Supermarine Seafire

More about the book

Always overshadowed by its far more famous sibling the Spitfire, the Seafire was an aircraft adapted initially in haste to fill a large gap in the Fleet Air Arm's fighter inventory.  The first Seafires were developed from the early marks of Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered Spitfire, but although the structure was strengthened to absorb some of the landing loads characteristic of carrier operation, the airframe would exhibit some alarming failures, a trait that continued through the life of the type.  The next series of Seafires were Griffon powered and followed their RAF counterparts in introducing blow canopies and, later, modified wing planforms.