Battle of Britian Film (1969)
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: West Sussex
Posts: 1,771
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
FBS,
No, more likely a misunderstanding on my part; it was a fairly brief conversation, probably abbreviated by dealing with one of those nuisances known as customers, and after a career dealing with Harriers my hearing isn't too brilliant either !
This chap was certainly qualified to 'fly ' a Spit' and had done a lot, at least as passenger ( there's a clue for you ).
From the remarks above it sounds like he was the chap who got daylight under the wheels in the ' not intended for flight ' Spitfire in the film.
However, the possibilty does remain that despite his unique tie, and knowledge of the particular aircraft & family in question, I did hear correctly & he was indeed a B.S. Merchant...!
No, more likely a misunderstanding on my part; it was a fairly brief conversation, probably abbreviated by dealing with one of those nuisances known as customers, and after a career dealing with Harriers my hearing isn't too brilliant either !
This chap was certainly qualified to 'fly ' a Spit' and had done a lot, at least as passenger ( there's a clue for you ).
From the remarks above it sounds like he was the chap who got daylight under the wheels in the ' not intended for flight ' Spitfire in the film.
However, the possibilty does remain that despite his unique tie, and knowledge of the particular aircraft & family in question, I did hear correctly & he was indeed a B.S. Merchant...!
Last edited by Double Zero; 14th Nov 2009 at 12:47.
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Basingstoke
Age: 35
Posts: 185
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Haha
Who would EVER have thought there were any of those in vintage aviation?!!!!
It is like that great rule of thumb, if anyone ever tells you they were in the SAS you can usually be well assured they were not!
Who would EVER have thought there were any of those in vintage aviation?!!!!
It is like that great rule of thumb, if anyone ever tells you they were in the SAS you can usually be well assured they were not!
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 288
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Talk of a Spitfire unintentionally getting daylight under its wheels during the filming reminds me that in Michael Caines autobiography 'What's It All About' he describes just such an incident and how it terrified him, though he describes a 'real' one, not a replica.
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: UK
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
A perhaps a more credible explanation for this 'short flight' report might be that one of the seven Spitfires restored up to taxiing standard might have 'inadvertently' got airborne during one of the massed take of sequences.
Now I wonder which one that might have been?
We know that Robert Shaw managed to get SM411 up its nose at North Weald due to harsh braking.
PeterA
Now I wonder which one that might have been?
We know that Robert Shaw managed to get SM411 up its nose at North Weald due to harsh braking.
PeterA
Free for all near Luton
One sunny afternoon in 1968 I was foolishly attempting to further my desire to learn to fly. While practicing stalls to the north-east of Luton my instructor and I had a hell of a fright when we were suddenly confronted head-on by a flight of Spitfires.
It was almost a bigger fright than that which we had experienced when we slid off the top of some low cloud near Luton only to spy a Monarch Britannia about 100 feet immediately below us. Uncomfortably Happy Days!
It was almost a bigger fright than that which we had experienced when we slid off the top of some low cloud near Luton only to spy a Monarch Britannia about 100 feet immediately below us. Uncomfortably Happy Days!
Battle of Britain filming
I was at school in Great Yarmouth during 1968, when parts of the film were shot over the local area. One abiding memory was seeing six Spifires echeloned on either side of the B25 camera ship on sunny day.
The CAS 2-111's also made regular rumblings overhead - a great distraction when sitting in an exam room doing 'O' levels....
Forget Top Gun, and all the CGI stuff of today. This was real aircraft doing real flying. I doubt that we will ever see such a thing again.
When you look at the present parlous state of our forces think of this. Hamish Mahaddie probably had more fighters to command that the RAF has today. Maybe we should go back to flying Spit's and Hurri's again?
...and yes, I really am a boring old......
The CAS 2-111's also made regular rumblings overhead - a great distraction when sitting in an exam room doing 'O' levels....
Forget Top Gun, and all the CGI stuff of today. This was real aircraft doing real flying. I doubt that we will ever see such a thing again.
When you look at the present parlous state of our forces think of this. Hamish Mahaddie probably had more fighters to command that the RAF has today. Maybe we should go back to flying Spit's and Hurri's again?
...and yes, I really am a boring old......
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Ramsgate
Age: 69
Posts: 2
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Battle of Britain Filming
My memory of the filming is being taken to Manston after school by my father to see the Casa and Buchon aircraft that spent at least one night there. Sadly I did not see them airborne but my father did help to prepare Hawkinge for the film so got to hear when the aircraft would be around. At that time it did not take much to put the airfield back to a 1940's appearance as it was kept in an unused but semi tidy state right up until the mid 1970's. If anyone visits today the new housing estate has taken away most of the atmosphere but a little bit of the history can be celebrated by visiting the nearby Cat and Custard Pot pub at nearby Paddlesworth which was used by the aircrew in the 1940's and has lots of aviation photos and large scale r/c models of Spitfire,Hurricane and Tiger Moth hanging from the ceiling.
