Spitfire, the legend, the facts and its opponent (4 of 5)&fmt=18

[larcomberowan]

at 04:22, what is this man on about? has he ever heard of the Hellcat or the Corsair?

[videomonkey2009]

thanks for these. Its nice to see a comparison video. As an englishman I have a lot of respect for the 109 and the fw 190. The 109 was more reclined in the seating position which meant you could handle higher G turns. lol if germany and uk had fought as allies the world wouldnt have stood a chance I think. Both fantastic enginering countrys

[sigurd1979]

It is incorrect to say that the Americans didn't have a fighter that was worth anything until the Merlin was put into the Mustang. The P-38 Lightning was a very capable fighter. It was only marginally less maneuverable than the BF-109 yet it was faster. It had the benefit of contra rotating engines which eliminated torque problems. was well armed and had the best roll rate of any fighter in the European theater after the addition of hydraulicly assisted ailerons.

[nibornodrog]

The Spitfire shown with 5 bladed prop is not a MK IX ! IX had merlin engine with props turning opposite way ,this one is Griffon engined probably MK 16 ? Also nose cowling is longer and "chunkier"

[AcePilot2009]

God bless the RAF.

[globaleye8]

Thanks for posting. Lovely to see Alex Henshaw discussing this iconic aircraft once again.

[MisogiWaAikidoDesu]

"The german aces [...] scored the main part against outdated russian planes and later against ineperienced russian pilots"

Be careful with that- this statement is only true for 1941 and early 1942. Most german pilots who served on the eastern front spoke with highest regards about mid1942 and later russian planes and pilots.

[oeokosko]

Chief test pilot Alec Henshaw speaks in this clip about a near-miss he had whilst test flying a Spitfire.

What he didn't say was that he was scheduled to test the Spitfire that Flt. Lt. Lester Sanders DFC died in, but had toothache that day.

Sanders had previously been in Malta. I'm surprised at how much has been written about him on the interweb.

[oeokosko]

My mother was briefly engaged to test pilot Flt. Lt. Lester Sanders until he was killed whilst testing a Spitfire from the Castle Bromwich factory.

He must have been quite a guy because she still talks about him to this day. She has always insisted that he crashed because the plane had been sabotaged. Chief test pilot Alec Henshaw has written about his death (and in glowing terms about his character) but made no mention of why the plane broke up in mid air. Can anyone shed any light?

[PETEEAT]

o look a spit outurning a 109 how unusual lol

[eus478]

at 3:28 : we absolutly depended on the Americans... !

[Iain1962]

My Dad was based in Malta for almost all the war, he was a radar technician and was personally targeted twice by ME109's, and bombed a lot.

He made it though and made some friends with the German POW pilots.

[EasyCompanyAirborne]

Iain. Did your Dad know a flyer called Keith Park? He worked in Malta too.

[Iain1962]

Hi, I'm sorry I don't know, my dad has passed away so I can't ask him I'm afraid.

[EasyCompanyAirborne]

Yes. Most of the guys have passed away now. :(

[paddy6062]

"Iain. Did your Dad know a flyer called Keith Park? He worked in Malta too"

Dont try and tell us he was a yank too!!

You go on other RAF films and abuse them making statements like it was the yanks who were the few and that you won the battle of britain!

then come on here and ask about Sir Keith Park as if you know him!!!

your mad mate!!

[LIVERPOOLSCOTTISH]

ECA is a complete tool! I have seen him on a number of RAF videos & he always conducts himself in the same manner. He thinks Maverick & Iceman won the BoB. As James May would say, "WHAT A COCK!"

[ceboym]

@paddy6062 Lad in some degree the yanks were right that they also won the Battle of Britain Why? because the production-manufacturing whatever of Spitfire was speed up due to American help they have modern machine tools that help a lots in manufacturing the the sptfiretherby enabling the british to replace the lost palnes, the yanks dont mean is terms or air battle everybosdyy knew there were only few US pilots that contributed in the Battle of Britain DONT QUARREL FOR THIS YOU WERE ALLIES

[paddy6062]

@ceboym this has nothing to do with planes...it was to do with pilots and as you said yourself there was not that many... I am not knocking the overall help the yanks gave!!

[ceboym]

@paddy6062 Lad in some degree the yanks were right that they also won the Battle of Britain Why? because the production-manufacturing whatever of Spitfire was speed up due to American help they have modern machine tools that help a lots in manufacturing the the spitfire thereby enabling the british to replace the lost aircrafts,the yanks dont mean in terms or air battle everybody knew there were only few US pilots that contributed in the Battle of Britain DONT QUARREL FOR THIS YOU WERE ALLIES

[merlinmac]

Guys, Looks like a PR XIX to me, derived from the MKXIV,no arnament fitted but with integral wings tanks to provide a range of 2000 miles.

[SmiertSpionem]

The plane at 02:36 is not a spitfire mk.IX but a mk.XIV (see griffon engine bulges)

[Olfux]

. . . . and take a look at the five-bladed propeller too.

[SmiertSpionem]

that would slice your veggies in no time at all...

[Thefallenraptor]

you know the names of those two pilots that fought on 43000 feet in 42.?

Spit against JU86?

[topmangaz]

My Uncle was Ginger Lacey

[Thefallenraptor]

the guy in the Spit?

[pucara70]

You´re right, it is a Griffon engine Spitfire, not a Merlin one...

[brincht]

dude are danish or is that only the program?

[PETEEAT]

actually the vokes filter took between 5-8 mph of the spits top speed so it was'nt to much

[SmiertSpionem]

Are you sure it was that little? I was a rather large filter )

[Olfux]

I've just consulted my big Spitfire-bible - Spitfire The History-, and you're perfectly right.

I wonder if you did'nt know this already!?

Besides, what stands that odd name SmiertSpionem for??

[SmiertSpionem]

Type it into wikipedia (I only took it from watching the bond film "The Living Daylights", not knowing it had a basis in reality)

[Olfux]

Could'nt find anything about it

[VictorSobakus]

It's in Russian, means "death to the spies"

[SmiertSpionem]

It was sort of an intelligence agency that rooted out 'traitors' in the russian aremy for about 3 years after ww2. The SMERSH organisation in the bond films was inspired by it.

[SmiertSpionem]

That volkes filter sapped a lot of speed off the Mk.V.

[Olfux]

That's right, but until Mark VIII they did'nt have something better.

[SmiertSpionem]

I thought they used the aboukir filter on Mk.V's?

[Olfux]

Your right. But later became another and better filter available.

[blert88]

According to this only three Spits were retained by the RAF after the aircraft was retired, but I think I'm right in saying that the RAF nowadays have twelve in flying condition which are part of the Battle of Britiain memorial flight.

[Olfux]

You are absolutely right. Many Spitfires of all marks are now restored to flying condition around the World - I think there's at least 50-60.

[TopGunSGA]

The Battle of Britiain memorial flight have 5 airworthy Spitfires with another one being restored to flying condition

[STOPTHEEU]

@blert88 Well my grandfather seems to think that there are only three in service but I said that was imposible because we have at least two double seat spitfires in flying condition which would mean we only have one single seat spit. That is also impossible because of the memorial flights.

The key point is that there is restoration done by certain people and most of the ones that were in museums were restored to flying condition and the museums now have dummy spitfires!

[TheSpiritof1969]

@STOPTHEEU

Some years ago there were many Hurricans and Spits doing gate duty at the entrances to RAF bases up and down the country. Most, if not all, were replaced with replicas and the original aircraft taken into storage and eventual restoration. I am glad they did this rather than leave them to rot out in the open.

Restored airworthy Spitfires are worth between one and three MILLION pounds.