Why did Spitfires change their guns? (Ft. Jonathan Ferguson)

My late friend Bob Whitney, USMC retired, flew the canon armed version of the F4U Corsair before going on to be a physics professor at some of the best universities in the US. I knew him in his 80s when he lived in Alameda CA. Anyway, he was the officer in charge of testing the gun heaters, and basically took the 50 BMG heater and just slapped it on the 20mm canon. I asked him how well the canon worked in combat, compared to the 50BMG. He said that in his whole war he only saw one Japanese aircraft, so his experience might not be typical. He got the gun sight on target and opened fire and the aircraft immediately exploded. So in his experience it was vastly more effective.

Excellent to hear about the wing types so seldom mentioned.

Jonathan is such a pleasure to listen to! His passion and excitement for the work that he does and knowledge he's accrued is infectious, I enjoy just about any video he's included in.

Outstanding presentation! We liked the .50 caliber BMG "Ma Deuce" in Vietnam, too! Salute to everyone at Duxford from a retired U.S. Navy chief petty officer across the Pond in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. 👍

It is amazing how these weapons and aircraft evolved throughout the war. The amount of research and testing into all these different weapons and machines of war is astounding. It really would be something if we could harness the same energy that we have during a war for solving our other problems during peace.

More of this please. Subject mater experts discussing important details with original material. Much better than the usual light touch stuff.

My father a former RAAF ground engineer & later a Boeing 43 year Workshop Superintendent was a constant Flying Day visitor at the Temora Aviation Museum. He & his brother grew up here & through my father's work with the now defunct Hawker De Havillands presented a set of Blue Prints of one the later versions of the Spitfires. 2 versions of the Spitfires still fly there today. These blue prints have been copies & pawed over & studied by pilots, enthusiasts & spectators.

Another excellent high quality presentation IWM and fantastic collaboration with Jonathan at Royal Armouries. Thank you

My mother carried the plans to final factory location for those guns. A strange admission as a dinner topic forty years after the event

Wow! Great video, and love the collaboration with Jonathan, he's a true gent and very enjoyable to listen to. I love that the IWM is making it's mark on Youtube. More please! :)

That is an OUTSTANDING video. The narration is first class with a "no mess" delivery. I thought I knew a lot about the Spitfire. Now I know, I don't. Thank you so much. Really enjoyed it.

A Legendary Stick and Rudder Man Bob Hoover flew a lot of Spitfires and said they were the best dogfighters, he loved them. He and Chuck Yeager were good buddies. Bob used to tell all kinds stories, I could listen to him for hours.

For some serious in depth information and knowledge, See Greg’s Planes and Automobiles. He breaks down arms and ammunition across all makes and models.

Even though .303 machine gun rounds isn't much by 1940, still i would hate to be peppered by a Spitfire in 1940.

I just watch videos on the history of firearms in war so it is genuinely interesting to hear about what those weapons were attached to. Thank you for the video, I will probably continue watching other videos from you all.

A lot of the "best caliber" depends on what you're shooting at. The RAF were constantly under threat of twin engined bombers, thus 20mm. The Germans faced 4 engine bombers, thus they needed to go up to 30mm. 50 cal sufficed for the US as they primarily faced single engine aircraft, and the occasional twin.

It’s key to add that the Hurricane, with the thicker wing, had the 4x Browning per wing clustered together which gave the pilot a tighter grouping at the harmonisation distance. The Spitfire, with the thinner wing had the 4x Browning spread out in a 1x, 2x and 1x configuration, giving a wider and less effective spread of fire.

The Mk. 1 Spitfire is one of the most beautiful airplanes to ever exist in my personal opinion. It was way ahead of its time aerodynamically, could turn like a Zero, and could stay up there for a long time. The only negative was the 7.7mm guns they took sustained bursts to really tear up an enemy plane and wouldnt reliably take an engine out. Once they put the 20mm Hispano it wasnt an issue.

Nice detail about further development of the Spitfire. I read somewhere that they used incendiary rounds, which made their wee machine guns much more effective.

The Super Marine Spitfire is one of the most beautiful machines ever designed and manufactured. It's too bad but, at the same time, so glad it was a weapon of war.