Can I Fly a Spitfire?

CaldRail · Post by **CaldRail** » Sat Mar 19, 2005 10:56 am

I've been asked this question before. Now that Channel 4 are repeating the series where four young men get a chance to fly one (oh boy am I envious

) I'll share that answer with you.

I fly (sorry, flew) light aircraft. 150hp or less, nosewheel undercarriage, cruising speed around 90 kts. Fun, but not terribly exciting.

Now Spitfires are aeroplanes too. They do the same things. So in theory yes, I could fly one. However...

I would come to grief for two reasons. Firstly, the undercarriage. Spitfires are taildraggers which I have very little experience of. Thats not an insurmountable problem, but taildraggers require skills I never learned. It would be just as well that the Spitfire has better handling characteristics than many aircraft of this time.

The second reason is the engine. 28 litres of Rolls-Royce Merlin is a little more than I'm used to. Aero-engines of this nature put out between 10 and 20 times the power I'm used to, and this brings with it a whole host of handling problems I've never encountered. It would be a bit like passing your driving test, getting into a formula one grand prix car, and expecting it to stay on the road. This is why airmen were taught advanced handling on Harvards or Miles Masters before they got their nine hours hands on. How they managed to get pilots into the air when things were desperate and training was cut short is beyond me. It wasn't just our air force either. Imagine being put behind the controls of a BF109K at the end of the war - A cantakerous heavy fighter, 2000hp, poor pilot visibility, almost no training, hardly any experienced pilots left to tell you how to survive, enemy strafing attacks at any moment... Ouch.

Ok, I fly FS2004, IL2, etc etc. Not quite the same as opening the throttle on a real one though is it? Anybody got one I could borrow? I'll bring it back in one piece, honest...

buffy500 · Post by **buffy500** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 2:02 am

Want to borrow mine ?

I've got one

Honest.

Its in the garage next to a box which says '5000x CD's: MSTS Highwo.....'

CaldRail · Post by **CaldRail** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 12:54 pm

Thanks, but I like the genuine ones best..

PS - All bogus Highworth CD's will be traced sir. Software piracy will be crushed and all profits derived thereof deposited in my bank account.

Please.

ianmanson · Post by **ianmanson** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 6:53 pm

on a basic PPL you would require a tailwheel conversion. Then for insurance purposes you would be required to pass a handling test.

BR7MT · Post by **BR7MT** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 9:45 pm

Don't most display pilots do their training on the Harvard?

Regards

Dan

ianmanson · Post by **ianmanson** » Sun Mar 20, 2005 11:04 pm

they have to start tail wheels somewhere so usually a Chippy or a Piper Cub.

In regards to aeros i expect most pilots train on whats available to them at a reasonable cost!

CaldRail · Post by **CaldRail** » Mon Mar 21, 2005 4:44 pm

ianmanson wrote:on a basic PPL you would require a tailwheel conversion. Then for insurance purposes you would be required to pass a handling test.

You also need to adhere to the requirements of one of the CAP's (I forget which one, and thats a rulebook for those who don't know) which outlines training, experience, and operational restrictions for flying ex-military aircraft. There's less freedom to fly these things than there once was. Cash being one of them Gordon B.