Spitfire onboard footage of banking dive and roll

[wrxflame]

Spitfire onboard footage of banking dive and roll - more footage

I gave my 73 yo Dad our GoPro for his lifetime dream of flying in a Spitfire. I trimmed out this 50 sec dive and roll from the 45 minute video.

http://youtu.be/Zh_6zZWsTWk

I think this is the aircraft in question:

ZK WDQ (civilian registration) or MH 367 (Royal Air Force designation) was constructed in its original form at the Castle Bromwich factory in July 1943. It was a Mark IX with a Merlin 61 engine.

The aircraft saw Wartime Service initially with No 65 Squadron RAF with a first operational sortie on 15 Aug 1943. Its last combat sortie was on 18 April 1945. MH 367 was scrapped in 1948 to be rebuilt in the USA using components of several aircraft to fly again in November 2006.

[wrxflame]

To those of you who clicked the link (approx 400 views since I posted) I do hope you found it interesting.

I was contemplating creating a short sequence of the landing as it was on grass and wondered if that was common place or not, was pretty exciting for my Dad and added a bit more to the experience.

Thanks again for taking a look.

[megan]

the landing as it was on grass and wondered if that was common place or not

Fighters typically operated from grass fields. In that manner they were always able to take off/land into wind and so avoid the handling difficulties that arise when operating with crosswinds. Now runways are concrete/bitumen and the new BBMF pilots are restricted to into wind ops until they have built up a level of experience on type before testing their skill with crosswinds. Landing on grass gives the tyres an easier life as well.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Interesting that the Spitfire sounds, from the inside, like a bag of spanners in a washing machine - none of the lovely sounds you hear as an outside observer when it flies past.

In that respect, it's just like the Yak52!

[rjtjrt]

Thank you for notifying us.
It was good to watch, but for me it was too brief - I would have liked a few minutes of video.
I was not aware there were 2 seat Spitfire rides available in NZ.

[India Four Two]

I also flew MH367 from Tauranga in 2012. Staggeringly expensive, although about half price compared to the UK. However, worth every penny, particularly for people's reactions when I casually mention that I've flown one.

A very-experienced flying instructor flew it after I did and he summed it up, in typical Kiwi fashion:

Sitting in the back seat, it felt just like some rubbishy old Harvard, but then you look out at that wing and you know you are flying something special!

This is a still from a video. I'll get my act together and post it.

Handling was somewhat disappointing - super sensitive in pitch, but very heavy ailerons - you would need two hands at high speed.

As SSD noted, the sound inside was all mechanical, but then you've got a lot of moving parts up front!

A highlight of the trip was the rejoin:

Tower: "ABC, opposite direction traffic, a Spitfire, 1500'"
ABC: "Tally ho the Spitfire!"

[wrxflame]

rjtjrt I took your comment as motivation to spend some time editing the various clips to create a 4 minute video with the following:

https://youtu.be/i6OUPensUiE

Engine Start
Close Canopy & Engine Run Up
Take off
Landing on grass with nice shadow of spitfire on approach.

Hope you enjoy.

India Four Two, make sure you get your act together and post your video!

[4Greens]

A lot of early aircraft had no tail wheel just a fixed tail skid. This made it easier to keep straight on landing.

[India Four Two]

4G,

The tail skid was usually connected to the rudder and thus steerable, not fixed. However, Spitfires had tailwheels, apart from the earliest flights of the prototype.

wrxflame, I'm working in my video-editing suite!