WWII British Spitfire...

[Armybrat]

....makes a very LOW flyby and scares reporter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT46V3mmWRE&feature=player_detailpage

About half a minute.

The reporter reacts with some salty language.

[RevRay]

Back in 2010 my wife and I were on vacation in Cornwall, England, when we were treated to a spectacular display of a two Spitfires dueling each other. It was evidently for a filming that was going on for BBC Television. We were up on a cliff on the South coast and were mesmerized for about 30 minutes as they chased each other and dive-bombed a schooner out on the water. There was a helicopter following them around which gave us the sense that some filming was taking place.

[Hawk]

There was a great 'Spitfire' video that I happened to catch on Netflix the other evening, a BBC documentary. Mostly about the Battle of Britain, but with a Spitfire touch. :)
The trailer : http://youtu.be/EPw70p-kreM

[RevRay]

Thanks for the link ... my wife & I will definitely have to watch that one. We are both hopeless Anglophiles, and had a wonderful opportunity to live in England for three years from 2003-2006.

[O'Dell]

They were nice aircraft, but I'd take an contemporary F4U Corsair and give a Spit fits. The Brits liked the F4U too, since they flew them off their carriers.

[TheTman]

The British taught the Americans how to land the Corsair on a carrier, it is very difficult because the view is blocked by the front of the plane. The British figured out if you came in on a slight turn, the pilot could see the deck and the guy with the flags, and were able to land them safely on the carrier, straitening out their approach in the last seconds before landing. Before that, the Corsair was regulated to airstrips on land. I think that they were still mostly land based throughout the war, especially once the Hellcat became available. The Corsair was one hell of a fighter, and probably the most potent fighter in the arsenal, next to the Mustang. This is a matter that there is still much debate. Some feel the P-47 was the next best, others think it was the Hellcat. I sure love to watch the reruns of Black Sheep Squadron. That was a great show IMO, and featured the Corsair.

[Longitude Zero]

One thing about the P-47 none of the can say is that the "Jug" aka "Thunderbolt" could take punishment that would have put the Corsair, Mustang, Spitfire in a flaming crash. They were also the heaviest fighter ever put in the air prior to the jet age.

The Japanese referred to the Corsair as "Whistling Death" for the sound it made in a steep dive.

[MD_Vet]

Another interesting Spitfire video...about 14min.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie3SrjLlcUY&sns=em

[Tyme49]

GREAT Vid ~ Thanks for posting the link! ... http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b297/GHGecko/ANI_GIFs/TINYs/Smiley_Tiny_Duo_Prost.gif

BTW, I believe that R.J. Mitchell, the Spitfire's designer, really disliked (hated?) the name "Spitfire", ...

... but, since his boss came up with it (http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b297/GHGecko/ANI_GIFs/TINYs/Smiley_Tiny_Bossman.gif), ol' R.J. didn't resist too loudly! ... http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b297/GHGecko/ANI_GIFs/TINYs/Smiley_Tiny_Uh_Uhhhh.gif

[O'Dell]

The British taught the Americans how to land the Corsair on a carrier, it is very difficult because the view is blocked by the front of the plane. The British figured out if you came in on a slight turn, the pilot could see the deck and the guy with the flags, and were able to land them safely on the carrier, straitening out their approach in the last seconds before landing. Before that, the Corsair was regulated to airstrips on land. I think that they were still mostly land based throughout the war, especially once the Hellcat became available. The Corsair was one hell of a fighter, and probably the most potent fighter in the arsenal, next to the Mustang. This is a matter that there is still much debate. Some feel the P-47 was the next best, others think it was the Hellcat. I sure love to watch the reruns of Black Sheep Squadron. That was a great show IMO, and featured the Corsair.

So the story goes, but a lot of Navy pilots had already figured it out. The first F4U's were land based mainly because the powers-that-be in Washington thought that they were too hard to land on a carrier, so they gave them to the Marines. The more serious problem in carrier operations was the "bouncing" action caused by too long oleo struts in the main gear. Vought corrected that pretty early. The Corsair outperformed the Hellcat in just about every category except low speed handling and stall performance.
The Brits loved the F4U and replaced most of their Hellcats with them.

The F4U-5 was faster and more agile than the P-51 and had almost the same range, but there were few Corsairs in Europe. It was also a much better fighter-bomber and was known to carry as much as 6000 pounds of ordnance. The production of the P-51 and all other single piston engined fighters was halted in 1945, except for the F4U. They were built until 1952. The Corsairs were the favorite ground attack fighter in Korea.

Again, if I had to go into air combat in WWII, it would be in a late Corsair.

[muggsy]

Hears what gave the spitfire it's name.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PjLpqWFFEo

[bunky69]

The Supermarine Spitfire was the most single important invention in the 20TH century... No spitfire... England falls... No second front against Germany... Russia falls... Ect...

[muggsy]

I beg to differ. No early warning radar, no spitfire. Destroyed on the ground. That's not to demean the British fly boys.

[Armybrat]

Didn't General Patton say the same thing about the Garand rifle?

[Bawanna]

Yes he did and I still think he was right.

[mr surveyor]

I got sidetracked by all the A-10 vids. That is an amazing ground support plane that almost got completely canned in the late 80's. Just like the B-52 and the C-130 (and all variants), it's destined to be one of the greatest air platforms ever created. Those are my favorites of all the current air fleet. The new stuff is great for air strikes, but most battles are still fought on the ground by men (well, up until recently it was men), and air support is number one in my (non-military) opinion.

The previous generation had many, many that I really love... P-51, F4F, F4U Corsair, P-38, P-49, B-17, B-25, B-24, B-29, and yes the Spitfire ... and quite a few of the German planes. WWII was really the boom for aviation innovation. Strapping jet engines on was a tiny step forward, and complete computerization was a huge advancement ... along with digitally changing wing surfaces, non-radar reflective surfaces, etc., but I think the next real generation of major advancement is yet to come. Probably will be mostly remotely operated drone stuff .... no glory .... no romance

[muggsy]

I got sidetracked by all the A-10 vids. That is an amazing ground support plane that almost got completely canned in the late 80's. Just like the B-52 and the C-130 (and all variants), it's destined to be one of the greatest air platforms ever created. Those are my favorites of all the current air fleet. The new stuff is great for air strikes, but most battles are still fought on the ground by men (well, up until recently it was men), and air support is number one in my (non-military) opinion.

The previous generation had many, many that I really love... P-51, F4F, F4U Corsair, P-38, P-49, B-17, B-25, B-24, B-29, and yes the Spitfire ... and quite a few of the German planes. WWII was really the boom for aviation innovation. Strapping jet engines on was a tiny step forward, and complete computerization was a huge advancement ... along with digitally changing wing surfaces, non-radar reflective surfaces, etc., but I think the next real generation of major advancement is yet to come. Probably will be mostly remotely operated drone stuff .... no glory .... no romance

My mother built B-24s at the bomber plant. No, her name wasn't Rosie, but she was a riveter.