Saw a Spitfire up close yesterday...

ESBlonde

It's a sad case that the loosing side in a war don't get much say in what gets saved, add to that the economic collapse in Germany meant that they salvaged and sold as scrap anything they could to make ends meet. So bit's of aircraft were more valuable as aluminium than as future museum pieces.
Finally the withdrawing german forces damaged anything they left behind so it couldn't be used against them. Interestingly the jet Heinkel 162 had a blown bubble canopy made in one piece, each one was unique and fitted to the airframe, so by smashing the hood the aircraft was renderred unflyable! They burned a lot of them too because they had a lot of wood on them.
The book by Eric 'Winkle' Brown where he was charged with getting on airfields and finding/flying out state of the art aircraft for evaluation is revealing, most were unfit and he bribed former luftwaffe ground crew to rebuild wherever possible, he was always nervous about thier integrity when he took off!
The wilds of Russia are proving to be a gold mine for aircraft archiologysts some of the remote swamps and forests contain well preserved airframes because they are so remote. These are now forming the next generation of flying display aircraft.
I'm presently sitting in a small market town about 5 miles from a company that are the worlds leading experts on Hurricane restoration. Hawker Resorations have rebuilt 6 of the worlds 11 airworthy hurricanes. they built their reputation with a crashen Hurrican from the Murmansk region of Russia.

ICBM

ESBlonde said:

The book by Eric 'Winkle' Brown where he was charged with getting on airfields and finding/flying out state of the art aircraft for evaluation is revealing, most were unfit and he bribed former luftwaffe ground crew to rebuild wherever possible, he was always nervous about thier integrity when he took off!

If I remember rightly he flew the Me163 Komet, an aircraft so dangerous and really beyond its own technology that it probably killed more of its own pilots than American bomber crews...

ESBlonde

ICBM said:

ESBlonde said:

The book by Eric 'Winkle' Brown where he was charged with getting on airfields and finding/flying out state of the art aircraft for evaluation is revealing, most were unfit and he bribed former luftwaffe ground crew to rebuild wherever possible, he was always nervous about thier integrity when he took off!

If I remember rightly he flew the Me163 Komet, an aircraft so dangerous and really beyond its own technology that it probably killed more of its own pilots than American bomber crews...

Yes thats right, there is a yootoob vid of the complex refueling system on the 163 where they put in one of the two fuel ingredients. seal the tank and wash the whole aircraft and parking pad down whilst removing the tanker. Then the second tanker comes in and they repeat the process. the fuel mixture was so explosive that almost any crash or battle damage was catastrophic. Also at those high speed bailing out was dodgy at best and there were no ejector seats. Once you fired the motor it was full power in the climb until the fuel ran out, there was no throttle of off switch iirc.



Also @ICBM the standard ME109 fighter discussed above was also guilty of similarin that it killed more pilots than the type lost to enemy action. The narrow undercarriage and poor ground handling led to many a ground loop trapping the pilot in a funeral pyre. The cockpit didn't slide back but lifted off to the side so flight wa only possible with it closed.

DLM

ESBlonde said:

they built their reputation with a crashen Hurrican from the Murmansk region of Russia.

Cor, I wonder if it was Johnny Red's?

http://fanboy.frothersunite.com/imag/jred/first.jpg

darthed1981

Gassage said:

20,000 Spitfires (54 remaining).

To clarify this is in flying condition.  There are a lot more than 54 full stop, though arguably still not enough for such a lgendary aircraft, I'd love one in my garden!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_Supermarine_Spitfires

Fretwired

ICBM said:

ESBlonde said:

The book by Eric 'Winkle' Brown where he was charged with getting on airfields and finding/flying out state of the art aircraft for evaluation is revealing, most were unfit and he bribed former luftwaffe ground crew to rebuild wherever possible, he was always nervous about thier integrity when he took off!

If I remember rightly he flew the Me163 Komet, an aircraft so dangerous and really beyond its own technology that it probably killed more of its own pilots than American bomber crews...

Towards the end of the war German steel was crap .. ME109 pilots took their lives into their hands when banking hard as the wings were prone to come off. It was a fault with the original plane which is why the Spit could out turn a 109 .. German pilots would push too hard.

rawk100

I was down at Headcorn airport in kent at the weekend watching the Spitfire take off and land, it sounds amazing when it flys over. Aerolegends are the company who run it and prices start at around £2500 if you want to go for a spin.

thomasross20

Very cool!

not_the_dj

rawk100 said:

I was down at Headcorn airport in kent at the weekend watching the Spitfire take off and land, it sounds amazing when it flys over. Aerolegends are the company who run it and prices start at around £2500 if you want to go for a spin.

I did their "fly with a Spitfire" experience at Headcorn for my 40th the other year. That was in the Devon they use and cost about £750. Just stunning to be alongside one in the air. 

Here's my thread with a few photos I took. 
http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/51711/

DLM

No one else remember Johnny Red?

darthed1981

DLM said:

No one else remember Johnny Red?

I'm only 36, but, I've just googled it - does that help?  Actually looks kinda cool!

My Dad bought me a few old commando comics off a car boot when I was little, they were great.

My brother has written a novel in a similar gung-ho style that goes all supernatural.  When he puts it on Amazon I'll have to tell the forum!

ICBM

DLM said:

No one else remember Johnny Red?

I do. I was never a huge fan of the war comics but a lot of my friends had them so I did read them for a while, and from memory that was one of the better stories. I lost interest and got more into model-making fairly quickly though... the kit I always wanted was the Airfix 1/24th scale Spitfire, but I could never afford it. They didn't do a big Hurricane kit back then - I would have wanted that if they had, since my Grandpa worked on them (and later, bombers I think) but not Spitfires as far as I know.

DLM

@darthed1981 I understand the bloke who drew most of it also did Roy of the Rovers, which was a big deal in UK comics (though not for me, don't really do football). I had a whole box full of Commando comics, and loved them. I used to get them new from the newsagents, and second-hand from a market stall. Some of my second-hand oldest copies had prices of 9p! It was these and Battle/Action Force comic that sparked my long-running interest in aircraft as a kid. I always tried to get the air-force-centric magazines, and was annoyed if I was misled by a cover with a plane on that actually contained an army story.
@ICBM Johnny Red flew all sorts of planes in the comics that probably never saw the Eastern Front theatre, but I remember him most for Hurricanes, especially the IID with its tank-buster cannons, and Typhoons.

As I drifted into life as a Germanist, my past interests embarrassed me, and it was only with my discovery of Wikipedia that I've revisited them. I've been to see the Me262 in town a few times, it's amazing how small it looks next to the more modern planes, but it still looks really futuristic and sleek like a shark. They've a Komet, too. That's just plain terrifying, like being a human cannonball, but with a far more explosive concoction strapped to your bum.

ICBM

There's a Komet at East Fortune Museum of Flight as well - it's astonishing how small it is, like a toy.