Spitfire, the legend, the facts and its opponent (2 of 5)&fmt=18

[wirikuta14]

I thought the red tape was places to check for jammed guns, not protection.

[argentinoemanuel1]

more than 600 argentine pilots went to UK and piloted the hurricans.

[yankeeclipper2]

The P-51 had a Packard V-1650 engine. American modified, and American built to significantly higher standards than the R-R version of the Merlin. When the first of the Packard built Merlins were shipped over to the UK, the engineers at R-R disassembled and measured them and were shocked to find the production line built Packard engine had better tolerances than the labor intensive, R-R version. Packard also made numerous improvements to the engine, including main bearing and supercharger design

[edmundscycles]

@yankeeclipper2 that maybe true for the test engines sent to RR but unfortunately the Merlin they supplied to the manufacturers was badly made often with metal filings left in the sump .

[stig781]

@yankeeclipper2 Higher standards? Not at all.

[Camerameister1]

@stig781 Yeah, a bit of good ol' Yankee bluster...

[Camerameister1]

@yankeeclipper2 This was known a long time before Packard got involved. RR tried to get Ford UK on board but Ford said they couldn't do it. When Stanley Hooker asked if the tolerances were to high he replied that they were too loose. All RR engines were, to a greater or lesser degree, bespoke units. They were trimmed and tuned using shims and the like. Ford engines were made on a production line and every component had to fit every engine. Of course the tolerances were tighter. Shocked? Not...

[Camerameister1]

@yankeeclipper2 The Packard manufactured engines were good and they introduced things to RR like a bolt up crankcase, which solved a lot of problems. They also used water injection which the British didn't bother with. But ask any Spitfire pilot which they preferred and they'll tell you it wasn't the Packard. The Packards (there were 55,000 of them) were used in the Lancaster bomber too but they were best known for their use in the P-51D Mustang.

[atrumira]

Let every English man, woman & child remember the name: REGINALD J MITCHELL.

[nibornodrog]

Thankyou for this series much appreciated

[jonl7890]

yeah the ME 1o9 was the nasty bit

[AngelofDeath595]

great cilp

[dorisdrew]

incredible.

[dorisdrew]

fuck facists.

[blobby1972]

from 5:54 this bloke can f####k right off insulting the bigest hero of the battle of britain.

[Simona050]

@blobby1972 Actually mate, the biggest hero of the battle of Britain was the Hawker Hurricane.

[blobby1972]

@Simona050 I won't argue with that as I wasn't there .I just think this bloke is a toss pot .

[godfree689]

@Simona050 It was a better gun platform and in '40 they were pretty even ,but two points in favour of the spit, this was the one the germans feared. Also it was capable of development and went through 24 machs and was in service into the late fifties

[kristenburnout1]

@Simona050 Its wrong to say that one aircraft is the hero of the battle of britain. It was the combination of BOTH aircraft that gave victory. And, of course the pilots is the most imbortant piece of equipement in an aeroplane.

[tinkll1]

A bit of nostalgia for this Memorial Day Weekend, and an insight to the equipment of 609 Squadron, earlier in the war. I'm enjoying the rare book, by a flight surgeon, George Armour Bell, attached to 609 in its Typhoon Days through Northeastern Europe. The TR 9 helped after WW II to transition pilots of Ireland, India and Norway to adjust to their RAF surplus fighters. The functional limitations described do not offset the beauty and grace of this magnificent airplane.

[CusterFlux]

the quintessential stuff upper twit, still, the man has his talents and in the correct circumstances would be most effective.

[xxkil]

who is that arse hole speeking on this i don,t think the 19 yr old men and yes i call them MEN gave a toss about what you could see or bloody not i,d like to see that prick study the plane in 41-42 when those brave men fought for our freedom WHAT A COMPLETE TIT

[pspman2000]

@xxkil Calm down, he is assessing it based on modern standards. Those planes are crap by todays standards. They had many faults that made them somewhat like death traps. It does not matter if people did amazing things with it. It was the pilot not the plane that made the difference.

[Thewolf1818]

when we loo at the QUALITY of the planes the spit ranks out the huricane in all classes exept roll. There's no secret that the hurricane shot down the most planes, but when we look a the average plane the spit shot down the most german aircrafts. Also the hurricane came into production before the spit since the spit was hard to develop, which was about the only problem about it.

[edmundscycles]

@Thewolf1818 you may find the hurricane had a faster tighter turn , especially at high speed . A better gun platform and gun placing. It had a longer endurance. The MkIa spit and MkIa hurricane had 15mph level flight difference . Dive speed the hurricane was greater and still had full control of ailerons . The spitfire would get aileron lock at speeds over 435mph in a dive.

The hurricane had a much more durable airframe and very strong undercarriage . as for average they come out the same

[TheNovaAxon]

@edmundscycles The Hurricane is responsible for 70% of the kills during the Battle of Brittain. That says it all. It was the true workhorse of the RAF. The Spit was the showhorse and was absolutely keeping moral up!

They did it together i think. Blue Skies!

[Xiolablu3]

@TheNovaAxon No, the Hurricane was only more numerous during the first year. For the rest 1941-45 the Spitfire was much more numerous and far far superior. The BOB was only one summer in 1940, not the whole 6 years of war.

[MapleSephiroth]

3:12 Lol every gun needs protection!

[ccc771]

very interesting to hear an experienced Pilot giving run down on the Spitfire Thanks for posting!

[DarkSk13s]

I loved the little cough in the background when the maintenance guy was rolling the condom-like cover over the cannon barrel.

[PitifulActivity]

Well done lads!!! We will always remember you!!!

[Axetele]

3:15

*clears throat*

Hehe

[Guinnie]

The long and the short of it ....the Spitfire won the battle

[bmused55]

Not on its own. The Hurricane actually accounted for more kills in the BoB.

However, had the hurricane faced the luftwaffe on its own in he summer of 1940, we'd have lost.

The Spitfire aced the 109 in a dogfight and so, kept the german fighters occupied, leaving the Hurricane to shoot the bombers down.

[Guinnie]

Sure would like to have my own Spitfire Even if only for a day...

[bmused55]

You and I both!

[HolyMoley2u]

Great video, never seen this one before.

Thanks for posting it!!!

[OghamTheBold]

So that's why the guns ripped through cloth in films of dog fights

You never saw condoms shot off at anyone - god bless WWII censors

[RomanatorII]

why is one wing painted blue, the other black at 2:25?

[will4ward]

I wondered why the Blue?black scheme was.

Apparently and early pre-war Identification scheme. you could tell who was who from the ground.

Read about it in the BoB book "Piece of Cake"

[Thefallenraptor]

in WW1 it was also for psyhological warfare since they had no submachine guns and MG carried by infantry and before tanks they rushed in a line of thousands armed in red so they's spook the enemy and destroy morale.

Ye and also they distinguished in colors germans were blue or gray , americans green and brits brown or something like that.

[imcustomized]

WTF???

[Thefallenraptor]

it was trench warfare with 4-5 charges every day with rifles that fired 2 round per minute if you're good and then their mechanism melted. defensive measures were barbed wire and MG's also artillery but they all wore the same colors to spook the enemy and make them desert their posts.if anyone read a book about stuff like that would know that.

How would you feel if 20 000 screaming men in red charged on you on one foggy morning and you empty all your clips but they still run toward you?

[darthisaiah]

3:13 he put a condom on the cannon. :)

[Olfux]

Yes, one must use ones imagination to get things done properly !

[darthisaiah]

umm. uuumm...

[ardentwarrior71]

Is to kept moisture from the gun...

[darthisaiah]

I know it was just a joke. I love the spitefire it beautiful. I would love to fly one one day.

[terryjohn]

you are a true pilot pilots''just tell me when i watch you...

tj

[Anacinc]

Brilliant footage I must say. This is where Mr Paul Day is giving an excellent review of one of the most famous, and for some infamous, fighters ever built. I've got the smae, full, footage on VHS which I taped about 12 years back from Discovery and this information is still partially responsible for what my knowledge about these fighters is today!