An old flying buddy sent this to me and I enjoyed it so much that I've watched it a couple times more...and thought others might enjoy it as well.

The excellent quality of the recon photo footage doesn't surprise me, but I'm a tad surprised that a home movie camera from this era could produce such quality images, although I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they were digitally enhanced while being transferred to digital media.




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3SrjLlcUY





Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z3MEDO7Sp8

Edited: to add the second video

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Modern Day Savage,

Spitfire: The Plane that Saved the World 2018 on Netflix is really good.

...last-surviving veterans trace the history of a legendary fighter aircraft that dominated the air during the Battle of Britain.

Awesome, thanks for sharing that.

Simply awesome! What bravery. Stone cold. That generation knew sacrifice. We too must now sacrifice and strive to persevere. And we most certainly will.

I wonder, if a startup wanted to produce Spitfires today. Just simply build a precise reproduction, what would be the limiting factor?

I saw Spitfire 944 about a year ago. It's pretty amazing when he watches himself crash-landing for the first time, 61 years after the fact.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
Simply awesome! What bravery. Stone cold. That generation knew sacrifice. We too must now sacrifice and strive to persevere. And we most certainly will.

I wonder, if a startup wanted to produce Spitfires today. Just simply build a precise reproduction, what would be the limiting factor?

THE determining factor would be the lack of engines. There are only so many Merlins and Griffon engines in existence and although there have been a VERY small number building replica Spits using the Jaguar V12 engine, we really don't hear too much about them.

With a low hours Merlin engine now topping an easy £1/4 Million, it is never going to be cheap, and ramping up production would be like paying in advance for 250 copies of the Statue of Liberty. Just WHO is going to do that? CAD or no CAD.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tacfoley,

Thank you for posting.

Many years ago I worked with someone that flew p51 photo reconnaissance in Europe. I wish now I would have had asked him more about his experiences.

I have a photo album of my father’s. He served at naval air bases in North Africa and the pacific. I think I’ll take it out it’s been a few years since I looked at the pictures.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:

I wonder, if a startup wanted to produce Spitfires today. Just simply build a precise reproduction, what would be the limiting factor?

Money.

http://www.supermarineaircraft.com/our-aircraft

A few years ago I was on a fire in Southern Arizona, and sent to Marana for retardant. Just south of the airport, I was diverted to Ft. Huachuca, as Marana had just closed. It turned out a Spitfire, one of two, had crashed at the intersection of the two runways, in a landing mishap. The airplanes were on their way to the Planes of Fame museum. They were repaired and pressed on, eventually.

Whomever was in charge of them were dicks. We provided the extinguisher off one of our trucks. Initially, they wouldn't return it and then were royal pricks about it when they did. Apparently one can be that way, when wealthy enough. 'Thanks" would have sufficed.

Graceful airplanes; I was sorry to see the spit get bent.

One of my heroes was a spitfire pilot: Douglas Bader.

Thanks for providing a very inspiring video! It was so good to see the smile on the pilot's face as he saw the video for the first time and it brought back so much to him.

That is simply outstanding.
Thank you for making us aware of this story.

Yes, great interview, story, and video.

That was so cool to watch!

Got tears on that one.

Yeah that was great! I had no idea Americans flew Spitfires. Glad that pilot got to see his landing after all this time.

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
Simply awesome! What bravery. Stone cold. That generation knew sacrifice. We too must now sacrifice and strive to persevere. And we most certainly will.

I wonder, if a startup wanted to produce Spitfires today. Just simply build a precise reproduction, what would be the limiting factor?

THE determining factor would be the lack of engines. There are only so many Merlins and Griffon engines in existence and althought there have been a VERY small number building replica Spits using the Jaguar V12 engine, we really don't hear too much about them.

With a low hours Merlin engine now topping an easy £1/4 Million, it is never going to be cheap, and ramping up production would be like paying in advance for 250 copies of the Statue of Liberty. Just WHO is going to do that? CAD or no CAD.

I would think for $250,000 a copy, a startup could produce a run of these engines. I could be wrong a guess. I'm just assuming theres a market for a 5 million dollar perfect reproduction Spitfire.

Lt. Col. Blyth was the guest speaker for some sort of Spitfire talk...think it may have been in association with the USAF, and the event was recorded.

I've only managed to watch about 10 minutes but it seems pretty good so far...so for those who want to dive into the tech/ spec of the Spitfire, learn a little more history, and see Lt. Col. Blyth recount some of his stories, you might want to check it out. Hour and ten minute video that I've edited into the OP.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:

One of my heroes was a spitfire pilot: Douglas Bader.

I had a girlfriend back in high school and her father loaned me a book on Sir Douglas Bader. After reading it, he became one of my heroes and influences also.

'Tenacious' is the word that always comes to my mind when I think about him.

Sir Douglas Bader

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:

quote:

Originally posted by tacfoley:

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
Simply awesome! What bravery. Stone cold. That generation knew sacrifice. We too must now sacrifice and strive to persevere. And we most certainly will.

I wonder, if a startup wanted to produce Spitfires today. Just simply build a precise reproduction, what would be the limiting factor?

THE determining factor would be the lack of engines. There are only so many Merlins and Griffon engines in existence and althought there have been a VERY small number building replica Spits using the Jaguar V12 engine, we really don't hear too much about them.

With a low hours Merlin engine now topping an easy £1/4 Million, it is never going to be cheap, and ramping up production would be like paying in advance for 250 copies of the Statue of Liberty. Just WHO is going to do that? CAD or no CAD.

I would think for $250,000 a copy, a startup could produce a run of these engines. I could be wrong a guess. I'm just assuming theres a market for a 5 million dollar perfect reproduction Spitfire.

Well yes, there is, a company in nearby Safffron Walden actually does this for a living. But, TBH, there are not that many people here in UK who can actually afford a five million dollar toy who can actually FLY it. Maybe things are different where YOU live, but I only have a passing acquaintance with ONE person who regularly flies a Spitfire. Perhaps you know somebody you can help start up a Merlin production facility in the US?

- remember that Packard also made Merlin engines, and many of them are still flying today.

And BTW, here are the recognised american pilots who took an active part in the battle of Britain -

The RAF recognises seven aircrew personnel who were from the United States as having taken part in the Battle of Britain. American citizens were prohibited from serving under the various U.S. Neutrality Acts; if an American citizen had defied strict neutrality laws, there was a risk of losing their citizenship and imprisonment. It is believed that another four Americans misled the British authorities about their origins, claiming to be Canadian or other nationalities.

William Meade Fiske was probably the most famous American pilot in the Battle of Britain, although he pretended to be a Canadian at the time. Fiske saw service with No. 601 Squadron RAF and claimed one—unconfirmed—kill. He crashed on 16 August 1940, and died the following day.

Alexander Roman Zatonski, No. 79 Squadron RAF (KIA)
Andrew Beck Mamedoff, No. 609 Squadron RAF (KIA)
Arthur Gerald Donahue, No. 64 Squadron RAF (KIA)
Carl Raymond Davis, No. 601 Squadron RAF (KIA)
De Peyster Douw Brown, No. 401 Squadron RCAF
Eugene Quimby Tobin, No. 609 Squadron RAF (KIA)
John Kenneth Haviland, No. 152 Squadron RAF
Phillip Howard Leckrone, No. 616 Squadron RAF (KIA)
Vernon Charles Keough, No. 609 Squadron RAF (KIA)
William Meade Fiske, No. 601 Squadron RAF (KIA)

Hey guys, I've just found this excellent article on buying a Spitfire! Please bear in mind that it is five years old, and things have gotten a LOT more expensive by at least 25-30%.

https://www.goodwood.com/flyin...f-buying-a-spitfire/

I'm very lucky, living not far from the Imperial War Museum at Duxford, where there are usually at least half a dozen of them at any one time...

For those who can't be bothered to read the article - here's a précis - multiply all prices by 1.6 for dollars in 2015 rates -

1. Buy £2.5 M.

2. Annual maintenance - £150K

3. Annual insurance and AWC £30K.

4. £150K investment in licence - plus a further £50K in tail-dragging experience - plus minimum of 1000 flying hours BEFORE you are let loose in one for a trial flight - and the simple running costs, not counting any ancilliary expenses - AVGAS high octane aviation fuel here in UK is about $7 per gallon and you use it at a minimum of 40gph - three times as much at an air-show. you buy it at 400 gallons a time...

so it's NOT a weekend toy, after all.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tacfoley,