Bit on BBMF.

[Amused2death]

Just spotted this in the daily Wail....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-13...

Quite a nice read.

Edited by Amused2death on Tuesday 17th August 14:32

[mrmaggit]

Got a guided tour around the hanger by Smithy, the OC a couple of weekends ago. Sometimes owning a TVR has it's good bits!

[DieselGriff]

I like the article, however the picture showing "Spitfire pilots scramble during the Battle of Britain, 1940" actually shows hurricane pilots.

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

DieselGriff said:

I like the article, however the picture showing "Spitfire pilots scramble during the Battle of Britain, 1940" actually shows Hurricane pilots.

Not only that, but the Hurricanes clearly have fixed pitch twin bladed wooden props indicating that they are pre Battle of Britain.


Not a bad article but, as is usual with the Modern Press they just had to be sensational. Specifically:

"For every aircraft a new BBMF pilot has to endure the unnerving experience of stalling - flying so slowly that the wings no longer produce enough lift - so he'll recognise the signs and be able to take appropriate action if it ever happens unintentionally. It's an important lesson for experienced Typhoon pilots, whose aircraft have computers that take over before a stall occurs."

So RAF pilots have never stalled at EFTS, BFTS or AFTS? What utter horlicks!

Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Tuesday 17th August 19:16

[Flintstone]

They're excused stalling cuz it's like against their human rights and st.






Flying And st

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

[richw_82]

Ginetta G15 Girl said:

DieselGriff said:

I like the article, however the picture showing "Spitfire pilots scramble during the Battle of Britain, 1940" actually shows Hurricane pilots.

Not only that, but the Hurricanes clearly have fixed pitch twin bladed wooden props indicating that they are pre Battle of Britain.

Only built pre Battle of Britain. Hurricanes only started getting constant speed 3 bladed props from January 1939 with the Merlin III , so a number made it into the Battle with the two blade prop. By the end of 1940 most of them had been retrofitted though.

[TimmyWimmyWoo]

I'd say that's about as good an article as the mainstream press are ever likely to produce about the BBMF – best thing I've seen on the Mail in… forever!

[Eric Mc]

The picture also show the Hurricanes fitted with two bladed Watts propellors. Which means that it definitely predates the Battle of Britain. It's most likely from a set of staged "scramble" shots which the RAF would have held for the press no later than Spring of 1940.

I don't think any two bladed Hurricanes (or Spitfires) were still being used by June 1940.

Edited by Eric Mc on Thursday 19th August 12:50

[Ginetta G15 Girl]

richw_82 said:

Hurricanes only started getting constant speed 3 bladed props from January 1939 with the Merlin III , so a number made it into the Battle with the two blade prop. By the end of 1940 most of them had been retrofitted though.

The Merlin II initially couldn't be fitted with Variable Pitch or Constant Speed propeller owing to the nature of the airscrew shaft since the blade pitch settings would be related to engine speed.

However trials started in mid 1939 with a de Havilland Variable Pitch unit - incidentally L1652 crashed killing a Hawker Test Pilot.

From the 2907th Merlin built a universal airscrew shaft was fitted and the engine re-designated Merlin III. This engine was fitted to the Hurricane from L1909 onwards. From L1980 (the 433rd production a/c) on, the de Havilland type 5/32 Variable pitch propeller was fitted, initially without a Constant Speed unit.

Additionally, and at around the same time the DH 5/31 propeller was adapted for fitting to the Merlin II.

By the start of the Battle of Britain (taken to be 10 July 1940) a/c in front line units were all fitted with either the DH 5/31 or 5/32, although admittedly it wasn't until August that Constant Speed units became the norm.

The lighter and more efficient Rotol RX5/2 (Rolls Royce and Bristol Aeroplane Company) Constant Speed propeller unit became the norm from October 1940, when the Merlin III was fitted with a truly universal shaft, and was also fitted to the Melin XX powered Hurricane MkII.