Spitfire!

Rocky Raab

A full documentary worth seeing... https://youtu.be/8JgyKO3WT28

Don McManus

I’ve always been amazed that they were able to channel 1500+ HP through a two bladed wooden prop.

Bubba Jr.

I didn't watch the video (very limited bandwidth), but the picture at the beginning of the video showed the plane had a 3 bladed prop. That's assuming the picture was a spitfire.

Rocky Raab

Depending on the engine used, the Spit used props from two to five blades. Over its life, it went from 800 or so to 2,000 HP.

Sorry you couldn't watch the Video, Bubba. It's fascinating. I posted it because today is Aviation Day.

navc130

Thanks Rocky, always nice to see the old fighters.  Certainly it was one of the best.  

Rocky Raab

For beauty, I have always ranked the Spit and the Lockheed Super Constellation tied for #1.

Most useful aircraft of all time? The C-47 and the C-130, hands down.

BobJudy

Thanks Rocky, that was interesting. The Spitfire was an elegantly deadly aircraft. My tastes lean toward the P38J and the P51 but there were a lot of great aircraft from that era. Bob

truthful

I know a guy who a few years ago built a Spitfire using scrap dredged up off the coast where the Dunkirk evacuation took place.  

Nanuq907

Am I the only one that LOVES the sound of those engines?  Every year the airshow here has F22s and Warthogs doing amazing things, then they have a heritage flight and a P51 goes over in formation with an F22 and it makes the whole day better.

allen griggs

My Dad was radioman/navigator on a C47.  He was stationed in India and they  flew cargo over the Himilayas to China.
They called the mountains "The Hump."  The lowest pass was 17,000 feet, non pressurized aircraft.

Dad made 76 flights, a miracle he survived.

bpost

Spitfire Mk 9, Republic P-51D, Lockheed SR-71 even the P-47D and OF COURSE the Cessna 172, what is there not to love?  Cessna 172 build numbers, over 44,000.  The plane with the most airframes ever built on earth and they still build them if you have a spare 400K to get one.

NeoBlackdog

I have this picture hanging in my living room.  Beautiful airplane. 

Merlinnv12

NeoBlackdog said:

I have this picture hanging in my living room.  Beautiful airplane. 

Mee too! Right next to the full scale replica that I built. The Spitfire is truly one of the most beautiful designs with its elliptical wings and tail surfaces. 

arraflipper

Great video Rocky thanks for posting it.  Then I found more of them to watch, and enjoy!

Horse Plains Drifter

Great video, thanks for posting. I had to stop it half way, I'll finish it tonight.

I took this picture at a car show a couple years back. Hood of a Triumph Spitfire:

Don McManus

Rocky Raab said:

For beauty, I have always ranked the Spit and the Lockheed Super Constellation tied for #1.

Most useful aircraft of all time? The C-47 and the C-130, hands down.

Agreed, Rocky.  The design of the Connie was one of Johnson's great works, of which there were many.  Are you familiar with its service with the BOAC in the London to Sydney run?.  A fascinating exercise in logistics that painfully exposed the problems with large radial engines.

So far as a fighter aircraft, I have always thought the Hawker Hunter was one of the most beautiful and elegant designs ever produced.  Sacrilege, I know, but it edges out the Spit, IMO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3AX54U3Voc

Rocky Raab

No sacrilege. There are numerous elegant aircraft. Is it not odd, though, that the Brits designed several of the loveliest - and a hangar load of truly ugly airplanes?

Don McManus

Rocky Raab said:

No sacrilege. There are numerous elegant aircraft. Is it not odd, though, that the Brits designed several of the loveliest - and a hangar load of truly ugly airplanes?

They've always had a sense of humor, Rocky.

Between the wars, one could be excused if they thought Monty Python's Flying Circus got its start designing aircraft.

SCOUT5

I watched it last night.  Interesting, not only the war side but all the changes to engines etc.

Rocky Raab

As complete non sequitor, in honor of Aviation Day I watched two 1950s "rah rah" Youtube movies: Sabre Jet and Jet Attack. Both set during the Korean debacle. Hilarious, if you know your planes. Besides the hokey plots and acting, scenes of Mig-15s were actually F-86s with red noses and stars. Aerial dogfights were a surprise - I didn't know that the Norks flew ME-109s and Zeros. I was also amazed to know that F-86s and F-80s were equipped with "cowboy sixguns" because they never ran short of ammo despite firing thousands of rounds. Or fuel. Anyway, they were good for chuckles.

mohawk600

Spitfires are sexy planes but I really like the P51..........for the power.

Don McManus

I watched 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri a few weeks ago, Rocky.  Read the book 40+ years ago and did not even know a movie had been made.

Had a friend who flew the F2H Banshee during the Korean War era.  Was not in theater, but landing a first generation jet on a straight carrier took a pair I don’t think I could even carry.

jimdeere

Growing up, my best friend’s brother, who was a pilot, taught us this
 NO 

don't give me a P-38 
the props, they counter-rotate 
they're scattered & sittin' 
from Burma to Britain 
don't give me a P-38 
NO 

give me operations 
way out on some lonely atoll 
for I am too young to die 
I just wanna grow old 

& don't give me a P-39 
the engine is mounted behind 
she'll tumble & spin 
& she'll auger you in 
don't give me a P-39 
NO 

don't give me a Peter 40 
it's a hell of an airplane, I know 
she's a ground looping * 
& you're sure to get plastered 
don't give me a Peter 40 
NO 

don't give me an 86-D 
with rockets, radar & AB 
she's fast, I don't care 
she blows up in mid-air! 
don't give me an 86-D 
NO 

& don't give me an F-84 
she's just a ground loving whore 
she'll whine & she'll wheeze 
& make straight for the trees 
don't give me an F-84 
NO 

Rocky Raab

The joke about the ground-loving F-84 was that they installed a bag of rocks in the nosegear well. When the pilot wanted to liftoff, he'd pull a cord to unzip the bag. The plane, running over the rocks, would think it had finally gone off the end of the runaway and thus it was now okay to fly. (Overloaded for ground attack and under-powered, the F-84 needed every inch of runway to take off.)

The F-80 - a rare version of which I was fortunate enough to fly - was better on takeoff, but with its centrifugal compressor engine, it would kill you on landing if you chopped the power too early. That's because that massive compressor took up to 15 seconds to rev up to full power. First lesson: keep power at least 85% until you are over concrete.