Pain and pleasure of the Spitfire Club (1st Flight was 80 yrs ago)

BBC News ^ | MARCH 5, 2016 | Greig Watson

[sukhoi-30mki]

Thinkstock

Eighty years ago the first Spitfire prototype flew from Eastleigh aerodrome in Hampshire. One man reveals the impact piloting this aircraft had on his life.

It was always an exclusive club, and now there are only a handful of people left who can claim membership.

To fly a Spitfire, especially in combat, is as close to holding a place in mythology as modern times allow.

But Sqn Ldr Geoffrey Wellum DFC, still passionate and engaging at 94, cautions against hyperbole.

"I didn't think of myself as glamorous but certainly I was aware it was a privilege," he says. "Everybody wanted to fly Spitfires and so few, even in the RAF, got to do so."

Geoffrey Wellum in 2016 and in his early days in the RAF - fresh out of school

Born and schooled in Essex, as a teenager Geoffrey Wellum wandered into this club with an ease and speed which almost defies belief.

"I just wanted to fly. I wrote to the Air Ministry to say so and they let me."

Straight from school he took to the air in old biplanes and clumsy training aircraft but in 1940, with World War II already under way, he was posted to 92 Squadron, which had just been converted to fly Spitfires.

[elcid1970]

Now that I recall it, switching engine electricals from Lucas to Bosch was always a wise decision.

[Vinnie]

And a lot of folks don’t even know that the US operated Spitfires in Europe before the P-51s arrived

I had a friend, a Notre Dame grad, that went to Canada and joined the RCAF in order to get to Britain and fly.

[Vinnie]

There is nothing like the sound of a Rolls Royce Merlin.

Ditto that !

Many years ago I took the family to an Unlimited Hydro race in Miami.
Back then they all ran RR Merlin engines.
Needless to say the race starts , 8-10 + Merlins coming to the line was...an auditory feast.

A few years ago we went to A Gathering of Mustangs in Columbus, OH. 100 Mustangs, Another visual and auditory feast.

[mcshot]

Bookmark

[PLMerite]

“He actually thought the Messerschmidt ME-109 was every bit as good and maybe even better.”

IIRC the early Spits had gravity-feed fuel tanks so if the pilot got in the wrong attitude for too long the engine would quit. German 109s had no such issue.

“I flew the 109 almost 2,000 times. For me, there’s nothing better, and of course, there’s always this rivalry between the 109 and the Spitfire. And I am often asked: which plane I think is better. I tell them I shot down 10 Spitfires, and that’s my answer.”
- Major Hans-Ekkehard Bob JG 54, JG 51, JG 3, EJG 2, JV 44

[PLMerite]

“Heh, heh, in fifty years of loving British sports cars I’ve yet to ever hear a kind word for Lucas automotive electricals.”

My old MK2 Jag had Lucas electricals. The car had a lot of problems and didn’t run very much, but I don’t remember the electrical system being one of them. A coworker of mine got a big kick out of me calling it “Lucas, Prince of Darkness.”

[Tijeras_Slim]

We recently had a WWII vet pass away in Albuquerque whose obituary said he flew Spitfires early in the war. It’s nice to see that was indeed the case. Learn something new here everyday. Thanks.

[kitchen]

Spitfire, 1942 movie about designer R. J. Mitchell.

[al_c]

The Rolls Royce engines used in the Spitfires also had Lucas Electrics.

Having owned two Triumph Spifires, that is a frightening thought.

[az_gila]

Buying a P51 is on my bucket list.

---

Just send lots of money, like most aviation ventures...:^)

1.5 million for this one -

http://www.platinumfighters.com/#!p-51d-dove-of-peace/cqt9

Or you can get a 70% scale, but still V-12 powered, replica for around 1/2 million

http://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?make=THUNDER+MUSTANG&model=THUNDER+MUSTANG&s-type=aircraft

[nascarnation]

Impressive.
When I visited the Roush Racing engine shop, they were building a V12 for Jack’s P-51 right along with the Nascar motors.

[az_gila]

“He actually thought the Messerschmidt ME-109 was every bit as good and maybe even better.”

IIRC the early Spits had gravity-feed fuel tanks so if the pilot got in the wrong attitude for too long the engine would quit. German 109s had no such issue.

---

This effect due to the Spitfires carb. vs. the ME-109 fuel injection came out in the 1969 Battle of Britain film.

They found that the Spitfire pilots would roll inverted before going into a powered dive. This would keep positive G on the carb. and prevent the engine from stuttering. It also kept the gravity fed header tank working....:^)

[az_gila]

There is a outfit in Tehachapi, CA that specializes in aircraft V-12 engines -

http://www.vintagev12s.com/home.htm

They are keeping these old WWII planes flying...

[PLMerite]

'55 Chevy with a Mustang engine:

Of course, that's a P-51 Mustang engine, not a Ford.

[PLMerite]

I have that movie on DVD. Adolf Galland was a "tactical and technical advisor" to the film.

They let him fly one of the Hispano "109s" at the end of the film, IIRC.

Which, IIRC, had a Merlin engine in it.

[rmlew]

"It also had the coolest name...Supermarine Spitfire."

Supermarine had some great names starting with the naval variant of the Spitfire, the Seafire

[jim_trent]

There is an article in this months EAA Sport Aviation magazine about a guy that built a full sized Spitfire out of wood, with a V-12 Allison engine.

What many people don’t realize is that about the time that the P-51 Mustang was being mated with the Rolls Royce Merlin 1,650 cu in engine, the Spitfire was transitioning out of it. The Spitfire needed a bigger engine (a 2,240 cu in Griffon) to match the performance of the Mustang with the smaller engine — and the latest German airplanes.

There have been a few Griffon powered Mustangs created, but they were all done on shoestring budgets for racing and have crashed because of relatively minor errors. A well engineered Griffon Mustang would have been impressive.

[jim_trent]

There was a partial solution worked out during the battle. Look up Miss Shillings Orifice to read about it.

[PLMerite]

"There have been a few Griffon powered Mustangs created, but they were all done on shoestring budgets for racing and have crashed because of relatively minor errors."

Yeah, what you said:

Precious Metal

[az_gila]

I haven’t got this months mag yet, but it is probably the one that lives in Prescott, AZ.

http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/N1940K.html

I’ve seen it at several fly-ins and you have to get close to realize it’s a wooden plane.