Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe

This page is about the premium gift British fighter Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe. For other versions, see Spitfire (Family).

Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe

Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe

Britain

IV Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
5.3	5.7	5.3

Class:

PREMIUM

Fighter

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Description

Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe is a premium gift rank IV British fighter with a battle rating of 5.3 (AB/SB) and 5.7 (RB). It was introduced as a premium pack in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory" and was removed from the store after the 2018 Independence Day Summer Sale. It has been made available again for the 2018 "Royal Air Force Centenary", the 2020 "80^th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain" events, and the 2021 May sale. It has also been available in-game for Golden Eagles for a limited time during the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 "Battle of Britain Day" mini-events.

The plane is painted after the camouflage scheme of the plane Canadian pilot James Prendergast used in the No.414 Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force, flying reconnaissance and ground attack missions over Europe before the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day.

The Spitfire FR Mk. XIVe was a purpose built low altitude Reconnaissance Airframe. This plane is an example of the 1945 "e" equipped with a clipped "e" type wing, allowing it to mount the respectable armament of 2 cannons and two .50 calibre, a camera for reconnaissance and have a bubble canopy. The short wing tips vastly increase the roll rate of the aircraft but sacrifice some horizontal and vertical manoeuvrability. The powerful Griffon Mk.65 allowed it to climb better than the majority of enemy fighters at nearly all attitudes; however, the performance drop at altitudes, compared to full winged XIVe's is noticeable.

General info

Prendergast's Spitfire, in Update 1.55

Prendergast's Spitfire, in Update "Hot Tracks"

Flight performance

Max speed

at 8 077 m730 km/h

Turn time20 s

Max altitude12 000 m

EngineRolls-Royce Griffon-65

TypeInline

Cooling systemWater

Take-off weight5 t

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 8,077 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	698	676	12000	21.5	22.4	18.1	18.1	400
Upgraded	776	730		18.8	20.1	32.0	23.7

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	+	-
794	260	N/A	N/A	260	~10	~6

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 321	< 400	< 350	> 500

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural794 km/h

Gear260 km/h

• 38 mm Bulletproof glass - Armoured windscreen
• 4 mm Steel plates in pilot's seat
• 4-7 mm Steel plate behind the pilot
• 12.7 mm Steel plate between the fuselage fuel tank and oil cooling system
• 6 mm Steel plate in front of liquid cooling system
• 3 mm Steel boxes around wing ammunition

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB1 941

RB4 376

SB6 215

Crew training10 000

Experts320 000

Aces1 100

Research Aces1 050 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 100 / 230 / 480 %

2 × 172 / 172 / 172 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Radiator Compressor Wings repair Engine Engine injection	Airframe Cover	bmg50_belt_pack hispano_belt_pack bmg50raf_new_gun hispano_mk2_new_gun SMBC mk.2 Mk.II year 1942 Mk.II year 1943

Armaments

Offensive armament

Weapon 12 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannon

Ammunition270 rounds

Fire rate600 shots/min

Weapon 22 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun

Ammunition520 rounds

Fire rate750 shots/min

The Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe is armed with:

• 2 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, wing-mounted (135 rpg = 270 total)
• 2 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (260 rpg = 520 total)

The armament of 1 x Hispano Mk.II and 1 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun per wing is more than adequate for all but the heaviest of targets, cannon ammunition is low at only 120 RPG or 240 total. 20 mm ammo should be conserved as much as possible .50 calibre should be used vs. soft targets and on shots intended to force an enemy to manoeuvre. Neither can damage AI medium or heavy tanks but both can damage pillboxes when aimed properly.

Suspended armament

List of setups (2)

Setup 11 x G.P. 500 lb Mk.IV bomb

Setup 21 x M.C. 500 lb Mk.I bomb

The Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 1 x 500 lb G.P. Mk.IV bomb (500 lb total)

Usage in battles

Make sure to climb every match, better off having too much energy than too little.

When faced with an enemy of lower "E" (energy) state at equivalent altitude, zoom climbing and diving is incredibly effective. This can even be effective vs. the infamous Yak 3P.

Rope-a-dope and scissors make good defensive tactics; lowering throttle may be needed to compensate for the lack of flaps. Also using the high roll rate and decent turning can throw off an enemy's aim but will cost you some speed.

Conserve ammo! Use your MG's to conserve cannon ammo whenever possible.

Head-ons are possible but not recommended due to the fragile engine, a better tactic is to fake a head-on but use your roll and turn speeds to dodge the enemy. However, Hispano cannons are very effective due to their lack of tracers, high velocity and damage.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Auto control available	Combined	Controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Fast climber (best at roughly 300 km/h (185 mph) at 20 degrees)
• Excellent vertical manoeuvrability
• Good zoom climber
• Fast acceleration
• Fast roll rate
• Cools well at 100% throttle
• Dive speeds and handling is very good

Cons:

• Engine is water cooled and susceptible to damage
• Requires slow landing speeds
• Higher stall speed than unclipped Spitfires
• Low ammo for cannons
• Lacks Combat flaps
• WEP has considerably higher fuel usage, take at least 30 minutes, preferably 45

History

Archive of the in-game description

The Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV was a single engine, single seat fighter which served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. In 1941 the Spitfire Mk.IV was the first Spitfire to be trialed with the new Rolls Royce Griffon engine. By the time the Griffon Spitfire entered service with the RAF in February 1943, subsequent modifications had redesignated the aircraft as the Spitfire Mk.XII. As successful as this new Spitfire was at low altitudes, the Mk.XII's performance was actually inferior to the Merlin engine Mk.IX at medium and high altitudes. Thus, the Spitfire Mk.XIV entered service as an interim fix. Fitted with a Rolls Royce Griffon 65 with two-stage supercharger producing 2050 hp, the Mk.XIV immediately corrected many of the performance shortcomings suffered by the Mk.XII. The fuselage was strengthened to harness the powerful engine and a five bladed Rotol propeller replaced the earlier four bladed examples. Early models were fitted with the Type C wing although later Mk.XIVs were equipped with the Type E wing housing two 20mm Hispano cannons and two .50 caliber Browning machine guns or four 20mm cannons, as well as a high visibility teardrop canopy. A common modification to the Mk.XIV was the clipped wing, which increased roll rate and gave a marginal increase to speed, but at the most of rate of climb. The Spitfire Mk.XIV entered service with Nos. 91, 322 and 610 Squadrons in southeast England where it saw notable success as an interceptor against V-1 Flying Bombs but also as part of the 2nd Tactical Air Force in operations over occupied Europe. Spitfire Mk.XIVs were also planned for use in the Far East but whilst a number of airframes were shipped to Burma, none were operational before the end of the war. The Spitfire Mk.XIV met mixed reviews from its pilots; whilst there was no doubt of the huge performance increase the new variant offered, it was uncomfortable to fly and lacked the balance and control harmonization of earlier Merlin engine Spitfires. Just under 1000 Spitfire Mk.XIVs were produced with exports being employed by the Air Forces of India, Belgium and Thailand.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Prendergast's Spitfire FR Mk XIVe from live.warthunder.com.

Videos

The Shooting Range #95 - Metal Beasts section at 03:42 discusses the Spitfire FR Mk XIVe.

The Shooting Range #124 - War Machines section at 00:28 discusses the Griffons.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

• Official data sheet - more details about the performance