Three of the Best - A flight of Spitfires

Roland Bogush
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Three of the Best - A flight of Spitfires
Three of the Best - A flight of Spitfires

A stirring sight and sound. Two Spitfires Mk 1a, flying with a Spitfire Mk Vc (leftmost in the picture). The Spitfire Mk V was introduced late in 1940, after the Battle of Britain, and was essentially a Mk 1 with a more powerful RR Merlin engine. The 'a' and 'c' designations indicate the different armament that could be carried in the wings.
Improved radios had also been designed by then, too, and a slightly different aerial mast design, without a wire leading to the fin, can be seen on the Mk V.
Topside camouflage was changed from using 'Dark Earth' to 'Ocean Grey' in mid 1941. A light band around the rear fuselage and yellow stripes on the wing leading edges were introduced to aid visual 'friend or foe' identification.
If you are really sharp-eyed, you will see that the camouflage pattern on the nearer aircraft is a mirror image of that on the other two. Initially, odd and even serial numbered fighter aircraft had mirrored camouflage patterns. Quite why this was thought to be a good idea is lost in the mists of time, but apparently different factories applied the A & B schemes differently, so at the time the Ocean Grey was introduced, it was decided to use only the 'A' pattern camouflage from then on.

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Taken on: October 5, 2024
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Canon EOS R5 Canon EOS R5 Everybody's photos tagged with Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM Lens Mk II + x2 Extender Mk III Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM Lens Mk II + x2 Extender Mk III Everybody's photos tagged with Duxford Season Finale Air Display - 5th Oct 2024 Duxford Season Finale Air Display - 5th Oct 2024
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Camera: Canon EOS R5, f/11.0, 1/250 sec, 800mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS R5
Lens: EF400mm f/4 DO IS II USM +2x III
Aperture: f/11.0
Exposure Time: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length: 800mm
ISO: 100
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Shutter speed priority AE
Exposure Mode: Auto
Metering Mode: Spot
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop 26.1 (Windows)
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