The Spitfire PR.XIX was the last of the specialized unarmed photo reconnaissance variants of the Spitfire, the only PR version of the Spitfire with the Rolls-Royce 37-liter, V-12, 2,000hp Griffon engine (Griffon 66) and arguably the finest Spitfire of them all.
Delivered to the RAF from May 1944, the Spitfire PR Mk XIX provided the RAF with a formidable photo-reconnaissance platform with a top speed of 460 mph and an official service ceiling of 42,500 feet. With wing fuel tanks fitted in place of guns, the PR Mk XIX internal fuel capacity was increased to 256 gallons, three times that of the original Spitfire. Carrying an external auxiliary “slipper” drop tank, the PR.XIX had a range of 1,400 miles.
By the end of the war, this mark had virtually replaced…