Ambition achieved!
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Join Date: Jun 2006
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Ambition achieved!
After 30+ years and over 14,000 hours of flying I finally achieved a lifetime ambition and flew a Spitfire! 
After a long drive my wife (who managed to arranged this as a 50th birthday pressie - love you lots!) and I arrived at Sleap to find the Spitfire out on the Apron with 2 others who were flying ahead of me, after listening to the brief I watched the take off and subsequent flights before it was my turn. Finally the last man was down and it was my turn. As anyone who knows the Spitfire will be aware, one of its few weaknesses is it cooling on the ground, so there was a 40 minute wait before we could start up, in this time I covered the safety brief (knew most off this - but I never have a problem with recovering safety items) and a "What we will do" Brief by Anthony, the Pilot/Owner who was happy to treat me as a second pilot rather than just a pax. then it was time to go.
Sitting in the back seat the view is pretty awfull!, the take off, not surprisingly was done by Anthony. You can feel the power comming on, and in no time we were up at 2,000', Anthony gave me a quick demo of how sensitive the pitch was, then it was my turn to fly her - this was the fulfilment of all my childhood dreams the view is still not great from the back seat, but looking out along those eliptical wings is something else, and I wasted no time before rolling into steep turns and chandelles as we had briefed beforehand - I have never flown an aircraft before that will fly a 60+ degree bank turn so easily - makes a normal 30 degree bank in a Pa28 look like hard work!
After a few chandels by me, Anthony had me diving to 1500' at 270kts then pulling the nose up, at 3,500' I then pulled over and down the other way, just so beautiful to fly!
We moved on then to quarter clovers, loops, rolls, barrel rolls and hesitation rolls, all off which the Spitfire flies sooo easily, the only problem being to keep the "g" down - I was pulling 4g without even realising it, in spite of being used to flying this instructing in the Bulldog.
Finally it was time to end and Anthony took over for the landing.
Could it have been better? Well, if I could have sat in the front seat (sitting there on the ground the view is infinitely better than the rear and I think I could have flown TO and landing myself OK from there) and landed it - yes, but that is not possible or expected at present.
What I can say is that this has been a dream since I was a boy and anything I have written here does not come close to the experience.
After a long drive my wife (who managed to arranged this as a 50th birthday pressie - love you lots!) and I arrived at Sleap to find the Spitfire out on the Apron with 2 others who were flying ahead of me, after listening to the brief I watched the take off and subsequent flights before it was my turn. Finally the last man was down and it was my turn. As anyone who knows the Spitfire will be aware, one of its few weaknesses is it cooling on the ground, so there was a 40 minute wait before we could start up, in this time I covered the safety brief (knew most off this - but I never have a problem with recovering safety items) and a "What we will do" Brief by Anthony, the Pilot/Owner who was happy to treat me as a second pilot rather than just a pax. then it was time to go.
Sitting in the back seat the view is pretty awfull!, the take off, not surprisingly was done by Anthony. You can feel the power comming on, and in no time we were up at 2,000', Anthony gave me a quick demo of how sensitive the pitch was, then it was my turn to fly her - this was the fulfilment of all my childhood dreams the view is still not great from the back seat, but looking out along those eliptical wings is something else, and I wasted no time before rolling into steep turns and chandelles as we had briefed beforehand - I have never flown an aircraft before that will fly a 60+ degree bank turn so easily - makes a normal 30 degree bank in a Pa28 look like hard work!
After a few chandels by me, Anthony had me diving to 1500' at 270kts then pulling the nose up, at 3,500' I then pulled over and down the other way, just so beautiful to fly!
We moved on then to quarter clovers, loops, rolls, barrel rolls and hesitation rolls, all off which the Spitfire flies sooo easily, the only problem being to keep the "g" down - I was pulling 4g without even realising it, in spite of being used to flying this instructing in the Bulldog.
Finally it was time to end and Anthony took over for the landing.
Could it have been better? Well, if I could have sat in the front seat (sitting there on the ground the view is infinitely better than the rear and I think I could have flown TO and landing myself OK from there) and landed it - yes, but that is not possible or expected at present.
What I can say is that this has been a dream since I was a boy and anything I have written here does not come close to the experience.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
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I'm not jealous! No really... I'm not. You lucky, lucky...
Good on yer, sport! It's my dream too...
Good on yer, sport! It's my dream too...
Join Date: Oct 2000
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Many congrats - an experience of a lifetime! Speaking as someone who'd be well pleased to fly a Cherokee I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for you. Probably the best thing to do without taking your clothes soff!!
One of my ex-UAS students arranged a 70th birthday flight for her father in Carolyn Grace's Spitfire earlier this year - I think he'll need to have surgery to remove the smile from his face!
Glad you achieved your ambition - boy am I envious!
Glad you achieved your ambition - boy am I envious!
Join Date: Jul 2002
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Nigh on 40 years since I had my first trip, and I can still recall the thrill of it all. Our two seater had the large rear canopy, and it was easy enough to do all the flying from the rear cockpit once one got used to it.
I notice that most two seaters now have a much flatter rear canopy, no doubt to make them nearer in looks to the difinitive Spit, but I would not like to try instructing from the back seat in one of those.
Are there still any with the original large rear canopy, or have they all been slimmed down?
Well done Dance the Skies, lovely description. Try and find a large canopied one next, and see what I mean. Next major birthday!
I notice that most two seaters now have a much flatter rear canopy, no doubt to make them nearer in looks to the difinitive Spit, but I would not like to try instructing from the back seat in one of those.
Are there still any with the original large rear canopy, or have they all been slimmed down?
Well done Dance the Skies, lovely description. Try and find a large canopied one next, and see what I mean. Next major birthday!
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
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Tim, I think the flattened rear canopy was "known" as the Grace Hood after the late Nick Grace who designed and incorporated it into the rebuild of ML407 for exactly the reasons you describe.
But if memory serves it was cited as possibly a contributing factor to the sad accident which beset PV202 and her crew at Goodwood a few years ago because the vis is much poorer for the rear occupant - who was instructing at the time - compared with the Vickers style canopy with which 202 has recently re-emerged.
But if memory serves it was cited as possibly a contributing factor to the sad accident which beset PV202 and her crew at Goodwood a few years ago because the vis is much poorer for the rear occupant - who was instructing at the time - compared with the Vickers style canopy with which 202 has recently re-emerged.
