is armed with four Browning .303 machine guns to accompany its twin Hispano cannons, which are rather weak compared to the twin .50 cal M2 Browning and Hispano format of contemporary Spitfire models. |
| + | |||
| + | Plagis' Spitfire was removed from the Gaijin store in [https://forum.warthunder.com/index.php?/topic/311904-clearance-sale-50-off-various-packs33 May 2016]. It has been made available again in the store for the [[wt:en/news/6866-special-80-year-anniversary-of-battle-of-britain-en|2020 "80<sup>th</sup> Anniversary of the Battle of Britain"]] event and the [[wt:en/news/7154-shop-may-sale-in-the-gaijin-store-en|2021 May sale]]. It has also been available in-game for Golden Eagles {{GE}} for a limited time during the British [[wt:en/news/5438-raf-100-royal-air-force-centenary-en|2018 "Royal Air Force Centenary"]], the [[wt:en/news/7338-special-battle-of-britain-day-en|2021]], [[wt:en/news/7871-special-battle-of-britain-day-en|2022]], [[wt:en/news/8465-special-raf-spitfires-and-a-decal-available-for-battle-of-britain-day-en|2023]] and [[wt:en/news/9087-shop-special-the-few-decal-two-fighters-and-discounts-for-battle-of-britain-day-en|2024]] "Battle of Britain Day" and the [[wt:en/news/7575-special-spitfire-mk-ix-first-flight-en|2022 "Spitfire Mk.IX first flight"]] mini-events. | ||
== General info == | == General info == | ||
Latest revision as of 14:30, 18 September 2024
| This page is about the premium gift British fighter Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc. For other versions, see Spitfire (Family). |
Contents
Description
John Plagis was the highest scoring Southern Rhodesian ace of the Second World War, achieving at least 16 aerial victories. Plagis flew the Spitfire LF Mk IX (coded "5J-K", tail number ML214) between 20 June to 7 October 1944 and scored four air victories. While participating in Operation Market Garden, he was shot down by anti-aircraft fire over Arnhem, Netherlands, though he was able to walk away with only minor injuries. His squadron was later re-equipped with Mustang IIIs, in which he served in bomber escort roles until the end of the war. After the war, he flew Gloster Meteors and other jet aircraft until his retirement in 1948.
Introduced in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory", Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IX is very much a short range, point interceptor fighter and the stand-out fighter in the mid Spitfire line-up. It features an exceptional rate of climb, whilst still retaining the manoeuvrability of its early lineage. The LF Mk IX is considered by many to be the perfect Spitfire due to its balanced all-round performance and impressive statistics. The last of the Merlin-engined Spitfires before progressing on to the Griffon-powered variants, it has the perfect balance of turning performance (second only to its Japanese counterparts) as well as its "Boom and Zoom" capability that becomes more possible with later model Spitfires. However, being equipped with the "C" type wing, the Mk IXc is armed with four Browning .303 machine guns to accompany its twin Hispano cannons, which are rather weak compared to the twin .50 cal M2 Browning and Hispano format of contemporary Spitfire models.
Plagis' Spitfire was removed from the Gaijin store in May 2016. It has been made available again in the store for the 2020 "80th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain" event and the 2021 May sale. It has also been available in-game for Golden Eagles 
for a limited time during the British 2018 "Royal Air Force Centenary", the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 "Battle of Britain Day" and the 2022 "Spitfire Mk.IX first flight" mini-events.
General info
Flight performance
The Spitfire LF Mk IX is very much a short range, point interceptor fighter and the stand out fighter in the mid-Spitfire lineup. It features an exceptional rate of climb, whilst still retaining the manoeuvrability of its early lineage. The LF IX is considered by most to be the perfect Spitfire due to its balanced all-round performance and impressive statistics. The last of the Merlin engine Spitfires before progressing on to the Griffon powered variants, has the perfect balance of turning performance (second only to its Japanese counterparts) as well as its "Boom and Zoom" capability that becomes more possible with later model Spitfires.
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 4,878 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 632 | 611 | 11500 | 16.4 | 17.0 | 22.2 | 22.2 | 320 |
| Upgraded | 731 | 690 | 14.8 | 14.8 | 43.3 | 31.8 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| X | X | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 774 | 270 | N/A | N/A | 230 | ~12 | ~6 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 321 | < 400 | < 450 | > 250 |
Survivability and armour
- 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
- 4 mm Steel plate in pilot's seat
- 6-7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
- 3 mm Steel plates above and around the fuselage fuel tank
- 3 mm Steel plates around the wing ammunition
Modifications and economy
2 × 90 / 220 / 440 % 2 × 166 / 166 / 166 % | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc is armed with:
- 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, wing-mounted (120 rpg = 240 total)
- 4 x 7.7 mm Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (350 rpg = 1,400 total)
Suspended armament
Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- Without load
- 1 x 250 lb AN-M57 bomb (250 lb total)
Usage in battles
Plagis' Spitfire is a capable fighter which plays similar to the Spitfire Mk.IX, but with minor changes.
A recommended play-style is climbing directly through the enemies climb path to cut it off and get directly above them using your superior climb rate. This will stop them from getting above you into their favourable territory.
- If this fails, try baiting the enemy planes down to a lower altitude and turn engaging in a turn fight with them.
Some tactics to drag them down without getting shot down yourself are these:
- When they are diving on your six pull up to a 40-degree angle, when they are 0.80 km away from you, please note that this only works when they approach from a high angle, otherwise roll down and then hard left.
- When they engage from the sides roll and go towards their direction, do not perform a head-on but dive under them, if they follow they will burn a lot of energy.
- If they engage from the front for a boom and zoom dive down and turn hard left and then immediately a hard right shaking them off or wasting their energy.
As for climbing, the optimal airspeed is 240 km/h, or use 20 degrees for a rush and 30 degrees to gain altitude fast. Do not dive over 700 km/h if this happens, pull up slowly. Wings will rip with positive G forces at 540 km/h after that make small turns. The aircraft can not handle negative G forces at all, only perform under 300 km/h recommended to roll over.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Controllable | Controllable Auto control available |
Not controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Auto control available |
Combined | Controllable 2 gears |
Not controllable |
As with all the other British planes, this plane is also very forgiving when using Manual Engine Settings.
- Prop pitch: This should be set to 100% when climbing to utilize its superior climb rate. This will come in handy both at the start of a match and during combat. However when in level flight or chasing another plane this can be set back as far to 70-80% to get a few more km/h (or mph).
- Radiator: as soon as you unlock the radiator module you can set this to 30% and leave it there for the entire match. On Sicily however, you want to set it to 35-40% until you reach 6,000 m (19,685 feet).
- Supercharger: Switching this at 2,000 m (6,561 feet) will give you quite a boost in performance and it will retain it's climb rate up until 4,500 m after it will suffer miserably but still climb better than almost every plane. Therefore the supercharger gears should be switched at 2 km (6,561 feet) altitude.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- One of the best climb rates of any propeller driven aircraft in the game
- Excellent low altitude performance
- Great all around manoeuvrability
- Good low-level performance (below 7 km)
- The .303 Brownings have similar ballistics with the Hispanos and can act as a guide when aiming
- Good dive control
- Great energy retention
Cons:
- Not a lot of ammo, must be conservative when shooting
- Hispanos tend to jam quick, leaving you with only the machine guns
- Poor mid-high altitude performance
- Fragile, will not take any punishment at all
- .303 Brownings don't do much damage
- Really low flap ripping speed
- Average acceleration
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).
Notable pilots
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Other late Merlin-engine LF variant Spitfires
External links
- [Article Series] Weapons of Victory: Plagis' Spitfire Mk. IXc
- Official data sheet - more details about the performance
| Supermarine | |
|---|---|
| Spitfires | |
| Merlin engine | Spitfire Mk Ia · Spitfire Mk IIa · Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I · Spitfire Mk IIb |
| Spitfire Mk Vb · Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · Spitfire Mk Vc · Spitfire Mk Vc/trop | |
| Spitfire F Mk IX · Spitfire F Mk IXc · Spitfire F Mk XVI | |
| Spitfire LF Mk IX · Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc | |
| Griffon engine | Spitfire F Mk XIVc · Spitfire F Mk XIVe · Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe · Spitfire F Mk XVIIIe · Spitfire F Mk 22 · Spitfire F Mk 24 |
| Export | ▄Spitfire Mk Vb/trop · ▃Spitfire LF Mk IXc · ▂Spitfire Mk IXc · Spitfire Mk IXc · Spitfire Mk.IX (CW) · Weizman's Spitfire LF Mk.IXe · ▄Spitfire FR Mk XIVe |
| Seafires | Seafire LF Mk.III · Seafire F Mk XVII · Seafire FR 47 |
| Export | ▄Seafire LF Mk.III |
| Jet fighters | Attacker FB 1 · Attacker FB.2 · Scimitar F Mk.1 · Swift F.1 · Swift F.7 |
| Hydroplanes | Walrus Mk.I |
| Britain premium aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Fighters | Tuck's Gladiator Mk II · ▄Boomerang Mk I · ▄Boomerang Mk II · ▄D.520 |
| ▄Martlet Mk IV · ▄Corsair F Mk II · ▄Hellcat Mk II · ▄Thunderbolt Mk.1 · ▄Mustang Mk IA | |
| Hurricane Mk.I/L FAA M · Spitfire Mk.IIa Venture I · Spitfire F Mk IXc · Plagis' Spitfire LF Mk IXc · Spitfire F Mk XIVc · Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe | |
| Typhoon Mk Ib · MB.5 | |
| Twin-engine fighters | Hornet Mk.I · Whirlwind P.9 |
| Jet fighters | Attacker FB.2 · Hunter FGA.9 · Lightning F.53 · Meteor F Mk.8 Reaper · Sea Vixen F.A.W. Mk.2 · F-4J(UK) Phantom II · ▄MiG-21 Bison |
| Strike aircraft | ▄Wirraway · Beaufighter Mk I (40-mm) · Wyvern S4 |
| Harrier GR.1 · Strikemaster Mk.88 | |
| Bombers | ▄Avenger Mk II · ▄Boston Mk I · ▄Catalina Mk IIIa · ▄DB-7 · ▄Havoc Mk I · ▄Hudson Mk V · Swordfish Mk II |
