Originally Posted by
Danny42C
wasn't the Whitley known as "The Flying Suitcase", btw ?
I believe that was the Handley-Page Hampden, due to the extremely narrow fuselage. 3' IIRC, although that does sound ridiculously narrow.
Spitfires and Hurricanes still had 2-speed props at the beginning of the BofB. De Havilland rushed out conversion kits and they were converted to VP on-site at the squadrons.
There's an anecdote, I think in Jeffrey Quill's "A Test Pilot's Story", about a Wing Commander who turned up to collect his first Griffon-powered Spitfire.
Dismissing the sergeant who tried to explain with "I know how to fly a Spitfire", he applied a bootful of wrong rudder, opened the throttle and took off at 90° to his intended direction of flight, narrowly missing a hangar.