The Supermarine S.6B is a vintage British racing seaplane. Created in Second Life by Winterhawk Aviation, the plane is a replica of the real-life S.6B, developed by R.J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931.
Background
The real-life Supermarine S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of the racing seaplane" and represented the cutting edge of aerodynamic technology. The last in the line developed by Supermarine, it followed the S.4, S.5 and the S.6.[1]
There were only seven months to prepare an entry, and as Mitchell did not have enough time to design a new aircraft, better performance had to be obtained by getting more power from the R-Type engine[2] Modifications to the airframe design were limited to minor improvements and some strengthening in order to cope with the increased weight of the aircraft. Additionally, the floats were extended forward by some three feet (0.9 m). Rolls-Royce had managed to increase the power of the engine by 400 hp (298 kW) to 2,300 hp (1,715 kW).
Mitchell and his team's experience in designing high speed Schneider Trophy floatplanes greatly contributing to the development of the later Supermarine Spitfire, an iconic fighter and Britain's most successful interceptor of World War II.[3]
Features
- Animated components (rudder, ailerons, propeller, entry hatch etc.)
Images
_1.png "Supermarine S.6B (Winterhawk) 1.png (1.95 MB)")
_2.png "Supermarine S.6B (Winterhawk) 2.png (877 KB)")
See also
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk I (THI)
- Supermarine Spitfire (DSA)
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk VB (E-Tech)
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX (EG Aircraft)
References
- ↑ Price, Alfred. Spitfire: A Documentary History. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1997. ISBN 0-684-16060-9, p. 11.
- ↑ Green, William, ed. "Supermarine's Schneider Seaplanes." Flying Review International, Volume 10, No. 11, July 1967, pp. 745–746.
- ↑ Nichols, Mark, ed. Spitfire 70: Invaluable Reference to Britain's Greatest Fighter, Flypast Special. Stamford, Linc, UK: Key Publishing, 1996, p. 9.