Spitfire Trivia - Prototype and Mk 1

[C]

Ok, form a quick look it appears the 24 disappeared in 1951 from operational service with 80 Sqn.

The RAuxAF operated 21s and 22, but I've just had a look and I believe these were all replaced late 1940s/early in the 1950s (1949 - 1952) with Vampires and Meteors.

The last PR mission by a Spitfire XIX was by PS888 on 1st April 1954 with 81 Sqn...

Charlie

[Hagar]

I found the article I mentioned in the Nov 1998 issue of Aeroplane Monthly. It was written by Flt Lt Edward Powles AFC, describing his experiences with 81 (PR) Squadron, then based at RAF Seletar. He led a detached flight of Spitfire PR.XIX based Kai Tak in 1951 - 52. He personally flew 107 unauthorised PR flights over Communist territory during this period. The article ends in July 1951. It's unfinished & I have yet to find the 2nd part.

[Felix/FFDS]

I seem to remember one account of the Spitfire meeting its old enemy the Bf 109 after WWII but the roles were reversed.

The Israeli Air Force bought several Avia C-99
As an aside - I remember reading an account from an Israeli pilot who's flight tangled with several 'unmarked' Spitfires.  Those Spitfire, he said, were "too'well flown" to have been Arabs ...

Until the IDF started "modernizing" in the mid-fifties, they flew Spitfires, Mustangs, Avias, basically "second-hand" fighters until they started a long association with the Dassaults - Ouragan, Mystere, Mirage ...

[HawkerTempest5]

Charlie, Spit F Mk 21 went operational with 91 Squadron in April 45. LA200 is credited with sinking a German Midget Submarine off the Hook of Holland and is the only notable combat success for the F Mk 21.

[Felix/FFDS]

This one's a "gimme" so easy, it's laughable.

Apart from the Merlin and Griffon engines, at least one other engine was *notably* tested on a Spitfire Mk V airframe, with so-so results.

(Notably refers to the fact that this combination has been referenced here in Simviation in the past year)

[paulb]

A bit of a wild guess from memory, but did the Germans capture one and fit a DB engine?

Cheers Paul

[Felix/FFDS]

A bit of a wild guess from memory, but did the Germans capture one and fit a DB engine?

Cheers Paul

bingo.... a MkV force landed in FRance, reengined with a grafted DB605.  Sort of a Spit with a 109F nose.

[C]

...and ugly (for a Spitfire) too

Charlie

[Wing Nut]

If you want to see a drawing of that German Spitfire, go here...

http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/spitdb605.html

[Professor Brensec]

I only recently found this out. I've mentioned it it another thread (topic), but I thought I'd mention it in here too, as it's quite pertinent.  :o

The Spitfire MkI (at least some of them) had 'manually pumped' landing gear.  :o
I never knew this. How many of these were there??  ;D

[Hagar]

[quote]I only recently found this out. I've mentioned it it another thread (topic), but I thought I'd mention it in here too, as it's quite pertinent.

[Professor Brensec]

Not unlike Geoffrey Wellums account of his first flight in a Spitfire, although he describes more 'personal difficulty' intermixed with his positive remarks about the way in which the aircraft handled and powered etc.  ;D

The two noteable difficulties are the same: the having to change 'joystick hands' for pumping the 'undercarriage up' AND the distinct lack of forward visibility (compared with the 'flat nosed' radials).
As we know, he goes on to be one of the very lucky 'survivors of a mishap' because of his personal difficulty with the lack of forward visibility.  ;D

I honestly thought that the Polikapov I16 was the only 'monoplane' fighter with 'manually operated' landing gear.
I'm not very knowledgeable about the I16 at all. It's just that it is specifically mentioned in the 'Fighter Ace' specs. There is no mention of such gear on any other plane!  ???

Are there others, about which I am also unaware?  ???

[Professor Brensec]

If you want to see a drawing of that German Spitfire, go here...

http://www.airwar.ru/other/draw/spitdb605.html

I've downloaded this 'very interesting' drawing. If anyone ever comes across a photo of this 'one off' animal, please let me know. I'd love it in my gallery. Simply for the sake of it's 'uniqueness'.  ;D

[Hagar]

I'm sure the Spitfire was not the only one. Not sure about the Hurricane. The retracting undercarriage was still a relatively new idea at the time they were designed & most British aircraft of the period shared common components. The post-war De Havilland Dove & Heron light feederliners used many pneumatic components previously used on military aircraft. The Dove/Heron brake valve was an updated version of the one on the Spitfire & many other fighters. I used to specialise in pneumatics until the idea went out in favour of hydraulics. As I mentioned in the other thread, a slightly updated version of the original manually operated Spitfire hydraulic pump is still in use today as an emergency handpump fitted to aircraft like the HS/BAe 125,

[Felix/FFDS]

That I've been able to read -  The Stirling had an electric u/c retraction system with a manual backup...

The Wildcat (F4F/FM) had a manual system, I believe 23 turns of a crank.  (although extension was usually done by releasing the lock, and " bumping" the plane in the air and letting it lower by itself, and locking it again..