Developement History of the Spitfire, Part 1, The Spitfire Mk XVI

The Spitfire Mk XVI.....

Although externally similar to late production MkIX, the MkXVI was given a new mark number to distinguish its powerplant - the Merlin266 built by the US Packard Motor Co. A low rated Merlin 66, the engine began to reach the UK in quantity in 1944 and was installed in production MkIXs from September. Among the changes incorporated on the Packard Merlin (which was built to metric measurements) was an electro hydraulically operated supercharger gear ( compared to electro pneumatic for British engines). The intercooler header tank was integral with the power unit rather than bulkhead mounted, and the oil piping run was modified. Early machines had a small letter 'c' wing armament, later 'e', and a cut down rear fuselage with bubble canopy was standard from February 1945. Most MkXVIs also had clipped wings for the low level role. The production total was 1053. Although performance was similar to that of the MkIX, fuel tankage of the MkXVI differed in some respects: the lower front fuselage tank held 47 gals compared to 37 gals of the MkIX and the rear fuselage tank capacity was 76 gals with the original deep fuselage or 66 galls with the cut down design.