John Eacott Visits the DARK SIDE
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: All The Places I Shouldnt Be
Posts: 1,009
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
John Eacott Visits the DARK SIDE
Yes John has gone over to the Dark Side, well for at least 30 minutes 
Caught up with John and his lovely wife at Duxford today where he swapped cyclic and collective for a Spitfire and Rolls Royce Merlin. Here are a few pics from his little visit to the other side
Caught up with John and his lovely wife at Duxford today where he swapped cyclic and collective for a Spitfire and Rolls Royce Merlin. Here are a few pics from his little visit to the other side
Ray Bans, BIG Watch.....................must be a pilot then! 
Fetching my coat.
Fetching my coat.
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Out there somewhere
Posts: 353
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great Pictures as always Ned. I always wanted to go up in a Spitfire after watching this clip.
Also, just in case, while I'm in the UK this summer and wanted to visit the Dark Side also, where do I go......
YouTube - Spitfire low level
Also, just in case, while I'm in the UK this summer and wanted to visit the Dark Side also, where do I go......
YouTube - Spitfire low level
Last edited by IntheTin; 9th Aug 2008 at 17:12.
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,957
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Noticed the Ray Bans and the three time zone Dick Tracy Special, but was most interested to see that the gent in the front got to suck on O2 while the GIB got to hold his breath. Real? Half your luck.
Ned,
Thanks for the photos, they have brought great memories of a great day
The Spitfire is a full dual control machine, so it was a flight made even better by getting to actually drive the legend, including wingovers, rolls and loops. Light on pitch, but heavy on roll, it was fine to fly, but I admit to needing a bit more currency on aerobatics
The pilot was an ex RAF Chinook/Wessex driver, Dave "Rats" Ratcliffe, who seemed to enjoy the trip as much as me. He used the O2 mask just for noise attenuation, it's like sitting inside a Fergie tractor engine half the time: the battery in my ANR gave up half way through the flight, which gave a good excuse for some heading errors
A couple more photos:
Thanks for the photos, they have brought great memories of a great day
The Spitfire is a full dual control machine, so it was a flight made even better by getting to actually drive the legend, including wingovers, rolls and loops. Light on pitch, but heavy on roll, it was fine to fly, but I admit to needing a bit more currency on aerobatics
The pilot was an ex RAF Chinook/Wessex driver, Dave "Rats" Ratcliffe, who seemed to enjoy the trip as much as me. He used the O2 mask just for noise attenuation, it's like sitting inside a Fergie tractor engine half the time: the battery in my ANR gave up half way through the flight, which gave a good excuse for some heading errors
A couple more photos:
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Below Escape Velocity
Posts: 416
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
AC-
I do believe you are correct... two laps around the dial or thereabouts. As I read it, he's doing either about 200 or a bit over 460. Since the wings appear to be over at about 60 degrees and the thing's not falling out of the sky with minimal sideslip, my money's on 200.
G's should be at 2 if it's a steady turn, but perhaps he's somewhere in the middle of a wingover or some such. Either way, looks like good fun!
I do believe you are correct... two laps around the dial or thereabouts. As I read it, he's doing either about 200 or a bit over 460. Since the wings appear to be over at about 60 degrees and the thing's not falling out of the sky with minimal sideslip, my money's on 200.
G's should be at 2 if it's a steady turn, but perhaps he's somewhere in the middle of a wingover or some such. Either way, looks like good fun!
AC,
Yes, the needle goes round and around, but I didn't spend much time looking inside: just the 280mph entry speed for the rolls, and then look back out and try not to pull back stick when upside down, half way round the aileron roll
UL, 4G on pull out from the loop, and about 2G for the rest.
Link to the Aircraft Restoration Company and the T9 history
Yes, the needle goes round and around, but I didn't spend much time looking inside: just the 280mph entry speed for the rolls, and then look back out and try not to pull back stick when upside down, half way round the aileron roll
UL, 4G on pull out from the loop, and about 2G for the rest.
Link to the Aircraft Restoration Company and the T9 history
