Supermarine BC Skemcis

The Supermarine BC Skemcis is a British Columbian single-seat fighter aircraft manufactured by Supermarine British Columbia that was used by the Royal British Columbia Air Force and other air forces before, during, and after the Second World War. Many variants were built over the course of nearly two decades; due to its evolution over such a long period of time, and especially due to the use of a radial engine in the earlier marks and an inline engine in the later ones, the earliest variants bear little obvious resemblance to the later ones. In addition to the land-based variants, numerous variants of a navalised version, the Sea Skemcis, were built for the Royal BC Navy.

Together with the Sea Skemcis variants, it was produced in greater numbers than any other British Columbian aircraft. Over thirty remain airworthy, and more are preserved as static museum exhibits or plinthed as war memorials around BC.

Skemcis (F) Mk. I
In 1931, the British Air Ministry released Specification F7/30, calling for a modern fighter capable of a flying speed of 250 mph. Reginald Joseph Mitchell CBE FRAeS designed the Supermarine Type 224 to fill this role. The 224 was an open-cockpit monoplane with bulky gull-wings and a large, fixed, spatted undercarriage powered by the 600-horsepower, evaporatively cooled Rolls-Royce Goshawk II engine. It made its first flight in February 1934. Of the seven designs tendered to F7/30, the Gloster Gladiator biplane was accepted for service.

The Royal BC Air Force paid close attention to the designs submitted to F7/30, taking a particular interest in the 224; after its rejection by the Air Ministry, Supermarine BC took over the designs and modified it with the intention of providing a fighter for the RBCAF. The new design replaced the V-12 Goshawk with the air-cooled, supercharged 9-cylinder Wright Cyclone R-1820-F3A radial engine. Weighing 965 lbs and having a length (depth) of 43 ⅜ inches, the Cyclone was ten pounds lighter than the Goshawk, and nearly 30 inches shorter. Moreover, this more compact engine was much more powerful, with a normal output of 730 hp on 87-octane fuel. The result was the '''Supermarine Skemcis (F) Mk. I''' ("Skemcis" (IPA [skɛmçis], [skɛmʃɪs], or [skɛmhɪs]) is the Secwépemc/Shuswap word for "grizzly bear"). A single prototype was built, and after its maiden flight in May 1935, was extensively tested by both Supermarine and the RBCAF. These tests were successful, and the RBCAF placed an order for an initial batch of forty aircraft.

Skemcis (F) Mk. II


The serial version of the Mk. I entered production in 1936 and was designated '''Skemcis (F) Mk. II'''. Largely identical to the prototype, they were powered by the R-1820-F3A Cyclone and were fitted with four water-cooled .303 Vickers Mk. IV machine guns (200 rounds each), two synchronised mounted above the engine, and two mounted in the wings. The first aircraft off the assembly line was accepted by the air force on 7 April 1936. However, only fourteen of the forty ordered were built over the following three months; these were given RBCAF serial numbers G01–G14.

All fourteen were delivered to No. 1 Sqn and were coded BE*A through BE*N, replacing the Hawker Fury fighters that the unit had previously operated. Their service with the RBCAF was brief, being replaced in 1938.

Only one has been preserved, BE*D, on display at the Air Force Museum in Abbotsford.

Skemcis (F) Mk. III


Of the initial order for forty, only the first fourteen were built to Mk. II specification, as even before the first unit was finished, a change in armament was made: the four Vickers machine guns of the Mk. II were replaced with six wing-mounted .30 cal M2/AN Browning machine guns; these were lighter than the Vickers, and each was supplied with 350 rounds of ammunition. This modified design was designated '''Skemcis (F) Mk. III'''.

Construction of the fifteenth Mk. II airframe had only just begun, so the new wing design could be built from scratch; this, and the other 25 aircraft remaining in the original order, were built to the Mk. III specification, and were delivered between July and November 1936 with RBCAF serials G15–G40.

The 26 Mk. IIIs built were divided evenly between No. 2 and No. 3 squadrons, with the latter receiving the first four; illustrated here is the first Mk. III completed, as KS*A of No. 3 Sqn. Like the Mk. II, the service life of the Mk. III was short, being replaced in 1938.

None were preserved intact, but the vertical stabiliser of No. 2 Sqn's EY*K is on display in the municipal museum of Ganiks Laxha (called Terrace before 1988), where No. 2 Sqn had been stationed in the 1930s.

Radial or upright? Skemcis (F) Mk. IV vs Skemcis (F) Mk. V


Testing of the prototype Skemcis Mk. I had only just begun when Supermarine began working on a new version of the Skemcis, with two very significant differences: retractable undercarriage in place of the spatted, fixed landing gear, and - important especially for operation outside of southwestern BC - an enclosed cockpit. As reports of No. 1 Sqn's operational experiences with the Mk. II began arriving, further adjustments were made to the new design.

A further issue was the origin of the powerplant used in the first marks of the Skemcis. Although certainly satisfactory, the fact that the Wright Cyclone engine was made in the United States was a significant concern, since in the 1930s BC–US relations were not always reliably friendly, mainly due to disputes over the BC–Alaska border. Consequently, Supermarine looked around for alternatives, finding two possibilities - one a British-made radial engine, the other a BC-made V12.

Likewise, the American origin of the six M2/AN Browning machine guns used in the Mk. III presented another concern, which was addressed by the use of the British-made Browning .303 Mk. II machine gun with 350 rounds for each.

Thus the new design forked into two separate prototypes, the '''Skemcis (F) Mk. IV, powered by the British Bristol Pegasus X, and the Skemcis (F) Mk. V''', powered by the Hoffar HLV-12A-2 Petrel. The difference in engine fit necessarily resulted in differing nose designs, but the two prototypes were practically identical in all other respects.

After evaluation, the RBCAF were satisfied with both prototypes, but in the end, the decision was made to go with the Mk. V as the basis for new production, in good part because of the added economic benefit of using a locally made engine. This decision would have significant, lasting effects not only on the development of the Skemcis and other aircraft, but on the economy and development of British Columbia as a whole.

Skemcis F Mk. VI
Having decided on the Petrel to power the next variant of the Skemcis, Supermarine set to work to productionise the (F) Mk.V prototype, which involved making a number of relatively minor changes to the design, such as changes in cockpit layout, the direction in which wiring was routed, etc. In early 1938, the RBCAF placed an order for eighty examples of the new '''Skemcis F Mk. VI''', with the first aircraft going to No. 1 and No. 2 Squadrons. Given the serial numbers K40–L19, the eighty aircraft were eventually operated by No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 5, No. 9, and No. 10 Squadrons; in June 1942, the serials were changed to BC01000–01012.

At 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time on September 4, 1939 - five and a half hours after the Dominion of Newfoundland - BC declared war on Germany. At the end of July 1941, a few weeks after the beginning of the Battle of Britain, No. 2 Sqn was deployed to RAF Coltishall to take part in the defence of the United Kingdom, giving the Skemcis its baptism of fire.

None were preserved intact, but the near-complete wreckage of one that crashed just off the English coast after being shot down was recovered from the water in 1970 and returned to BC. This aircraft, RBCAF serial K51, No. 2 Sqn code EY*C, had been flown by F/o Llewelyn Gough of Gwynedd, BC (24 miles west of Blaenau), and in 1972, after being cleaned up by employees of the RAF Museum in Hendon, it was shipped to BC, where its remains were put on display in a building built adjacent to Gwynedd's railway station as a memorial.

Skemcis F Mk. VII


Hoffar had been working on a further development of the Petrel engine, increasing the bore and stroke to 6" x 6". Fitted with a Bendix carburettor, the new HLV-12A-4B Tern had a dry weight of 1150 pounds and produced 1090 hp when running on 90 octane fuel (1000 hp with 86 octane fuel). The testing of the Tern had begun in July of 1939, and by the autumn it was ready to enter production. Impressed with the new engine, the RBCAF instructed Supermarine to develop a variant of the Skemcis powered by the new engine.

The experience gained with the F Mk. VI by No. 2 Sqn during the Battle of Britain led to the realisation that although it was a capable fighter, more than satisfactory in performance, it was undergunned with its six rifle-calibre machine guns. Already before the start of the war, the RAF had embarked on a programme to develop cannon-armed fighters, which resulted in the production of the Hispano Mk. II 20 mm cannon - a licence-built version of the French Hispano-Suiza HS.404. To incorporate the lessons learnt, Supermarine redesigned the Skemcis wing slightly to add two of these cannon, inboard of the Brownings. The Brownings retained their 350-round belts, while the Hispanos each had a 60-round drum.

The resulting '''Skemcis F Mk. VIIA''' was not only more powerful, but packed a bigger punch. It didn't have to wait for long to see combat, as the first ones off the production line went directly to No. 7 Sqn, who deployed with their new fighters to England in August of 1940, after the Battle of Britain had begun in earnest. Though the Skemcis performed admirably, losses during the campaign forced the unit to convert to Spitfires, and No. 7 Sqn - which became the first of the nine British Columbian Article XV squadrons as 391 Sqn RBCAF - operated Spitfires for the duration of the war. No. 9 Sqn converted to the F Mk. VIIA in November 1940, deploying to Egypt in early 1941. After receiving desert modifications and the standard RAF desert camouflage, No. 9 Sqn's F Mk. VIIAs performed very well in the Middle East. TR*E illustrated here was flown by F/o David Ross of Kaslo, BC; he was shot down in this aircraft in June, 1941. In 1942, No. 9 Sqn became the second BC Article XV unit, redesignated 392 Sqn RBCAF, its unit code becoming M3 at that time. Later that year, the squadron converted to the Skemcis F Mk. IX.



A total of 126 F Mk. VIIAs were delivered to the RBCAF with the serials P10–P79, R01–R46, and T50–T59; when the new serial number system was introduced in June 1942, the 102 remaining on strength at the time became 01013–01082, 01094–01105, and 01118–01127. Only three remain extant: one fully restored at the Air Force Museum in Abbotsford, another at the museum at North Weald Airfield (No. 7 Sqn RBCAF had been based at RAF North Weald during the Battle of Britain), and the third, a wreck, on display at a museum in Egypt, where it was found in the desert in 1997. A fourth survivor was converted to PR Mk. I standard for display in 1966.

After the German invasion of the USSR, the Soviets were in desperate need of modern aircraft capable of putting up a fight against the Luftwaffe, and so Supermarine BC started producing F Mk. VIIs for the Soviet Air Force. These replaced the Hispano cannon and Browning machine guns with eight 12.7 mm Berezin UBS machine guns, and were given the designation '''Skemcis F Mk. VIIB'''; in Soviet parlance they were known as "Скемхис" ("Skemkhis") or "Гризли" ("Grizli").

They proved popular with the Russians, who operated them with some success against the Luftwaffe. White 23 illustrated here was the mount of Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak when she flew with the (men's) 437th Fighter Regiment. She became the first female fighter pilot to score an air-to-air victory when she downed a Ju-88, then some moments later her second kill, a Bf 109G-2. Two weeks later she made ace after downing another Gustav; this was her last kill flying a Skemcis, as she was transferred to an all-female unit operating the Yak-1.

Five F Mk. VIIB are on display in museums, three in Russia, and one each in Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

Skemcis PR Mk. 1
Before the Second World War, the conventional wisdom was to use converted bomber types for airborne photo reconnaissance. These bombers retained their defensive armament, which was vital since they were unable to avoid interception. It was soon found that modified bombers were easy targets for German fighters, and heavy losses were being incurred whenever these aircraft ventured over German territory.

In August 1939, Flying Officer Maurice Longbottom, inspired by Sidney Cotton, filed a memorandum Photographic Reconnaissance of Enemy Territory in War with RAF Headquarters. In the memorandum Longbottom advocated that airborne reconnaissance would be a task better suited to fast, small aircraft which would use their speed and high service ceiling to avoid detection and interception. He proposed the use of Spitfires with the armament and radios removed and replaced with extra fuel and cameras. The eventual result was the Spitfire PR Mk. I Type A.

On the same principle, twelve F Mk. VIIAs were converted to '''Skemcis PR Mk. I''' standard in early 1940, removing the armament and radio transmitter, and the space vacated by the guns, two cameras with an eight-inch (203 mm) focal length were installed, along with heating equipment to prevent the cameras from freezing and the lenses from fogging over at altitude. The twelve converted aircraft, given RBCAF serials P80–P91 (23020–23031 after June 1942), were all sent to 111 Sqn, which deployed with them to the UK.

None of the twelve original conversions survived, but in 1966, a surviving F Mk. VIIA (original RBCAF serial R33) was cosmetically converted to look like a PR Mk. I for display at the Air Force Museum in Abbotsford. This was given the fictitious code of QQ*M - this has the correct QQ code for 111 Sqn, but M is the thirteenth letter of the alphabet, reflecting the fact that this was the thirteenth PR Mk. I conversion.

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A suitable belt-feeding system was developed by Martin-Baker and the new design was adopted by the RAF and Fleet Air Arm in 1941 in a slightly modified form as the Hispano Mk.II. Four cannons replaced the eight .303 Browning machine guns in the Hurricane and in some tropical versions of the Spitfire, becoming standard armament in later fighters.[7] Most other Spitfires had only two cannons because the outboard cannon tended to freeze at high altitudes. These were complemented with four 0.303 calibre (7.7mm) or two 0.50 calibre (12.7mm) machine guns.[8]