Originally Posted by
brickhistory
Also, don't know what model you Dad flew, but the fuel tank located under/behind the pilot, added to increase range, seriously affected the center of gravity and could lead to serious controllability problems if not burned off.
All this is via books, I hope someone with hands-on time can illuminate?
He flew them late in the war as he was mostly on Hurrcanes, spit sixteens, and twenty ones. I guess he flew late marques. He died a while back so I can't ask him. I have some of his log books and I'll dig 'em out when I am home. He said that this problem wasn't found on the spit. His impression was of an aircraft that was designed for production rather than use if you understand. Nice piece of kit but flawed.