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Spitfire!!

V

Vino Collapso

pfm Member
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-12655848.

Through my late father's good offices (he was RAF Bomber Crew) I have met several members of the Luftwaffe. Dad frequently attended reunions to which their German counterparts were warmly invited, their logic being that they were serving their country, same as Dad. No argument there. One chap who was a rear-gunner on a Junkers told me that his heart sank when he heard the word 'Spitfire' in his headset. He expected death. (I'm glad to relate that he is still alive @ 91). He admitted that when he heard the roar of that Merlin engine he wet himself. I don't blame him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvDDDKnNhuE You can laugh sonny. 70 years ago those cannons would have taken your brains out. We owe.
 
Good thread.

its poignant thought that those guys used to get up and face a violent death daily.

IE You woiuld have started a day with x no of friends and end it consistently fewer.

How woiuld you deal with that??


(BTW its my own personal opinion that Spitfires should now be the property of the crown)
 
very very courageous men indeed, i used to play in a spitfire that was parked in a neighbours back yard back in the late 70's. Little did i understand its significance when i was eight or so, we owe so much to the people who flew this amazing plane.
 
David F said:
Good thread.

its poignant thought that those guys used to get up and face a violent death daily.

IE You woiuld have started a day with x no of friends and end it consistently fewer.

How woiuld you deal with that??
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In his history Fighter, Len Deighton mentions that RAF pilots became elaborately careful and courteous, in order to avoid any arguments, just in case the last words spoken to a fellow pilot were ones that one might later regret.
 
tones said:
In his history Fighter, Len Deighton mentions that RAF pilots became elaborately careful and courteous, in order to avoid any arguments, just in case the last words spoken to a fellow pilot were ones that one might later regret.
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Accurate. I can't speak for Spit pilots but Dad told me that many of Bomber Crew had their own rituals, often religeous. People now take the piss out of such views. They denigrate the likes of Dad's feelings whilst forgetting that without the courage of him and his kind the world would be a far worse place.

ETA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBlnFQ-79-4&feature=related Bloody wonderful.
 
tones said:
In his history Fighter, Len Deighton mentions that RAF pilots became elaborately careful and courteous, in order to avoid any arguments, just in case the last words spoken to a fellow pilot were ones that one might later regret.
Click to expand...


These guys were often young men (I deliberately enphasis the word young to avoid sounding condescending).

18/19/20 year olds which I find amazing to think of now.

I don't like to imagine how I would react to that sort of pressure now. I would think it could be very difficult to avoid the strain playing on your nerves.
 
Vino Collapso said:
Accurate. I can't speak for Spit pilots but Dad told me that many of Bomber Crew had their own rituals, often religeous. People now take the piss out of such views. They denigrate the likes of Dad's feelings whilst forgetting that without the courage of him and his kind the world would be a far worse place.

ETA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBlnFQ-79-4&feature=related Bloody wonderful.
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With some sadness I'm afraid I've noticed that happening.
 
David F said:
These guys were often young men (I deliberately enphasis the word young to avoid sounding condescending).

18/19/20 year olds which I find amazing to think of now.

I don't like to imagine how I would react to that sort of pressure now. I would think it could be very difficult to avoid the strain playing on your nerves.
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The Commanding Officer of the 617 'Dam Busters' Squadron, Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Bar, Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar) was only 26 when he was killed on a bombing raid.
 
Darren555 said:
The Commanding Officer of the 617 'Dam Busters' Squadron, Wing Commander Guy Gibson (Victoria Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Bar, Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar) was only 26 when he was killed on a bombing raid.
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A twenty six year old is now mainly interested in his next promotion.

IMO needless to say.
 
chocks away - an appropriate time to post this

Spitfire fly over tomorrow evening over various hospitals. Not sure if there are other areas covered.

(from RAF Donna Nook Bombing Range facebook page)

Spitfire routing for tomorow evening weather permitting. 11/07/2020 (1700-1810).

1700...Humberside Airport.
1705...Scunthorpe Genral Hospital.
1713...Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
1720...Barnsley Hospital.
1725...Rotherham Genral Hospital.
1728...Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
1732...Sutton in Ashfield, kings mill Hospital.
1736...Nottingham City Hospital.
1742...Newark on Trent, Newark Hospital.
1750...Lincoln County Hospital.
1800...Louth County Hospital.
1803...Grimsby Hospital.
1810...Humberside Airport
 
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Anyone that grew up with WW2 films will have the sounds of the aircraft indelibly etched into their memories. That said, is that because they were huge piston engines, rather than jets?

There was a fly-past over Derby about 4-5 years back - a Dreamliner accompanied by the RR Spitfire. The sound of the Spitfire was unmistakable, long before it was in sight, and completely drowned the sound of the Dreamliner.
The Merlin engine went into a lot of aircraft and, later, military vehicles, in various incarnations. The RR Spitfire actually has a Griffon engine fitted, not sure about the Memorial Flight.

In very recent times (2 years?), I am pretty certain, salvaged and rebuilt Merlins were offered two-up, in some EXTREMELY expensive, very fast boats.
 
Judging by the above timings the Spitfire won't have long to do more than a few passes.

Mitchell is the fair city of Stoke-On-Trent's second claim to fame after the Captain of the Titanic. There was some anniversary or other and the council hired one to do a proper show, including dives and acrobatics. Blue skies made it truly memorable and the shape and the sound surely make it the most beautiful aircraft ever made.

I found some gun camera footage on YouTube once of a Spitfire strafing a farm house, doing a bit of ground support work. The thing is, you can see that while he's firing he's flying through a farm yard and he's below the height of a barn. Unbelievable skill and courage those guys had.
 
Vinny said:
The sound of the Spitfire was unmistakable
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Ain't it something? I like to hear an old propeller engine.


In the mid-eighties I was in the valley near Cromford when a Vulcan came low along the valley. That was the most sound ever. My eyes shook. Truly awesome.
 
^^^ LLOL

Vulcan - grounded now for the same reason as are Concorde - both used Olympus engines and RR refused to continue to repair and overhaul them a while ago.

I worked at RR Ansty for a while, on marine engine overhaul, legacy engines - Olympus, Tyne and Spey. The folklore was that four Olympus engines were needed, two of them to get the other two airborne. By modern standards, Olympus engines are absolutely massive, albeit of a totally different design principle.
(Marine versions of aero jet engines are different in that they have umpteen turbine stages to turn the thrust into rotation of a shaft to run generators or the propellers, via gearboxes.)
 
AV8 said:
Spitfire, Vulcan & Concorde, aviation art at it's best.
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You forgot "iconic" (all three) and "technological" (2 of them)…. aviation art. Two were pretty indifferent in other ways.

Iconic certainly applies to the Spitfire, as the Hurricane had FAR more of a shout in WW2.
 
Sailing on Chichester Harbour this afternoon, I was treated to several barrel rolls and a loop or two from G-ILDA our local Goodwood Spit. The sound of the supercharger is amazing
 
Vinny said:
You forgot "iconic" (all three) and "technological" (2 of them)…. aviation art. Two were pretty indifferent in other ways.

Iconic certainly applies to the Spitfire, as the Hurricane had FAR more of a shout in WW2.
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Goes without saying.
 
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