Exercising a Spitfire

[Dave Hadfield]

I had a fun practice flight before our formation flypast on Nov 11 over Parliament and the National War Memorial.

[webishop14]

I always enjoy your videos, Dave. Thanks.

[sonofswen]

Thank you Sir! That was great.. a little different than the Aeronca champ I used to fly...

[sonofswen]

Thank you Sir! That was great.. a little different than the Aeronca champ I used to fly...I mean a lot..

[Dave Hadfield]

Hey, an airplane's an airplane.

A Champ is a super little bird.

[Jim Bow]

Don’t mean to correct you, Dave, but a Spitfire is an aeroplane.

[Dave Hadfield]

Very true!

When the thing is so British it's bad-teeth-British, I usually do spell it aeroplane. The Lysander is a stirling example.

[Gerarddm]

Thanks for that. Is that a Type IX?

[sonofswen]

Which version were you flying, the later version with 1730 HP? or did I miss that info..highly likely.

[C. Ross]

Wow, Dave. Thank you.

Nice songs, especially at the end. You’re one talented dude.

[Dave Hadfield]

It's built as a Mark IX. Originally (1945) it was a low-back, but the owner had one at the time (a Mark XVI) and decided to have the high-back.

As for the horsepower, most of those ratings are dubious. In the Merlin 66 or Packard 266, you can put the throttle forward far enough that it'll probably blow up or eat itself. We use 6 lbs of boost for takeoff, which is plenty. They would have used 9 lbs when carrying a warload back in the day, but long-term engine life wasn't a concern then.

[birlinn]

Very true!

When the thing is so British it's bad-teeth-British, I usually do spell it aeroplane. The Lysander is a stirling example.

But is the Stirling a sterling example?
(Not that there are any left)