Spitfire crazy at Duxford!

[PSEbowhunter36]

Sexiest airplane ever!

[101stairbornedan]

in the battle of britain the hurricane was flown more than the spitfire

[maidmoira]

good ,quite nice,adore all



[SuperAviatar]

Back at the BBMF - the new pilots started on the Hurricane, which although rare and precious was a much steadier lady to fly. In those days there was also a bit of a Spitfire shortage until the 'production line' got going, at Booker as I recall.... nine from one source!

[SuperAviatar]

The BBMF tend to have a different approach to aviation! And a fair sized pool of enthusiastic and experienced service pilots. When the civilian pilots try to fly something as advanced as a Spitfire, they are coming from a different place. Learn in a Cessna 150 and jump into a Spitfire? No. The CAA in their wisdom 'suggest' getting acclimatised to big engines in something that has loads of weight, noise and two seats! Enter the Harvard, doing the job it was designed for.

[TopGunSGA]

@SuperAviatar I see your point

[SuperAviatar]

These days, before you fly a Spit, you have to spend a few hours flying from the back seat of a Harvard or Texan. Preferably with the seat as low as possible!! Use the force, Luke....Needless to say, the guy in the front seat only has a slightly better view and a lot more to worry about. Back in 1969, I was offered a Seafire 16 and spare engine for two grand - about what a house cost. So I'm living under a roof and kicking myself.....

[TopGunSGA]

@SuperAviatar The BBMF use de Havilland Chipmunks to train their pilots on "taildraggers"

[SuperAviatar]

@TopGunSGA The Chipmunk will prepare you for a taildragger, 'tis true, but the blind curved approach and the monster engine of later Spits need something else as well! I flew little wooden taildraggers with no flaps forty years ago, almost! I have the pilot's notes for the Spitfire - early models - and sometimes wonder what I would do if the Lottery numbers came up.... an acquaintance has the money, owns a Harvard and Spitfire, but slightly bent the Harvard while practising... 8 weeks repair!

[TopGunSGA]

@SuperAviatar The BBMF have 2 Mk XIXs, but only use the Chipmunk for training

[darkmossie633]

shut up-are yu nazi or yank? -calling me retarded?

[ColaWhiski]

I love the sound of the past bubbling Spits

. RESPECT

warbirds-power.de

[djscotty1111]

@ColaWhiski Agree on the Sound of a Spit !!! Strange... I get teary eyed when I hear it???

[pauliej93]

0:26

Gotta love that spitfire mk Vc 4c!!!:D



[Scorpac]

00-1:37 Duxford airshow

[knight6071]

these babies are lovely !

[MilitaryAircraft101]

Johnnie Johnson... 1st Spit 0:26 Spit Mk Vc

[NLPETERNL]

0.53 a dutch b 25 :D

[bamsawa]

wow i love the mkVc it's the same one that we used to get in malta, but dark blue.

[accountz99]

Duxford September 2010 Battle of Britain airshow featured 16, yes 16 spits in the air at the same time! Breathtaking. I posted some vids of it on YouTube under my 'thebookkeepingcourse' account.

[valiumsummer]

My favorite plane, followed by the P-51 then I'd have to say the p-38. I can't bear to watch the crash videos of the vintage planes. Hurts too much to watch.

[depeche88]

1:03 It's a sweet Merlin?

[Colonialpara]

Beautiful Mark XVIII Spitfire!

[Annasavi]

0:14 am i cross eyed or has that spitfire got 2 props ?

[tasman763]

TopGun , the reason this surprises me is that the XIX came out of the factory wearing a 5 blade Rotol prop . I do understand that the contra prop was fitted in VERY small numbers ( about 30 ) to later Mks . However, it would not surprise me at all that this prop has been fitted to this aircraft. After all, Tim Wallaces Hurricane does not have a Hurricane powerplant or prop, but we still call it a Hurricane ! :-) . A restoration job needs to be " adaptable " to materials available.

[TopGunSGA]

@tasman763 Yeah I believe that the contra prop Griffon used on that MK XIX originally came from an Avro Shackleton

[Zeddy100]

@tasman763 Did the XIX's have the bubble canopy?

[tasman763]

@Zeddy100 Hi Zeddy. I am pretty sure thats a yes. What MUST be understood is that these are ALL restored aircraft , and SOMETIMES the fittings are not " original "

They may have different engine or prop , or completely rebuilt internals ( radiator , oil cooler , hydraulic / pneumatic lines etc etc ). Some Mk's of Spit are a bit " confusing ", but dont let that put you off. They are Spitfires....and they are ALL beautifull

[TopGunSGA]

@Zeddy100 I think most XIXs still had the Malcolm hood, some XIVs and XVIII had them too

[tasman763]

the contra is either a Mk18 or 22 ( sorry , I forget.....you could always google it ). limited production run ( 250 aircraft ). very nice to fly ( no prop torque ) if a tad nose heavy.

Quite fast......I wont bother with the mph, lolol....I have heard 450+ . Lets just say 420kts at rated altitude ( whatever it is....25,000 ft ? ) . Do not think they saw action ( Suez 1956 ) , but may be wrong. Nice bird huh ???

[TopGunSGA]

@tasman763 It's actually a PR Mk XIX (19)

[gizmomatel]

0:47

[jamesandrew2000]

The second plane has contra-rotating props. Experimental?

[CherokeeJohnny6]

Actually, if its what I think it is, it was built for a race in early post ww2.

[happymana]

How the fuck do they see where they're going.

[NinjaArt99]

you turn and look out the side

[jacktheripped]

@happymana most zig-zag while rolling foreward. those that don't are the ones that rollup and chop up things in front of them.

[happymana]

@jacktheripped I guess that makes sense. Thankyou.

[darkmossie633]

@happymana because they are not as blind as a bat like you obviously

[happymana]

@darkmossie633 PMSL You must be the Retarded.

[gmccord1970]

@happymana  on take off....they don't!

[Zeppelinguy666]

@happymana they usually swirved in a snake pattern to see where they're going. but these guys im not too sure

[AllisterCaine]

@happymana

good point man.

now that you say it, i cant see shit when im playing battleground europe...

i solved that by waggling a lot.

[machinegunboy98]

@happymana they usually have someone on the end of the wing telling them where to go. in this case, i don't know.

[machinegunboy98]

@happymana that was also a problem with the "gull" winged aircraft that my grandaddy flew in WW II. couldn't see over the top and if ya went too far on the aircraft carrier you were screwed.

[slavetotheblues]

@happymana There is basically no frontal visability with most of the WWII planes. So they basically snake left to right and so on, to look down the side before arriving at start of takeoff. Then it's full throttle and hope nothing runs out in front of you until the planes levels up and you can see where you're going. There is a good vid on here of a P47, the pilot takes your through the whole takeoff procedure, including no frontal visability before takeoff.

[goshootyaself5]

@happymana in the air it flattens out it is shorter at the back so it can land easier

[hunterTS4]

@happymana by doing S turns while on the ground to allow them to see to the side of the nose

[mindeloman]

@happymana They taxi in a zig-zag form. They zig and look to the left and then zag and look to the right. That's the way they did it.

[highlo3517]

@happymana they dont. if you ever watch them taxi a tail dragger they always zig zag across the taxi way and hang their head out the side of the canopy. Back in WWII they used to have the crew chief lay on the wingtip and direct them to the runways. It would get a little tricky launching a raid with several hundred aircraft with everyone going to the runway at the same time and not be able to see each other.

[mikeytheskinhead]

the hole plane? about £23million.

[bamsawa]

how mutch would a Mkv with a vikers filter cost?

[delboy193773]

The aircraft dumped overboard were F4U Corsairs, brand new, never flown in combat.

For reference see IVL's Aviation at War DVD - F4U Corsair in WW2.

[Razorfish]

What plane is that at 1:22

[TopGunSGA]

The aircraft at 1:22 is a Seafire F Mk. XVII

[Zeddy100]

@TopGunSGA It was beautifull

[GRFalkonas]

@TopGunSGA Airplane name fail...

[TopGunSGA]

@GRFalkonas How exactly did I fail? 

[GRFalkonas]

@TopGunSGA You didn't, my mistake...

Fail comment fail... :-)

[TopGunSGA]

@GRFalkonas We all make mistakes from time to time

[tony00165]

An engineer friend looked closely at a 'Spitfire engine' in the science museum in London and said it was water injected to stop pre ignition...they didn't know about the benefits of adding Ethyl lead to the fuel then....can anybody expand on this...I can't seem to find out about this method of 'Anti knock'

[musicmansixty7]

anyone know if the trop intake is an original or a reproduction job? as i can't imagine any surviving whole after all this time. 3.9.'39,will never forget.they fought to keep us free.forever grateful.thanks chaps.

[biggzyboys]

oh men i em in heaven arnt i

great vid of the spits man keep em coming

[SupersonicStu06]

Also the one in the desert camoflage, if I'm correct is a mk Vc which where sent to Malta

[SupersonicStu06]

this is a mk XIV (24) also known as the f-24, with its six blade counter rotary propeller, teardrop canopy and V12 1800hp griffon engine. Fastest of the spitfires and last of the spitfires rolled out in 1948 and saw action in korea and malaysian war. the similar looking mk 18 saw action at the end of the pacific war and was a stop gap mk like the mk V was for the mk IX. the later models were spitfires by name but not nature.

[TopGunSGA]

XIV is actually 14 in Roman numerals. 24 is XXIV but after the Mk XX (20) they stopped using Roman numerals

[SupersonicStu06]

Yes, My bad, that was a typo. and I know they stopped using roman numerals, i just like to use them.

I read a book called Spitfire: The Biography by Jonathan Glancey, highly recommended if you're a keen fan of the Spitfire! :]

[TopGunSGA]

Yeah I think Roman numerals are better too.

I will look into that book, and on that score have you read The Spitfire Story by Alfred Price another must have for Spit fans

[SupersonicStu06]

I haven't read it, But I shall certainly check it out. I'm sure it's available at a good price on amazon so I'll add it to my list of books to buy. cheers

[kakabukkake0]

1:12 what mark spitfire is this! A flying contra-rotating prop spitfire is awesome!

[dynamicz108]

MK19

[tz138]

Excellent mix of Griffons, and Merlins! I'm kind of partial to the Griffons though...

[BreathDoctor]

Was that a Mitchell that rolled through at 53 sec mark?

[gregersgram]

yep

[arieswebb5]

yes that was a b-25 mitchell

[agentolshki]

yea i wanna know what first model is, i was sure there was one with a bubble canopy but didnt know what version.

[TopGunSGA]

agentolshki if you're referring to the one marked JE*J, it looks like a Mk VIII

[TopGunSGA]

whoops, I meant a Mk XVIII

[splittiebus66]

was that a markV with the 4 hispanos? totally awesome

[TopGunSGA]

You are correct splittiebus66, it was a Mk Vc

[Marcomanseckisax]

hmm ... watching planes taxiing is like watching paint dry (they can also fly)

[digglyda]

Yes...but its a good opportunity for sad bastards like me who make model Spitfires to pick up on all sorts of little bits and pieces...

[gregersgram]

reading this comment is like watching paint dry.

[peace2daearth]

Which version is the first one shown? The bubble canopy is soooo sexy!

[AHMUZIK]

Really? I think its ugly on the spit. Yea it improved the visibility, but didnt make it look better!

[peace2daearth]

And as you know, it is not as good as the fastback to the aerodynamic of the plane, but I like it.

[AHMUZIK]

Come to think of it though, I think the bubble looks faaar better than the fastback on the P51.

[peace2daearth]

Oh, yeah! The bubble 'stangs are beautiful!

[6freddie6]

its version 20-24.. if i remember right?

[peace2daearth]

Yeah! Thank you so much!

[TopGunSGA]

The Spit marked GR*S is a Mk XVI

[peace2daearth]

Thanks! I hope they keep flyable forever! I am a big fan of these birds!

[stubbostubbs]

Was I seeing things or did that 2nd Spit have contra rotating props?!!!!!!

[feffels]

You saw right. They were used in the later versions.

[AHMUZIK]

That prop was more likely experimental and not common at all. I am very familiar with the spitfire and even the late models had single props.

[tobywood80]

i live in australia in a small town called woodstock during ww2 the yanks and the aussies had a majar air bas at woodstock some of it was on my property i still find 50cal shells and old bottles from america, . when the war finished as the american and britsh fleets wear liveing townsville harbour the pushed all the planes and veicals over the edge of the boats, when we go fishing if you line up sertin points on magie island you can pic them up on your sounder on the sea bed .

[AHMUZIK]

Thats awesome Toby. Someday I want to tour the Pacific battle sites, I'd love to see this place. By any chance do you know a good website I can get some history on the base, the town, and people of the time?

[SupersonicStu06]

My great uncle was a sailor on HMS Glory a Medium aircraft carrier. and his ship carried american fighters, and he said that because they were lend lease they couldnt sell them on after the war, so before they left sydney for canada were they were taking japanese POW's, they pushed the planes into the sea about 25 miles of the coast. he said the last batch was brand new and were never manned in combat.

[G58]

You can always trust the forces/MOD to find creative ways to increase the national debt!

What a fucking waste.

[TopGunSGA]

Do you realise that a lot of those planes are in private hands

[G58]

What are you talking about? I was replying to SupersonicStu06's comment about his great uncle's experience after WW2.

But yes, I do know many of these aircraft are now in private hands. Indeed I know, have known and have met several of them in my time. I've also done business with half a dozen of them.

Try reading other posts before commenting.

[TopGunSGA]

Ah sorry about that. Yeah that story (if it's true) is a bit stupid on the part of the Navy. I can't imagine that the US would be very happy with it

[G58]

That's cool TopGunSGA.

I suspect you're right about the US Navy. But I can assure you that those stories are true. I've heard similar stories from many Brit WW2 vets.

Both my Father and next door neighbour, to name just two, witnessed all sorts of kit being thrown off the decks of ships, as they approached their home ports. They were ordered to do it!

[Maverick747uk]

needs a new exhaust gasket on cylinder no. 8

[SpikeXtreme]

I could watch them all day ...beautifull aircraft which saved our bacon!

[FirstBlueAngel]

Spitfires are the greatest fighter planes in the history of aviation.

[Darcshadow5]

and they're British

[FirstBlueAngel]

oh, yeah... in my opinion, the British are the best in fighter technology.

[ovationpdh]

The answer to why so few WW2 aircraft survived can be summed up in one phrase...jet engine... When a military aircraft is considered obsolete, it's future is bleak at best. There was rapid development of piston engined aircraft between 1939-1945, but the Germans had the first operational jet fighter towards the end of WW@ with the ME-262. Thus was born the "jet age".

[underworld919]

well, considering how many were lost in different conflicts throughout WW2, and also the amount that were scrapped, but a shame though. Still, its great that some survived to carry on this legendary name

[AbuAvital]

I'm curious to know as to why so few planes survive, epecially conidering how many were produced.

[gregersgram]

after the war they scrapped a ton of them. people were tired of things that reminded them of war. thousands of brand new birds were simply trashed

[Q3ToPBuZz]

Also they were built as cheaply and as quickly as they could.They weren't built to last.Sadly they were lost or shot down long before they wore out.

[24934637]

Nice vid. Shame that Mark and Ray Hannah didn't get the chance to be here. RIP to the ledgends, and respect to the people that fly these works of art!

[exie19]

one brill video mate

[p47br]

Is there any video of the mass take off of these vey bauties???

if so, pleas, let me know.

thanks

marco - Brazil

[p47br]

Is there any video of a mass take off of these very beauties?????

thanks

marco - Brazil

[navnig]

beautiful aircraft, there was even a couple of shots of a seafire in there as well.

[thecourierman]

is there a seafire in there too?

[magnuslasen1]

oke thx:)

[magnuslasen1]

yeah sure come on, how much:P

[warbirdsmagazine]

no idea. you want spitfire mh434 from old flying machine company, you should ask them. there's also a spitfire for sale at fighter provenance..google it.

[magnuslasen1]

how much does an spitfire mh434 cost?

[warbirdsmagazine]

a bit more than you :P

[hatchzords]

id love to fly sumthing like a mosquito with these lot i missed this show i went to spitfire day later in the year was rather disapointed only 3 spits showwed up compared to this it was crap

[gio31brasil]

maravilhoso!!!

[pucara70]

One of the best piston engine fighters....the legends never die, just keep on flying!!!!

[retromagazin]

you are right about that!

[gowill2]

@pucara70 spitfire and mustang appear to be the best fighters of ww2. that is of course my opinion. the p40 had its day and the p38 its. but i dont think any thing compared to the mustang and spitfire.

[hsxakj]

Undoubtly the most interesting of them all is the contra-prop PR.19! AWESOME!

[warmaster2006]

Indeed...It has to use 2 props because of the power of that Rolls Royce Griffon...Although there's another Spitfire with Griffon engine with single prop and the classic of classics: The JG 891 with Merlin engine (sounds like music to me)

[warbirdsmagazine]

Don't be silly, it IS music :)