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Supermarine Spitfire F24

The Spitfire F24 was the ultimate development of the type, but the advent of the jet fighter meant that only small numbers were built and even fewer went into Royal Air Force service.

The last major production Spitfire was the F22. The F24 differed only in the smallest of details and in fact some F24s were converted from F22 airframes.

Only seventy F24s were completed and most went into store although No.80 Squadron was fully equipped with the type.

These ultimate examples of the Spitfire incorporated all the modifications and improvements developed on earlier marks. The F24s had a tear-drop canopy for greater visibility and enlarged tail surfaces for better control. Like many of the later marks the F24 was fitted with the more powerful Griffon engine which provided a 160kph (100mph) greater top speed than the early Spitfires and almost twice the rate of climb. The weight of firepower from its cannon had tripled over the types’ original fit of eight machineguns. It is perhaps a mark of the propaganda value of the Spitfire name that this very different machine was not re-named.