The Spitfire - an appreciation (75th anniversary)

The Scotsman ^ | 06 March 2011 | George Kerevan

[sukhoi-30mki]

The Spitfire - - an appreciation

By George Kerevan

75 years ago today, as darkness loomed across Europe, an achingly beautiful aircraft soared into the heavens on its maiden flight. The plane would become both an eight-gunned instrument of freedom and a near-spiritual symbol of it. The Spitfire was born.

AT 4:35pm on the afternoon of 5 March, 1936, a pilot called Joseph 'Mutt' Summers walked across the grass of Southampton Airport - currently a hub for Flybe. Summers had spent a tiring day testing a new RAF bomber. Now, he had to squeeze in the first flight of a new fighter called the "Spitfire". A plane that would become a legend and - arguably - hold the pass in 1940 long enough to save us from fascism.

But in 1936, the conventional wisdom in Britain was that "the bomber would always get through". Many considered new fighter planes like the Spitfire a waste of money.

Mutt Summers pressed the starter button and the Spitfire took to the air for the first time. Unlike the wood and canvass biplanes then serving as the RAF's frontline fighters, the Spit was a monoplane of all-metal construction. It had a retractable undercarriage and a fantastic speed of over 350mph. In combat it would be armed with eight machine guns. At last, here was something that would stop any bomber.

The Spitfire was the inspired creation of a true engineering genius, Reginald Joseph Mitchell. He was born in 1895, the son of two Stoke-on-Trent primary school teachers. His poor background precluded university, so he began an

[He Rides A White Horse]

But even above them I think the Mustang was the sexiest and best aircraft of WW2.

I agree. Once they super-charged that Merlin, I would say it was the greatest aircraft produced during the war.

[hinckley buzzard]

A few years later the Mustang showed up and settled the argument.

[r9etb]

F8F Bearcat is a pretty amazing sound, too.... very smooth, and really powerful.

[an amused spectator]

They got the bombers after the Spits wiped the floor with the 109s.

[wjcsux]

I don’t have any scientific evidence, but am absolutely convinced that hearing a Merlin engine fly by increases testosterone production.
I agree. I was visiting my mother in Tucson over the weekend. She lives close to Davis-Monthan AFB. There were a couple of P-51's flying around. They get your juices going.

[He Rides A White Horse]

The Brits had another huge advantage. If their planes were shot down and the pilot bailed out, they could often fly again the same day.

An excellent point, and just as important as the other advantages. Having that experienced pilot living to fight another day, or actually the same day as you noted.

[an amused spectator]

Alex Henshaw, Spitfire test pilot, speaking in 2005:

“Those young men went into combat with only five or six hours’ flying experience in it.

“If it had not been for the Spitfire, a wonderfully easy aircraft to fly, they would not have survived. If it had not been for the Spitfire, Britain would not have survived.”

---

Tie goes to the Spit...

[hinckley buzzard]

The Bf 109 had a much higher operational ceiling. The Spitfire was underpowered for high altitude combat and could not climb as rapidly. They really were not equivalent, as many British pilots learned to their chagrin.

The 109 met its fate when the P51 Mustang arrived in 1944.

[Kirkwood]

Brits tried to keep radar secret as long as possible. There was an elaborate ruse to make people believe that superior night vision of the British pilots led to enemy planes being detected abd shot down over the Channel. It was reported that night vision was improved by eating carrots and whitefish. To make the ruse complete, there was a national effort to get everyone to grow and eat carrots so they too could contribute to the war effort. While carrots are good for you and are a cheap source of food, they don’t give you superhuman night vision.

[RhoTheta]

bump

[calex59]

They also shot down their share of 109s. There were not enough spits to handle the load, without the hurricanes they couldn’t have held the line. BTW, the FW190 was superior to the spit and just about every other allied fighter until the Mustang(with the Merlin engine)showed up.

[Kirkwood]

Another interesting story is that the development of intraocular lenses came about from the observation that the shattered shards of acrylic from Spitfire windscreens was inert in the human eye. Harold Ridley made the observation when examining the eyes of Spitfire pilots with facial injuries. He saw that the eyes were quiet with no invasive vessel growth or fibrotic scar tissue. He immediately realized that the PMMA material would be ideal for creating IOLs for cataract patients.

[yarddog]

Radar in WWII was interesting. The Germans actually were technologically ahead of the British on radar but the British went ahead and began using it earlier.

Also Churchill noted in one of his six volume history of WWII, that the radar stations turned out to be very resistant to bomb damage.

[He Rides A White Horse]

It was reported that night vision was improved by eating carrots and whitefish. To make the ruse complete, there was a national effort to get everyone to grow and eat carrots so they too could contribute to the war effort. While carrots are good for you and are a cheap source of food, they don’t give you superhuman night vision.

Ehhh...what's up, doc?

I find this pretty amusing. Engaging the whole population in this ruse. I get the mental picture of some German being handed a message and saying,"Was ist dieses? Karotten?" (What is this? Carrots?)

Too funny.

[ccmay]

I watch to see the Hurricanes and Spitfires in action.But even above them I think the Mustang was the sexiest and best aircraft of WW2.

My dad flew all three in combat. He loved the Spitfire for its beauty and maneuverability, but felt that overall, the Mustang put all other fighters in the shade.

[Oztrich Boy]

I discovered the guy flew as engineer on a Mosquito out of Italy during WWII. They had 50 cal guns (apparently no cannon) and their mission was night fighter

Mosquito NFs had the 4 30cal machine guns in the nose replaced by radar. Their armament was 4 20mm cannon in the lower fuselage.

[RobRoy]

That is what I thought. I asked him basically if his was guns or bombs. I didn’t want to argue with his response. He is very old and frail and deaf in one ear.

When he said 50 cal I immediately thought of the typical American fighters.

[fish hawk]

My uncle was a flight instructor down in Arizona during the war and was training young Chinese pilots to fly combat. They moved most of his fellow fliers into a Mustang squadron but kept him back because they said he was too good at teaching the Chinese boys the ropes. He, to this day was broken hearted about it. All his life he wanted to fly a Mustang. Moral of the story: don't get too good at something or you may find yourself doing that one thing forever.

[fish hawk]

I don't think they were outrunning them. I read that the tactic was to watch their airfields and catch the 262 coming in and low or out of fuel and then shoot them while they had no means of maneuvering.

[rmlew]

The Mark 24 could hit 454mph.
Griffon engines did nothing for aesthetics.