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Author Topic: Spitfires saddle tank  (Read 5794 times)

Offline Guppy35

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #30 on: May 06, 2009, 01:34:40 AM »
Quote from: Angus on May 05, 2009, 06:02:42 AM
Duke's problem was that the pitch of both parctically went flat. So he could barely make it to the airfield with full power. What a silly sight it must have been, an aircraft flaring in for a short 3-point landing with the engine on absolute full power  :D

Another one of the Spit XII guys, Peter Cowell, was flying MB882 EB-B on a low level rhubarb and hit the water with his prop.  Broke all 4 blades off equally so they were about half length.  He got it back at full power too and barely moving :)
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Offline MiloMorai

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #31 on: May 06, 2009, 07:23:56 AM »
Since we are telling prop strike stories.

Last year the Cdn Aviation Museum had a small fly-in. A speaker was this WW2 fighter pilot. He spent much of his time in the Sierra Leone area of Africa. A/c were delivered there, assembled and then flown across Africa to Egypt. He finally got to make one of these delivery flights. Khartoum was one of the staging bases. He and several others took off for Egypt. Shortly after take off a Polish Wing Commander radioed that his engine was vibrating but kept on going. When they had landed it was found that several inches of his prop tips was missing. He had a prop strike while taking off.
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Offline Angus

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #32 on: May 06, 2009, 09:44:32 AM »
My great uncle (Tony Jonsson) had a prop hitting a wave-top over the channel on a rhubarb mission. He made it (barely) to Manson on full power. The engine was by then quite tortured and the blades were all bent forward. Not broken though.
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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline jocko-

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #33 on: May 06, 2009, 07:19:45 PM »
Angus, did your great-uncle later fly a Mustang?
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Offline Angus

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #34 on: May 08, 2009, 08:43:46 AM »
Yes. Mustang III. Converted from Spit V to Spit IX, which to his disappointment was a short-term thing. They got Mustangs which he firstly looked upon as "American Junk", but soon was very pleased with.
BTW, the Mustang was unstable until you had burned up from the rear tank, or at least that's what he said. But basically an extremely pleasant aircraft, both fast and with a lot of gas.
Darn, I miss that guy ;)
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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline jocko-

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #35 on: May 08, 2009, 12:42:46 PM »
Thorsteinn Jonsson?  I did a really amateur skin of his Mustang a while back.  Wasn't a lot of info to go on, I think I skinned it as YT-J and was later told it was YT-B...



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417jocko
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Offline Angus

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #36 on: May 08, 2009, 02:00:27 PM »
Oiii!
I have not yet found the time and patience for skinning, but his Spit V carried the lettes Ju-J, and later it was YT-B, - I think. Both Euro-camo and later the desert camo, but that aircraft had the Vokes filter.
BTW, he is on some poster with the name of "company of aces" or something of the sort. Picture, signature, and aircraft picture, and on that one is his desert camo Spit V. Yeager is on that poster as well, and because of that (and other things) those two met and were able to compare their Mustang tactics.....
He did some hopping between planes I think, and his P51 went to scrap after he got shot up in the summer of 1944. Guess he got a new one.
P51C with a bubbly hood.
Did you read his autobiography?

Now, back to the Saddle tank, Tony flew his Spit V from Gibraltar to Algiers. The aircraft was assembled in Gibraltar and off he went. The squadron had an escort duty en route, so the cruise was not the one the pilots would have chosen, ending up with a couple of ditches due to fuel shortage. I can dig up the text on this if you like. One heck of a ride he had, barely making it to base.
I also have some data from Johnnie Johnsson about taking of for Malta with fully loaded Spit V's from an aircraft carrier at maximum distance. Slipper thanks there as well.
Promise: I'll type up if requested ;)
« Last Edit: May 08, 2009, 02:03:45 PM by Angus »
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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline RTHolmes

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #37 on: May 08, 2009, 05:27:04 PM »
Quote from: Angus on May 08, 2009, 02:00:27 PM
Promise: I'll type up if requested ;)

consider this a formal request :D
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Offline Angus

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #38 on: May 08, 2009, 07:08:23 PM »
You bad!
I go digging in the stack. Luckily I did not include a DATE with my promise. This is a highly developed skill by now, since I happen to be married by a German. And she's a lawyer. And younger than me. A lot.  :devil
But a promise is a promise, and I will absolutely give you some stuff. Happily, and rather soon.
 :rock
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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline RTHolmes

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #39 on: May 09, 2009, 06:49:06 AM »
Quote from: Angus on May 08, 2009, 07:08:23 PM
I happen to be married by a German. And she's a lawyer. And younger than me. A lot.  :devil

marrying a lawyer, now that deserves a commendation for bravery :eek:
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71 (Eagle) Squadron

What most of us want to do is simply shoot stuff and look good doing it - Chilli

Offline Angus

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #40 on: May 09, 2009, 09:38:03 AM »
Hehe, that may be true.
Anyway, I saw a mistake in a post a little bit back. I referred to a prop problem of Duke, it should have been Quill.
Back to Tony Jonsson. I have some pictures of the guy that are mine, but I do not have a space to host them. If any of you guys can do that, I can mail them to you.
And some tales will follow ;)

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It was very interesting to carry out the flight trials at Rechlin with the Spitfire and the Hurricane. Both types are very simple to fly compared to our aircraft, and childishly easy to take-off and land. (Werner Mölders)

Offline Cajunn

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Re: Spitfires saddle tank
« Reply #41 on: May 11, 2009, 07:17:13 PM »
Quote from: RTHolmes on May 09, 2009, 06:49:06 AM
marrying a lawyer, now that deserves a commendation for bravery :eek:

yea, divorce's always end bad for you  :rofl 
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“The important thing [in tactics] is to suppress the enemy's useful actions but allow his useless actions. However, doing this alone is defensive.”

Miyamoto Musashi (1584-1645)
Japanese Samurai & Philosopher
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