megan,
Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Sir ! What a treasury of brilliant photographs of the nicest thing which ever took to the air. Not necessarily the fastest, or the highest climber, or the easiest thing to handle on the ground, but simply the
nicest to fly IMHO.
Many moons ago, a Colonel Bayles (?), USAAC, who flew a
PR Spitfire in WWII, said in these columns: "Everyone [every pilot] should have a chance to fly one". I could not agree more. Some aircraft you sat
in, some you sat
on, but a Spit you put on like an old glove. Admittedly, you didn't have much room - it was better to be not more than 5'10" with a BMI of not more than 21, and even then it was a struggle to carry a couple of three-tonner brake drums inside, as was once my unfortu
nate lot.
Absolutely viceless and forgiving, floated like a Tiger Moth on landing, no tendency to ground-loop, it showed what could be done when you had one lone genius as a designer instead of a committee. I feel privileged to have had the chance to fly a few hundred (non-op) hours in them.
Our kindly Moderators would not have the heart to take these down until everybody has had time to have a good look at them, now would you, Gentlemen ?
I believe you are "dawnunder"; it so happens that we have an old nursing pal of my Mary's from Adelaide visiting with us at the moment, and I have a niece from Melbourne in regular correspondence, enjoying the autumn there, so I have a tenuous connection with the Wide Brown Land, but sadly never seen the place myself. How are the various groups out there, who are trying to scrape bits together to make another complete Vengeance, getting on, btw ?
A grateful Danny.