Supermarine type 338, a proposed Seafire from 1939......

[wolfik]

...no....sorry guys....I need any info! 
please help me out...
buyed a tamyia spit and now hoping for info...

many thanks and best regards
Peter

[GTX]

...no....sorry guys....I need any info! 
please help me out...
buyed a tamyia spit and now hoping for info...

many thanks and best regards
Peter

I assume you are referring to the proposed FAA Spitfire with a Griffon Engine and Folding wings - does this help:



Regards,

Greg

[apophenia]

Thanks Greg, fascinating project!

The Type 338 was a Merlin XII-engined project based on the Mk.I. So, at a guess, we can combine the wing fold from Greg's Griffon-engined project with a fuselage/engine like a Spitfire Mk.II?

[Tophe]

I have somewhere in my home the Bible Book of the Spit: "Spitfire the History" (by Morgan & Shacklady, Key Pub., updated edition). Have you checked it? Otherwise, I may do it... someday (sorry).

[wolfik]

hi all!!!
its as allways cool and good to know the experts are here....
many thanks!!!
and Tophe....please look some day in your book ....maybe you will find any other drawing? 

best regards
Peter

[Tophe]

I have found the book again.
"Spitfire, The History" by Eric B. Morgan & Edward Shacklady, Key Publishing, 1987/1993
For your subject, sorry, there is no Supermarine 338 in the index. But overleafing, there is things that may please you:
- the type 333: 2-seater to N8/39 (below left), with Griffon and Merlin versions
- a butterfly-tail version from the Spitfire Mk.IV (below right), together with the picture presented above.
The views are very reduced here, not to break a Copyright (if you like them, buy the book!).

[sequoiaranger]

I am excited by the prospects of seeing ANY of the three Supermarine projects modeled. I never knew they existed.

As far as the 338 goes, the fold-back wing would certainly facilitate carrier storage, and the wider stance would make landings a little more "friendly". It looks like the wheels would retract into the outer wing. The whole wing structure obviously would have to be changed, with commensurate weight penalties. The Hurricane-like central radiator might also have aerodynamic penalties. But all in all I like it.

The 2-seater is an odd-looking bird. Rival to the Fulmar?

The Vee-tail is the most intriguing. It looks like the wings are the long-span type like the Spit Mk VII. The shape of the plane, and its bubble canopy suggest a mid-late-war design. Looking like a Spiteful with longer wings. The little "spoon" at the wing roots is interesting, like a Heinkel He-70. Any specs (wingspan, length, engine, etc.)?

SOMEBODY make these whifs, PLEASE!!!

[Mossie]

That'll teach me to take a long time to post, Tophe beat me to it!  I found the pic of the V-tailed Type 338 on Secret Projects.

Taken from Secret Projects, larger version there:
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,978.30.html



I've got a pic somewhere of the original Spitfire Mk.IV DP845 that the two drawings were derived from, basically a Spit III with a Griffon.  DP845 went through several changes as the Griffon testbed, eventually becoming the prototype for the Mk.XII.  I'll see if I can dig the pic out.

[apophenia]

Tophe's Type 333 illustration seems to confirm the backward-folding wings. Now the question is: how much did the March '42 Griffon-powered Type 338 proposal differ from the original 1939 version with Merlin XII?

[jcf]

Type 337 (Spitfire Mk. IV) drawing from Supermarine Aircraft since 1914, Andrew & Morgan, Putnam 1981 (1987 NIP).

Jon

[Mossie]

Found that pic, mocked up with six cannon.

There's a snippet on this site from Jeffrey Quill's 'Spitfire: A Test Pilots Story' which gives the story of DP845:
http://www.crew-green.com/Griffon%20Spitfire.htm