Which Mark of Spitfire do you prefer

[paul b]

 

  I know i've left this to late, but will try and post anyway.  I can think of so many reasons to pick different mk's of Spitfire, for me the most beautiful and superb fighter ever built. However as my favuorite one happens to be ml 407, it has to be the mk9, with its
 combination power, handling and classic beautiful lines.

                   Regards Paul

[tailwheel]

Hi Mytime,
Thanks for sharing some of your family's history.
Yes ,Spitfires did intercept the V1. In England they are often referred to as "Doodlebugs".The Mk 14 had success in the role,as did the Meteor,Tempest and Mosquito. The preferred tactic was for the fighter to formate on the V1 ,wingtip to wingtip and then "flip it over".This was considered safer than shooting it down and then flying into the explosion from a 1-ton warhead !.
Cheers
Tailwheel.

[mytime]

Yes ,Spitfires did intercept the V1. In England they are often referred to as "Doodlebugs".The Mk 14 had success in the role,as did the Meteor,Tempest and Mosquito. The preferred tactic was for the fighter to formate on the V1 ,wingtip to wingtip and then "flip it over".This was considered safer than shooting it down and then flying into the explosion from a 1-ton warhead !.

Yes Thailwheel, I have seen this at a Dutch war museum called "Soesterberg", (thats the same place where I took the picture of me in front of that Spitfire, which is a 1:1 size replica, the've also a real Spitfire and a real Mustang P51D there..., those both are looking so well, that I sometimes think that getting them back in flying condition may not take more effort than chainging tyres, gaskets, and oil... ) I think I visit them again in may then they've a cockpit day (you can take place in the spitfire, the P51D and all other planes they have (Meteor, Sea Fury, T6 trainer... and a lot others).
Though I didnt know the Meteor and the Mosquito (beautifull plane too, made for a large part of plywood, like my 19 feet cabin sailiboat!) were used for intercepting V1's.

Regarding war, I forget to mention one important thing, in my prev. post, look for most people it was possible to survive war time in our occupied country, with some difficulty's, but that does not hold for the Jews, and all other people that were seen as "untermensch" (homosexuals, maybe transsexuals too) by the Nazi regime.
A majority of them were transported by train to Germany to their horrible concentration camps and put to work till they were so exhausted that they died to assemble e.g. V1's, V2'2 and Messerschmidt and Heinkel feighter planes. Its something we may never forget.

Mytime

[David Powell]

Hello Mytime,
l live in Kent,sometimes called "Doodlebug Alley" by wartime fighter pilots.From Manston 616 Squadron flew 'diver'patrols and in August 1944 F/O.T.D. 'Dixie' Dean flipped over a V1 in the Tonbridge area,in the way I previously explained.The Tempests flew from Newchurch,a temporary airfield on Romney Marsh.The Mosquito was certainly made of wood but was not a flying 'packing crate'.The fuselage was a moulded ply-balsa-ply construction,Maybe these techniques helped advance the modern day composite construction? This wooden structure carried on over to the Vampire fuselage.
History is history and all that is documented should not be forgotten,but I'm unsure how the British would come to terms with fogiveness under the same circumstances. Respect.
Sorry to be heavy !
Have a good week
Tailwheel

[mytime]

Hi David Powel

The Mosquito was certainly made of wood but was not a flying 'packing crate'. The fuselage was a moulded ply-balsa-ply construction,Maybe these techniques helped advance the modern day composite construction?

I know, that it was not a simple thing, e.g. like the glider planes, those were made from ply wood in a straight forward way.
One who knows some about plywood knows that plywood can only turn over one axis. You can see that very well in the glider planes that were used for troop transport, those have often a shape that shows that they are made from plywood parts that are bend in only one direction, there are always chines on this plane.
But one can go also another way, one can get a (concrete) mould and take long sheets of thin wood, and put that in the mould.
In this way multiple layers of thin wood can be glued over each other, and in that way one gets a very strong construction with a round shape, no edges. In that way, simply said the Mosquito is build (afaik). More things that needed to be "round" and could not be made form metal due to the lack of it have been made the same way during war, e.g. the fuel tanks of the P51D and the Spitfire. Those tanks were for single use, and no costly aluminium was spend on them. They were made from "form moulded plywood" too.
People saw those tanks to two pieces, often there was some fuel left, I can imagine they could give it a good use, cause there was lack of fuel and everything else during the war. But children liked to use the halves of the fuel tanks as boat, and, it has given other peoples ideas.
The builder of my boat (P.v.d. Brink, kolibri-jachtbouw) found once such fueltank, and after that he has used the same technique for small sail boats. It resulted into very sturdy round bilged hulls, they build e.g. the flying dutchman that way, but also my small kolibri 5.60.
They are still selling sail boats that were made in that way, though they wend from the formaldehyde glue to epoxy glue.

Mytime

[tailwheel]

Hi Mytime
Yes ,you're spot on !If you go the dh.museum ,they have the remains of a concrete mould.I think it's all that remains of the Sea Hornet.Well worth a visit when you're over,just off the M25.
Cheers
Tailwheel.
PS My 14 year old daughter has  inadvertently given away my identity.Please keep it secret!
Tailwheel 007 1/2

[Gate Master]

I have only chosen 4, as each of these have their own particular characteristics.

I know there are other many other marks but these 4 represent specific periods.....I think that makes sense.

Anyway let's see what happens

Regards
Andy D

Looks very much like the Mark 9 wins....although it really is a Mark 5 with a Merlin 60 series on the front...
May raise a few comments

Regards
Andy D

[stevie k]

I have only chosen 4, as each of these have their own particular characteristics.

I know there are other many other marks but these 4 represent specific periods.....I think that makes sense.

Anyway let's see what happens

Regards
Andy D

Looks very much like the Mark 9 wins....although it really is a Mark 5 with a Merlin 60 series on the front...
May raise a few comments

Regards
Andy D

And it was only originally intended as an interim variant..

Stevie k

[Gate Master]

I have only chosen 4, as each of these have their own particular characteristics.

I know there are other many other marks but these 4 represent specific periods.....I think that makes sense.

Anyway let's see what happens

Regards
Andy D

Looks very much like the Mark 9 wins....although it really is a Mark 5 with a Merlin 60 series on the front...
May raise a few comments

Regards
Andy D

And it was only originally intended as an interim variant..

Stevie k

Bl**dy good interim variant as well..
Andy