Spitfire was a British heavyweight robot that competed in Season 5.0 of BattleBots. It was a oval-shaped robot with two triangular wedges in front, armed with a powerful pneumatic Flipper driven by high pressure CO2 gas. Spitfire was named after the legendary Supermarine Spitfire series of fighter planes, and was accordingly painted in similar World War II-era camouflage and adorned with the Royal Air Force roundel to complement the theme. Spitfire featured an adjustable caster that allowed it to raise and lower its front- in the lowered position, Spitfire minimised ground clearance to use its flipper. In the raised position, Spitfire could quickly spin on the spot to strike opposing robots with its front spikes.
Spitfire won each of its preliminary fights by knockout and scored a shock victory over Vlad the Impaler II, before falling in the Round of 32 after being heavily damaged by Surgeon General.
Spitfire was a collaboration between Team Dantomkia and the Lancaster Bombers. Team Dantomkia entered Robot Wars with Dantomkia, nearly identical looking to Spitfire but painted yellow with black edges. Spitfire started off as Dantomkia 2.0, which competed on the UK live circuit for a short period of time, but with the help of the Lancaster Bombers, converted it into Spitfire. The following version of Dantomkia (Mark 3.0) entered Robot Wars Series 6 and had a larger weight allowance, and thus had a bigger CO2 bottle, and Titanium & Hardox armor. However its wider wheelbase meant it spun on the spot slower than Spitfire.
The Lancaster Bombers made a one-off appearance in Robot Wars with Wolverine. Spitfire returned to the British live circuit in June 2013.
Robot History
Season 5.0
Spitfire's first battle in Season 5.0 was against Silverback. Spitfire dodged Silverback's initial charge and then spun around, attempting to hit Silverback with its wedge spikes. Silverback was hit by the spikes, stopping the spin, but was unable to get underneath Spitfire and lift it. Spitfire wedged underneath Silverback and attempted a flip, but it missed as Silverback escaped the wedge. Silverback then caught Spitfire in the side and pushed it onto its back, but Spitfire self-righted. Spitfire then cornered Silverback and flipped it onto its back, and Silverback was unable to self-right, giving Spitfire the victory by knockout. This win put Spitfire to the next preliminary round, where it faced Golem.
This battle was close until the final thirty seconds of the battle, when Spitfire managed to flip Golem onto its back, and it was unable to self-right. Golem was counted out just as time ran out, but Spitfire was still given the win by KO.
In the final preliminary round, Spitfire fought Chewbot. Spitfire immediately wedged Chewbot, drove it into the corner, and flipped it onto the spikes, where it was unable to move in under 6 seconds. Chewbot's driver tapped out only 39 seconds into the match, putting it into the first televised round against Vlad the Impaler II.
At the beginning of the fight, Spitfire dodged Vlad's initial ram before charging it and taking a small pop from Vlad's lifter. Vlad then reversed up Spitfire's wedge and Spitfire attempted to flip it but was unable to. Vlad drove in quickly and lifted Spitfire from the side, but was unable to get a good hold on Spitfire. Both robots charged at each other, missed, then collided near the blue square, with Vlad being thrown into the air after driving up Spitfire's wedge. both robots attempted to move into position for about fifteen seconds until Vlad gets underneath Spitfire's wedge and lifts it up in the air, but Spitfire managed to escape. Spitfire was then pushed into the wall by Vlad, but it managed to get underneath and lifted Vlad into the air with its flipping arm. Spitfire was then able to drive around Vlad and get under it from the back, launching it into the air. Spitfire maneuvered Vlad into the killsaws, but took a hit from them itself. Spitfire then flipped and inverted Vlad. Spitfire then attempted to wedge underneath Vlad's side, but was unable to. Both robots drove around the BattleBox, each trying to get the upper hand, until Spitfire wedged Vlad from the back again and flipped it, re-inverting it. the two collided nose to nose before Spitfire got underneath Vlad again and rammed it into the wall before flipping it again. Spitfire continued to drive around Vlad, who appeared to be having control issues, before driving it into the pulverizer. Vlad took an indirect hit before driving away. Spitfire took another small blow from the killsaws with ten seconds left. The match ended with Spitfire wedged underneath Vlad from the side. Spitfire won the match in a well-deserved 27-18 judge's decision.
Spitfire advanced to the round of 32, where it fought Surgeon General. However, this time around Spitfire was not as lucky, as Surgeon General was able to cause severe damage to Spitfire, tearing into its shell in multiple places and even being able to rip out one of Spitfire's wheels. Surgeon General won by a KO after absolutely demolishing Spitfire, eliminating it from the tournament. According to Mike Lambert of Team Dantomkia, the only "real" damage was a broken gearbox output axle.
Spitfire wasn't finished, however, as it was repaired in time for the heavyweight consolation rumble at the end of the tournament. After flipping Diskontent in the opening seconds of the rumble, Spitfire took a hit from M.O.E.'s spinning blade and stopped moving in the middle of the BattleBox. FrostBite got its spinning blades underneath the right side of the immobile Spitfire and backs away. FrostBite continued damaging Spitfire's right side and Spitfire took a big hit from Nightmare's spinning disc. FrostBite gave the immobile Spitfire a small hit from its spinning blades and pushed it onto the blue square. Spitfire was left there for the rest of the rumble and FrostBite and Little Sister were declared the winners of the heavyweight consolation rumble. Safety concerns caused by Nightmare resulted in this rumble being the last one that took place during the event.
Live Events
In 2013, Spitfire, still in the hands of Gareth Dean from Team Lancaster Bombers, made its UK debut at Robot Wars Guildford 2013.
Results
| Series | Event | Round | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comedy Central
Battlebots Season 5.0 |
Heavyweight
Division |
Round
of 512 |
Silverback | Won |
| Round
of 256 |
Golem | Won | ||
| Round
of 128 |
Chewbot | Won | ||
| Round
of 64 |
Vlad the Impaler 2 | Won | ||
| Round
of 32 |
Surgeon General | Lost | ||
| Consolation Rumble | Nightmare,
Little Sister, M.O.E., FrostBite, Diskontent, Surgeon General |
Lost | ||
Wins/Losses
- Wins: 4
- Losses: 2