The Spitfire MkV was one of the most successful ‘stop-gaps’ ever introduced into the Royal Air Force Service. Over one hundred and forty RAF squadrons operated the type, it served on all battlefronts including the harsh desert and was supplied to nine other countries including the Soviet Union and the United States. During 1940 the Spitfire MkI and MkII barely maintained superiority over the Messerschmitt Bf109E so a successor was sought. There was a MkIII on the drawing board, but due to the time it would take tooling up for a new airplane an interim measure was required. So the MkV was born, it included a few of the new design features intended for the MkIII, plus it received the new Merlin 45 engine.

The Spitfire MkVb variant as modeled by Avios would equip units of the Desert Air Force during the North African campaign. To counter the prevalent dusty conditions, the Spitfires were fitted with a large Vokes air filter under the nose. This was to filter out the dust and dirt of the rough strips they had to operate from, this of course lowered the performance due to the increased drag, but it did increase the life span of the engine, and made it more reliable. The Mk Vbs equipped the 4th, 31st, and 52nd Fighter groups of the USAAF in the summer of 1942, being used as tactical fighter bombers carrying a bomb load of up to 500 lbs. The Desert Air Force was formed to provide close air support to the British Eight Army which was fighting against the Rome-Berlin Axis military coalition. Despite the harsh desert conditions the Spitfire MkVbs performed extremely well and shot down hundreds of enemy aircraft, including scores of German transport aircraft attempting to evacuate their trapped forces in the Tunis bridgehead just before the Axis surrender in April 1943.

The Avios Spitfire MkVb in the MTO color scheme is an accurate and faithful reproduction of this iconic airplane, attention to detail has not been spared. This high level of super scale detailing includes panel lines, scale exhausts, cannons, scale split flaps with indicators, sliding canopy, interior and instrument panel detail plus a gun sight, and the list goes on and on. This being the desert version it also comes with the optional Vokes filter, so you can either fly it with, or without, it's your choice. Being Plug-N-Fly all the electronics including the motor and speed controller are pre-installed, this includes a set of very nice servoless electric retracts. Finally, navigational lights, hidden linkages, an opening cockpit door, and bolt-together assembly makes this a Spitfire you will instantly fall in love with.

A flypast with canopy open.

The attention to detail can be seen here.

Nice shot showing the split flaps and flap indicators.

Another shot showing the incredible attention to detail.

A wartime photo clearly showing the Vokes filter.

A line up of MkVs in MTO camouflage sporting the 

Vokes filter.

Profile picture showing the MkV carrying a bomb.

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