Supermarine Spitfire floatplane ‘Fjord Mustang’
As a landplane with floats added, at least one judge deemed this entry ineligible, but Hush-Kit readers voted so heavily for it that we had to include it. And we have zero regrets, as it was, without a doubt, a very beautiful machine. Though the magnificent Spitfire proved itself a problematic carrier fighter as the Seafire, it almost became a superb floatplane fighter.
During the Norwegian campaign, the RAF found itself in dire straits due to the lack of suitable airfields for its fighters, and the floatplane fighter concept seemed to offer a useful solution. Floats were fitted to a Spitfire Mk. I, but before it even flew, Norway had fallen.
The converted Spitfires were converted back to a regular wheeled undercarriage. But this handy idea refused to go away. Subsequently, the Spitfire floatplane was reconsidered when war in the Pacific against Japan broke out in late 1941, and this time, a Mk.V was converted.
By the time three Mk.V had been converted to floatplanes, the plan had changed, and instead of the Pacific, the Spitfires were to operate from discreet island bases in the Aegean. Unfortunately, the Germans stymied the idea by capturing all the appropriate islands. Attention turned to the Pacific again for the final and fastest Spitfire conversion.
In 1944, a Spitfire Mark IX (serial MJ892) powered by a Merlin 45 was fitted with floats. The result was spectacular: the machine reached 377mph, making it the fastest floatplane of the war. Sadly, the concept was shelved, and despite becoming the third-fastest floatplane ever built, the waterborne Spitfire was abandoned in late 1945.
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