Spitfire!
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"Il était une fois le Pas de Calais libéré 2021" - Haillicourt (62) France
"Once upon a time the Pas de Calais liberated 2021 " - Haillicourt - France
This is Spitfire Mk IX MK912 that I was extremely lucky to catch taking off from Sywell Aerodrome.
Built in 1944, this is a genuine survivor of WW2, and took an active role in supporting the D-Day landings on 6th June 1944. Now painted in the markings of RAF No. 312 (Czech) Squadron, complete with the black and white identification stripes applied to all Allied aircraft just ahead of the D-Day invasion.
Peter Teichman taking off in Sptifire IXe PT879 at The Shuttleworth Collection Vintage Airshow 2021.
PT879 is the only Spitfire to return to the UK from the wartime 'lend lease' process and wears the authentic markings of the 2nd squadron, 767th Regiment, 122nd Division of the Russian Air Force.
The Spitfire crashed during a dogfight in the Spring of 1945 while assigned to the 2nd squadron.
This is Stu Goldspink at the controls of Spitfire Mk IX, serial MH434.
The Mk IX Spitfire was rushed into production in 1942 when it became clear that the then current Spitfire Mk V was being outclassed in battle by the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.
The Spitfire Mk IX was essentially a Mk V fitted with the new, more powerful, Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 engine with its two-stage supercharger, which put it on a more equal footing with the Fw 190. Spitfire test pilot Jeffrey Quill described the Mk IX's performance as a 'quantum leap' over the Mk V.
Based at Duxford, but seen here at nearby Old Warden on a rainy August day. ('Nearby' - about 40 minutes by road, but only 5 - 10 minutes by Spitfire!)
At my photo workshop last September I got to sit in the Spitfire cockpit - however we were not allowed to take anything into the cockpit in case something was dropped and got stuck in any awkward places of which there were many .
On my photo workshop last week back at Shuttleworth again , the Spitfire was in the same hangar that our low light task was in . We were allowed in amongst the planes but to take full care not to damage anything and the same rules applied about dropping anything in the cockpit , although this time we could lean over and grab a shot this time -- thank goodness for swivel screens !!
Another great photo workshop by Darren Harbar !!
A picture can hardly convey the NOISE and excitement of a dozen Spitfires taking to the air one after the other! This full-frame, uncropped image is of a 1945, RR Griffon 65 engined Mk XVIII which could hit 425mph.
Today marks 80 years since the first historic flight of this iconic plane around Southampton Water. The sound is no longer the same but the shape is certainly recognisable to most people. There should be at least one flight today around the original route to mark the occasion but the weather won't be good so they did this extra flight yesterday under blue skies just in case. I took this from the Itchen Bridge but the plane was still too high for my lens, just wanted to mark the occasion.
116 in 2016 # 12 Spinning
This ground-to-air shot is of Spitfire Mk Vc, serial AR501.
The Mk V Spitfire was hastily introduced in 1940 to counter improved versions of enemy aircraft. Compared to the earlier Mk 1 & II Spitfires (Mk III & IV designations never went into production) the Mk V had an engine that was almost 50% more powerful and was also fitted with a supercharger, which enabled better performance at higher altitudes.
By late 1940, different types of wing armament had become available, and this aircraft is fitted with the 'c' type wing (also called the 'universal wing') that could accommodate some permutation of 4 x 20mm cannon and 4 x 0.303in machine guns - but not all at the same time, due to the weight. This Spitfire had 2 cannon and 4 machines guns - a very common Mk Vc arrangement.
Of interest are the fine wires running from the tips of the tailplane to the red circle on the side of the aircraft; they are aerials for transmitting a radio signal that enabled 'friendly' aircraft to be differentiated from 'foe' more easily on the crude radar sets of the day.
This particular aircraft has had its engine and exhaust pipes replaced at some point, the latter being non-standard for the wartime Mk V, which had the six pipes paired into three 'fish tails' on each side rather than the six individual pipes visible here.
This aircraft served with RAF No. 310 (Czech) Squadron from 1942 and was based at Duxford, just a few minutes flight from its current home of Old Warden.
You get a real sense of speed from this Spitfire FR Mk XIV as it leaves the ground. The undercarriage is in the process of retracting - we can see the left main wheel folding up into the wing, and the small tail wheel at the rear is almost inside.
The round window on the side is a camera port for taking air to ground photos - this model of Spitfire could be used as both a Fighter and Reconnaissance aircraft, hence the FR designation in the name.
Powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon engine, this type could achieve more than 440mph in level flight. Photographed at Duxford in Oct 2024.
Pilot Gabriel Barton at the controls of this Spitfire Mk Vc, serial EE602. The metallic, circular fuel filling point is clearly visible on top of the cowling.
A reasonably well resolved image - the stencilled 'Walkway' wording is clearly legible.
The six exhausts on each side of the engine are paired into three 'fish tails' - these both suppressed any flames emanating from the exhausts (which could be seen from a great distance in low light) and also created a tiny bit of extra thrust.
Based at Duxford, this Spitfire was photographed at Old Warden in August of 2024.
RAF Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX TD314 displays above Headcorn Aerodrome during the 2020 Battle of Britain Air Show.
IMG_9679 f
The poem, High Flight, has over the years become a mantra to pilots.
It is reproduced here as a tribute to, and in memory of pilots of all generations.
________________________________________
High Flight
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds - and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of - wheeled and soared and swung High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long delirious, burning blue,
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew -
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untresspassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand and touched the face of God.
Pilot Officer Gillespie Magee
No 412 squadron, RCAF
Killed 11 December 1941
Written by John Gillespie Magee when he was 19 year old fighter pilot during WW11 - as he soared into the atmosphere during a high altitude test flight of a Spitfire V.
Magee died three month later in a mid-air collision.
A MK XIX Spitfire of the Battle Of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) banking above the International Bomber Command Centre during a flypast. It has only recently started flying again after being grounded for an extended time for maintenance.
Weston Aerodrome, Leixlip Co Kildare.
On static display, prior to partaking in the Bray Air Display, July 23rd/24th.
Link to the aircraft's history: www.ml407.co.uk/history/