acotrel said:I've often wondered why the Brits did not copy the fuel injection system used on the BF109 ? Having the carbs flood if you pushed the Spitfire into a dive must have been a major disadvantage, and the must have been enough fairly intact Messerschmidts around to get one to pull apart.
In typical UK fashion they improvised. It was fairly soon recognised that the Spitfire was at a disadvantage if it was following a target which push over into a dive, when the Merlin would cough and splutter. A young lady Engineer named Shilling at RAE Farnborough came up with a sort of washer which affected the fuel flow. Obviously the only name for this "washer" was Miss Shillings Orifice. Google "Miss Shilling's Orifice" for the full story.
As for Production Engineering, they (the UK) built some huge "shadow factories" all over the UK. The biggest was probably at Castle Bromwich in the Midlands. Whilst the Spitfire was always a complex aircraft to build, all those compound curves came at a price, the Castle Bromwich factory was pumping out 300 per week in 1944. Apparently the peak was 320 Spitfires. The same factory also built Lancasters! The Castle Bromwich factory became a car factory after the war.
cheers
wakeup