If I ever need cheering up

[Boromir]

If I ever need cheering up i Simply watch a Spitfire. I would give up shooting just to fly in one. I think they were one of the greatist machine ever built and one that pretty muche saved our country.

 

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[chrispti]

Watched a spitfire display at the Battle proms a few years ago

 

Spiffing good show old chap

[rogh shooter]

true but for me it would be an avro lancaster or an A10

[libs]

I'm quite lucky in the fact that I live fairly close to a large RAF base, so for whatever reason they are flying I can always get out to see them. We have had two flying very low and fast around here before now, the roar and rumble of the 28,000CC supercharged Merlin makes a Euro fighter coming in sound like a school boy with a scraped knee.

[Beardo]

a spitfire flew over my house a couple of days ago - love hearing them in the sky

[bruno22rf]

Fantastic machine agreed-but the hurricane did the majority of the work during the war-without the Spitfire the war may have been a little longer-without the Hurricane it could have been lost.Despite all we read about the threat of invasion during the battle of britain-the germans did'nt stand a cat in hells chance of invading our shores-Churchill knew this as did most of the top brass.Even without air superiority the english could prevent invasion by using a tiny proportion of her navy.

[Raja Clavata]

I have been fortunate in a past job, as an avionics technician, to work on a number (3 or 4) of late model spitfires, never got to fly in one though. From recollection few of them had two seats. I shared similar awe as yourself but came to learn that it was the humble hurricane that actually contributed more signifcantly to the defence of our nation. Worked on one of those too, at the time one of only three globally that were airworthy, and the only privately owned one. Scary amount of wood in their construction which is why so few remain.

 

Miss the aircraft but not the pay, it was appalling with some people working on several aspects of maitenance purely as a hobby

 

BTW - P51 Mustangs are pretty darn awesome too

 

edit: nation, even

Edited May 26, 2010 by Raja Clavata

[libs]

I have been fortunate in a past job, as an avionics technician, to work on a number (3 or 4) of late model spitfires, never got to fly in one though. From recollection few of them had two seats. I shared similar awe as yourself but came to learn that it was the humble hurricane that actually contributed more signifcantly to the defence of our nation. Worked on one of those too, at the time one of only three globally that were airworthy, and the only privately owned one. Scary amount of wood in their construction which is why so few remain.

 

Miss the aircraft but not the pay, it was appalling with some people working on several aspects of maitenance purely as a hobby

 

BTW - P51 Mustangs are pretty darn awesome too

 

edit: nation, even

 

 

I think anything with a version of: in it is pretty darn awesome!

[Anni]

My Grandad who was a Cabinet Maker used to build them Hurricanes and Lancasters during the war.

 

Beautifull machines, although I prefer the Hurricane for some reason.

Edited May 26, 2010 by Anni

[Boromir]

Aye I know that the Hurricane was the main fighter on our side but the Spitfire was the one that had the fighting advantages over the Messerschmitt Bf 109

[Chard]

My Grandad who was a Cabinet Maker used to build them Hurricanes and Lancasters during the war.

 

Yes, my uncle was a rear gunner in one of his Welsh dressers

[Imperfection]

Nothing can come close to the RR Merlin engine in whatever plane it was fitted into.The Spitfire though is even now such an evocative shape,but such a shame that hoardes of them were scrapped along with Lancasters etc in the 1950's.

[Anni]

Yes, my uncle was a rear gunner in one of his Welsh dressers

 

What a coincidence my Uncle is rear Gunner on the milk float that drives down your street

Edited May 26, 2010 by Anni

[SPARKIE]

i work for rolls royce.

[fullbore]

If I ever need cheering up i Simply watch a Spitfire. I would give up shooting just to fly in one. I think they were one of the greatist machine ever built and one that pretty muche saved our countr

 

Now, although I speak as a lover of the old Spit myself, strictly speaking the Hawker Hurricane did more to actually save the country, the Spitfire was just more popular because it looked better, but seeing the Battle of Britain flypast is AWESOME

[RC45]

i love the sound of the Supermarine...

 

[Chard]

What a coincidence my Uncle is rear Gunner on the milk float that drives down your street

 

 

Well tell him to have a word with the ******* pilot and tell him that if he charges me for milk again when I leave a No Milk Today note out, he's going to get a SAM missile right up the Khyber

[hushpower]

Well tell him to have a word with the ******* pilot and tell him that if he charges me for milk again when I leave a No Milk Today note out, he's going to get a SAM missile right up the Khyber

EXCELLENT, you should of been on stage ,after it had bee n swhee pt

[Raja Clavata]

Love the sound of the big old war-birds but based on a bit of reflection if I had a choiceI'd have a ride in a P38 lightning

 

Not that long ago you could take flights in P51D's in the US for not a completely outrageous amount of dosh. I chickened out of a free test flight in one which proved to be a very lucky escape

[Anni]

Well tell him to have a word with the ******* pilot and tell him that if he charges me for milk again when I leave a No Milk Today note out, he's going to get a SAM missile right up the Khyber

 

And you thought you were putting milk on ya cornflakes all this time

 

If your Sam shooting is anything like your clay shooting I reckon he aint got anything to worry about.

[shot shot]

my da had a mate who put an old merlin in his car

 

from what I've heard, mental in a straight line, but even more mental round the bends

[AlistairB]

Love the sound of the big old war-birds but based on a bit of reflection if I had a choiceI'd have a ride in a P38 lightning

 

Not that long ago you could take flights in P51D's in the US for not a completely outrageous amount of dosh. I chickened out of a free test flight in one which proved to be a very lucky escape

 

My old man flew lightnings for 19 and 56 squadron, and the guy who lives opposite him (the old mans no. 1 weapons trainer when he ran a training squadron) is now one of only two registered lancaster pilots and has just retired from flying the BBBF Lanc.

 

AB

 

BBMF, not BBBF, finger trouble

Edited May 27, 2010 by blackla

[Raja Clavata]

My old man flew lightnings for 19 and 56 squadron, and the guy who lives opposite him (the old mans no. 1 weapons trainer when he ran a training squadron) is now one of only two registered lancaster pilots and has just retired from flying the BBBF Lanc.

 

AB

 

That's pretty cool. I remember watching one take off at Lakenheath (the day the Vampire and Meteor collided mid-air) and was literally blown away by the noise, power and awesome rate of climb.

 

One of my grandfather's did not feature in the war because he had a prosthetic leg, the other served on quite a few campaigns and I remember him telling me how he shot a Junkers (forget model) down over Dover. Everyone else cheered as it hit the ground; he told me he puked.

[Lord Geordie]

Fantastic machine agreed-but the hurricane did the majority of the work during the war-without the Spitfire the war may have been a little longer-without the Hurricane it could have been lost.Despite all we read about the threat of invasion during the battle of britain-the germans did'nt stand a cat in hells chance of invading our shores-Churchill knew this as did most of the top brass.Even without air superiority the english could prevent invasion by using a tiny proportion of her navy.

 

here here!

[harv]

I watched the battle of Britain memorial flight over lake windermere, a Lancaster bomber with a hurricane and a spitfire on each wing and I still get a shiver up my spine thinking about it,the whole crowd was mesmerized by the sound.it certainly made me proud to be British and something Ill always remember.