Supermarine was no stranger to designing for speed, in fact, it was among world leaders at the cutting edge of high-speed flight and technology that had produced the S series of floatplanes which eventually won the Schneider Trophy for England. However, the design of the Spitfire came out of the need for highspeed monoplane fighters and the company was in the thick of developing this new eight-gun fighter. At the same time in Germany, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke were working on the BF 109, the soon-to-be adversary of the Supermarine Beauty; but they also had one eye on setting some International Speed Records!
In July and August of 1937, a team of Bf 109s which had been heavily modified were flown to Switzerland to compete in the International Flying Meeting. They won the circuit of the Alps race, formation race and climb and dive competitions, a complete sweep of the board.
Subsequent to this on the 11th of November 1937, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 V 13 built by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke and piloted by Dr Hermann Wurster set a new international speed record of 610.21 km/h. The record-breaking aircraft was powered by a Daimler-Benz DB 601 Re III aero engine.
This did not go un-noticed, and this challenge by the Germans could not be ignored! Air Cmdre R. H. Verney, Director of Technical Developments at the Air Ministry and Supermarine, initiated plans to prepare a Spitfire for an attempt on the World's Air Speed Record.
Smith, Clifton, Pierson and Quill were consulted and as a result, Specification F35/35 was issued, for a high-speed aeroplane capable of being converted to a single-seat fighter, if the need arose. A Contract was raised (B817241/38) for the design and completion of one prototype to Supermarine Type 323, and to save time and money, a Mk I airframe was taken off the Woolston production line for adaptation.
It was already estimated that the Spitfire without serious modification could attain a speed of between 375 and 400 mph under world record conditions. Many alterations were considered to the standard fuselage and components to gain as much speed advantage as possible and reduce drag.
These included:
Make and fit new windscreen
Remove tailwheel and fit skid
Improve shape of the cowling
Remove aerials and fittings
Fill in cartridge ejection slots
Make and fit new air intake
Fit new oil coolers and ducts
Modify oil tank
Polish the wings
Make and fit new nose cowling
There was also some modification to the wing and a new wing tip would be designed.
A Rolls-Royce team, under the direction of Mr. Lovesey and Parkin, were to develop a racing version of the Merlin II, which was eventually fitted, delivering over 2000hp.
It was decided to remove the radiator and some fuel tankage, and change the cooling to a partial-loss system. The upper fuel tank was removed and replaced with a combined condenser and water tank. The water was fed through the engine and back to the tank, where some would be condensed for recirculating, while the overflow was released from the base of the engine as a jet of steam.
It was calculated that the Speed Spitfire would be able to make the speed runs and land safely before the water and much-reduced fuel would run out. Test flying was to be done over a nine-mile railway speed course between Farnborough and Basingstoke using hand timing. Quill flew level speed trials with the de Havilland propeller installed, and these continued until 6 March when K9834 went back to Eastleigh for the total loss cooling system to be installed. The upper fuel tank was removed and a replacement glycol tank combined condenser was fitted.
The Speed Spitfire appeared at the 2nd International Salon of Aeronautics held at Brussels in July, and by then doubts about performance were being expressed. Sir Wilfred Freeman, Air Member for Development and Production, said that although the immediate purpose of the project was research, the record attempt could be made if he was assured that the aircraft could attain '450mph.
Test flights had shown that this was not possible and, reluctantly, the project was abandoned. The prototype aeroplane, flying in markings as ‘N17’, was transferred to the RAF and a Merlin XII installed and PR Mk III camera equipment fitted. The aircraft still retained its blue and silver colour scheme. It was then delivered to RAF Benson to become the personal aircraft of Air Comdre. J.N. Bootham, who flew it over the Normandy beach head on D-Day, 4 June 1944. It was finally struck off charge by Coastal Command as Cat E on 14 June 1946.
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