Inside the Spitfire factory
Discussion
Yertis said:
Russia, at a guess.
Corrrect.It crashed on the Kola Pennisular in 1945, and was recovered from its crash site in the mid 1990's, and first arrived at Airframe Assemblies for the beginning of its restoration back in 1998, so that amounts to a 22 year duration restoration.
The restoration was not properly started when it arrived at AA 22 years ago - it was largely a parts collecting exercise to begin with, especially once ownership passed to Hangar 11 a couple of years later. The fuselage was restored by AA about six years ago with the remainder of the restoration (wings rebuild and fit out) was carried out over the last two years by BHHH.
Yertis said:
Russia, at a guess.
Not necessarily. It might have been for a Russian customer but it could have been acquired from anywhere.Spitfires had been supplied to Russia during the war but on the whole they were not popular with the Russians. They preferred Hurricanes and even P-39s.
Eric Mc said:
Not necessarily. It might have been for a Russian customer but it could have been acquired from anywhere.
Spitfires had been supplied to Russia during the war but on the whole they were not popular with the Russians. They preferred Hurricanes and even P-39s.
From reading around that a while back it sounds like the Spits we sent the Russians were pretty knackered, a bit delicate/sophisticated for their combat environment.Spitfires had been supplied to Russia during the war but on the whole they were not popular with the Russians. They preferred Hurricanes and even P-39s.
Yertis said:
Eric Mc said:
Not necessarily. It might have been for a Russian customer but it could have been acquired from anywhere.
Spitfires had been supplied to Russia during the war but on the whole they were not popular with the Russians. They preferred Hurricanes and even P-39s.
From reading around that a while back it sounds like the Spits we sent the Russians were pretty knackered,Spitfires had been supplied to Russia during the war but on the whole they were not popular with the Russians. They preferred Hurricanes and even P-39s.
Eric Mc said:
It was more to do with the Russian preference for tough and low level aircraft. The Spitfire was not really what they appreciated.
Undercarrige layout wouldn't have been ideal for operations in the USSR either, you only have to look at the issues the Luftwaffe had with the Bf109 on the Eastern Front to see a comparison. Tough, sturdy, easy to maintain in the field in harsh conditions was what USSR wanted......a shire horse or a donkey, rather than a thoroughbred racehorse.
Eric Mc said:
Not necessarily. It might have been for a Russian customer but it could have been acquired from anywhere.
It was aquired from Russia in the late 1990's (furthe info on the Hangar 11 web page I linked to above).The aircraft was in service with a Russian home defence squadron in the first half of 1945 after being shipped directly from UK as a new aircraft. It was involved in a collision with another Spitfire shortly after the end of the war in Europe.
aeropilot said:
Hardly, the one mentioned above that has just been restored was brand new when sent to Russia in 1944, and when it crashed it had less than 30 hours use.
Whatever it was I read was (IIRC) referring to the Russian's having developed an antipathy toward Spitfires because the first ones we sent were refurbished but tired MkVs, when we'd moved on to IXs, and that sort of set the tone, compounded by the very practical operational reasons above.But I did read that online, so it may be a load of old b
ks.Yertis said:
aeropilot said:
Hardly, the one mentioned above that has just been restored was brand new when sent to Russia in 1944, and when it crashed it had less than 30 hours use.
Whatever it was I read was (IIRC) referring to the Russian's having developed an antipathy toward Spitfires because the first ones we sent were refurbished but tired MkVs, when we'd moved on to IXs, and that sort of set the tone, compounded by the very practical operational reasons above.From what I remember reading was, that the RR Merlins were not very happy with the lower octane rated Soviet fuel they were being fed, whereas the V12 Allison in the P-39/P-63 and the P-40 seemed more suited to the lower octane fuel, given their less complexity, and ability to make more power at less boost.
and31 said:
Getting back to this weeks episode,it was a great segment with fleet air arm pilot Keith quilter-he features quite a lot in a book about the pacific fleet air arm pilots called kamikaze Hunters by will iredale-a very good book for anyone interested in this sort of thing.
I have to admit I thought we'd see his obituary during the end credits, pretty much everyone else they've interviewed hasn't lasted long!and31 said:
Getting back to this weeks episode,it was a great segment with fleet air arm pilot Keith quilter-he features quite a lot in a book about the pacific fleet air arm pilots called kamikaze Hunters by will iredale-a very good book for anyone interested in this sort of thing.
He looked bloody good for 97!!and31 said:
Getting back to this weeks episode,it was a great segment with fleet air arm pilot Keith quilter-he features quite a lot in a book about the pacific fleet air arm pilots called kamikaze Hunters by will iredale-a very good book for anyone interested in this sort of thing.
Wasnt it just. A lovely programme, so much more then just rebuilding a spitfire (which would have been great on its own)Mark V GTD said:
Haven't watched the programme yet but I think I know the picture you are referring to - taken at the Westland factory, The twins in the background are Westland Welkin high altitude fighters (now extinct).
One of Teddy Petter's brilliant designs, and although built in small numbers and never used operationally as the threat for which it was designed had already gone, the experiences gained by Petter with the high altitude issues and wing chord stuff, was put to use post war when he designed the Canberra, and was why that was such a fantastic high altitude aeroplane. Eric Mc said:
If I was assigned to ground attack duties, I'd have chosen a P-47 over a Typhoon without doubt.
It was an immensely robust aeroplane and could withstand substantial damage, especially its massive air cooled radial engine - unlike liquid cooled engined aircraft.
It was an immensely robust aeroplane and could withstand substantial damage, especially its massive air cooled radial engine - unlike liquid cooled engined aircraft.
.50 cal vs 20mm
As a pilot you may have chosen the P-47, and if you were a German tank crew you might have chosen to be attacked by the P-47 too.
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