That aircraft again

May be an old clip but my father worked on these in WWII as an LAC in the RAAF (I still have his Fitters manuals) and I am very fond of this aircraft. And honestly when things were really grim it was the brave pilots this aircraft and the Hurricane that stemmed the tide. Fighter command was on its knees when Britain bombed Berlin that's when Herr Goering changed from bombing the fighter airfields to the London blitz. My dad never said much of the war nor what it felt like to have his homeland bombed and all the privations placed on the populace. The war is long over and my dad a long time treading clouds but I remember his fondness of that plane. When we travel I try to get to a war museum that has one and we are very lucky in Perth Western Australia to have one where you can get almost inside of one.
This is the music I grew up with that accompanies the clip enjoy I did......Cockpit footage from Biltema Spitfire displaying at Jarlsberg Airshow 2012 - YouTube

Thanks CINDERS! I debate myself sometimes, but the Spitfire and P-51 rank nearly the same in my books. They are actually very small aircraft. Just a VERY small aircraft with the mind boggling Rolls Royce engine attached. A P-47, Corsair, etc were HUGE next to the spitfire and Mustangs. The ME-109 is also a teeny fighter.

Yes they were great in their roles but probably the P-51 became the greatest due to its range, really there was not an aircraft that could complete the whole gambit. The Corsair blew the Zero's out of the sky in-fact it has the highest kill/loss ratio of the war against the zero throw in the Hellcat which the IJNAF did not pick up it was far a superior aircraft to the one it replaced it to shot the zero to pieces. Then we have the Typhoon/Tempest arguably one of the best ground attack aircraft of the war with devastating fire power from the 4 x 20mm cannons to the 8 x 6 inch rockets under its wings. They are all up there really the Jug, Black widow, P-38, Hurri (Which ended up carrying 2 x 40mm Vickers "S" cannon as a tank buster, Seafire, Beaufighter, Mossie.

So the Spitfire and the Hurri stemmed the tide whilst "Give us the tools" Winston referred to in the US Parliament came in the guise of the P-51 and the B-17. And I have not forgotten the others who stalked the night the night bombers Lanc, Wimpy, Whitley, Halifax, Manchester, yes sir we owe a debt that I really do not know how to repay except in my unfailing eternal thanks and respect for those that went and those that never came home. semper fidelis and AUSPICIUM MELIORIS AEVI. : an omen of a better age —motto of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. Title definition ~ : thus one goes to the stars

As a postscript a fighter pilot in those air craft of the day really had the odds against them when you think of what they flew and what they were flying into I just cannot comprehend how they kept it up any of them the German fighter pilot had no rotational system they flew till they died or the war ended.
Subaru Sakai a Japanese pilot flew 000's back to base after a dogfight with a good portion of his scalp missing and an uncontrolled dive being unconscious when a fifty round came through the front screen and nearly took his head off.
Page horrifically burned and returned to active duty a product of McIndoes army, Richardson who was the only VC winner of the battle of Britain horrifically burned, Malan, Deere, Bader, Finnucane, Pattle, Barnham, Galland, Hartmann, Nowotny, Preddy, Bong they all had the same job to do.......
List of WWII scores of aircraft shot down in WWII ~https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...7BkBZJ6EE_kABA

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Originally Posted by Harlan

They are actually very small aircraft.

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That was my first impression when seeing a B17 as well for the first time. Put a whole new perspective on things after that.

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Originally Posted by Harlan

They are actually very small aircraft.

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Yes, until I saw a Bearcat sitting beside a Piper four seater...the Piper looked like a toy.

Cool footage and cool plane. I loved the spitfire so much, my first car was a triumph spitfire.

I read of these planes for years and when I first saw a B-17 what struck me at the time was, "how frail!" I had read quotes that you could shove a screwdriver through the skin of the plane and had shrugged them off but by George, it is true. A screwdriver, a pocket knife, an ice pick, whatever. You could render one unflyable with a pistol, much less a .50 caliber machine gun. And then I remember the planes that dragged home with parts missing, engines dead, control systems shot out. No wonder they became beloved mounts to those who flew them.

Bob

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

Subaru Sakai a Japanese pilot flew 000's back to base after a dogfight with a good portion of his scalp missing and an uncontrolled dive being unconscious when a fifty round came through the front screen and nearly took his head off.

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Hi CINDERS,
The Dallas location of the CAF was the maintenance unit of the CAF and we had many great WARBIRDS pass through there over the years. We had a Corsair and a real Zero at our location at our hangar several years....

We have a large hangar, and always have visitors stop by to look at whatever aircraft we were working on and/or restoring on Saturday. One Saturday an older oriental gentleman was looking around our hangar viewing the aircraft. Long story short, the older gentleman who'd been looking at the aircraft turned out to be the ace Subaru Sakai! He had been looking at both the Corsair and Zero with reverence and respect, so he didn't even touch either aircraft. When visitors hit the hangar we try to tell them about the aircraft. Mr. Sakai was with his grandson who translated for him. As it turned out, they flew to Dallas just to see the planes that he saw on our web site.

As you probably know, the CAF is 'hands on' and we often allow people to sit in the cockpits. He sat in the Zero for quite a while and then he sat in the Corsair cockpit for quite a while. As luck had it, the Corsair demo pilot stopped by that Saturday to go 'play' around (Um, I mean "practice") and he towed the Corsair out onto the ramp and started the Corsair, lowered the wings, and did some low fly-bys before he headed out the aerobatic box just south of our uncontrolled field.

We had lunch at the greasy spoon little diner at the FBO, and one of our regular pilots showed up and was thrilled to meet Mr. Sakai. He offered to take him up in his own AT-6 Texan and let him have some stick time from the rear seat. We've had a LOT of very cool days like that.

He was happy to sign every photo we had of the Zero.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...ykcsl7ya-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...8ebmhspy-1.jpg

The Corsair is MASSIVE and Mr. Sakai was impressed and commented how big it was...
The Zero is compact and very light, and the Corsair is like a NASCAR on steroids
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...hujqmq39-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...r8winvul-1.jpg

Privately owned 'T-6' that lives in our hangar
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...jbyqxnw7-1.jpg

did you work with gary austin? i loved the work he did on the OL 927 and would loved to have met/learned from him. another gone far too soon. RIP.

Green with envy to have met an ace like Sakai those are great pics the ones of the Corsair especially. Thanks:thup: