At the beginning of 1942, Fighter Command had 60 Squadrons of Spitfires. During the dash through the channel of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, in February, the FW190 was first encountered. Despite bad weather, the ships were sighted by Spitfires of 91 Squadron. Spitfires subsequently fought a series of battles against the FW190. The Mk5 found itself outmatched, losing 59 in April. The FW190 had a BMW engine which outpaced the Mk5 Spitfire. In May, the Bf109G made its appearance, optimized for high altitude operations. The first of the Spitfire Mk6s had begun to appear during April with 616 Squadron. This was intended for high altitude operations also. In direct response to the FW190, the Spitfire Mk9 arrived, another stop gap fighter, that was hugely successful, 5665 being built.
In June an FW190 landed at Pembrey, after its pilot had become lost! The RAF were able to do direct tests against the Spitfire and found that it proved superior in all aspects except for turning. Some Mk5's had their wing tips clipped, decreasing wingspan by 4 feet. This gave the "clipped wing" Spitfire a faster rate of roll. Fitted with a supercharged Merlin, this gave the spitfire an equivalent rate of speed at low level to the FW190.
The first Spitfire 9s went to 64 Squadron (Hornchurch) in July. It was put through its paces against the captured FW190 and was found to compare favourably.
Hope this helps with the 'Clipped Wing' discussion
