Geriaviator (speakihg in the voice of Jack Stafford [RIP]):
...it will be dogfight, dogfight and dogfight – that's all that matters”...
We did a lot of tail-chasing (pity we didn't use gun cameras). The one great lesson I learned was: stay alive - (the kills will come to you if you can do this). It was the main lesson I carried away from my OTU, taught to us all by an imaginative CFI. To save you the trouble of looking it up, here is my story:
...Our C.F.I. was a Wing Commander Farmer. We didn't see much of him, but he had one idea which would stand all of us in very good stead. Whenever he was out of his office (which seemed to be most of the time) he'd jump into "his" Spitfire. This had a very distinctive white spinner with a spiral painted on it. In this he'd roam around looking for lone Spitfires. Any that he found in the area would almost certainly be his. Finding one, he'd try to "bounce" it - carry out a mock attack. Catching one napping, he'd haul alongside and note the aircraft letters. There would follow an uncomfortable five minutes in front of your Flight Commander, and a "fine" of a day's pay. If, however, you'd "kept weaving", never flying straight and level for more than a few seconds at a time, watching your rear-view mirror and screwing your neck round * to spot any stranger behind, you'd see the CFI coming. Waiting till he came into firing range (about 400 yards), you'd turn tightly into him - the standard defensive parry. He'd waggle his wings to say "Cheers" and fly off to find another victim.
EDIT: Note * above, Post 7793 on page 390 refers.
It drove home the most valuable lesson a fighter pilot must learn - Watch your back! - you'll never see the aircraft that shoots you down! It recalls an old saying (from the WWI trenches) "You never hear the shell that kills you!" There is a romantic myth that air fighting was a knightly combat, and of course there was some like that, especially in the large scale dogfights of 1940. But a much more effective way is to creep up on your man with a piece of lead pipe...
...and on his right breast was the small silver Maltese Cross given to those who defended the beleaguered island...
Never heard of this (but only visited the island in peacetime), but it was a nice idea. But,
AFAIK, you couldn't have any extras on a uniform. Even my (honestly earned) USAF wings were verboten. (But then, those Wild Colonial Boys always were a law unto themselves !)
...on the Miles Master under our browned-off instructors. It was tedious, slow and boring...
I've never found any aircraft "boring" (a Tiger Moth can kill you as easily as a Typhoon !) The Master was comfortable, docile and roomy - ideal for an away weekend. Of course, the Harvard was a far better lead-in to a Spitfire (or was it vice-versa ?)
...In the Battle of Britain, many more than fell to the much-vaunted Spitfire...
The Spitfire's task. as I understand, was to give the German fighter escort something to play with, to distract them from seeing-off the Hurricanes which were shooting down their bombers. Any of the escort who got shot down in the process was a bonus.
... Although the Spitfire was more glamorous,[3] the Hurricanes were more numerous and were responsible for most of the German losses, especially in the early part of the battle. The turn-around time (re-arm and refuel) for the Spitfire was 26 minutes, while the Hurricane's was 9 minutes, which increased its effectiveness...[Wiki]...
This surprises me. The eight wing guns were under similar panels, the tankage (85 galls) filled from the top of the fuselage in both cases (?). How so ?
...maybe an aircraft I would fly had been in battle...
Very probably. Our Spitfire Is at Hawarden were survivors of the great days two summers before.
mike hallam,
BUMPFFH is the all-time favourite - the one we all learned in the war.
(Never is a long time).
Warmtoast,
Danny re your post #7808 & Geriaviator
Ta !
Ian BB,
...wheels have been known to fall off fixed gear aircraft on more than one occasion...
They fall off retractibles too (sad story on p.175 #3486 this Thread).
Geriaviator
...I think it's very wise to keep to your drills as some of us find it difficult to remember small but important points. Now how do I turn off this computer?...
So I'm not the only one ! (comes to us all in time).
MPN11,
....who flew off a carrier to deliver his Spitfire..
.
IIRC, because a Spitfire's flaps (pneumatic) are all-up or all-down, they trapped a suitably sized block of wood between them to give about 20°for take-off from the carrier. When comfortably airborne, you would put flaps down, block falls out, flaps up and away you go.
Jack and
John Purdey,
...the small silver Maltese Cross given to those who defended the beleaguered island...
As reply to Geriaviator above. And just imagine having to polish that lot ! And yes, the brevet is OK for colour, but the centre, I suppose, reads "RAAF".
Cheers to you all, Danny.