Thanks for watching! As always, let us know what aircraft you want to hear about next. Later this month, Liam Shaw will be showing you inside the cockpit of the Mk 1 Spitfire, N3200 so stay tuned for that!
Beaufighter please… Also it would be interesting to hear about some of the more troubled designs, such as the Boulton-Paul Defiant or the Short Sterling.
As a former member of the Canadian military, it did my heart good to see those fine Canadian aviators rerpresented! I spoke to a dear old chap years ago in a nursing home and he told me how he flew Lancasters and hisTWO brothers who flew Spitfires! Canadians for the most part look at Britain's war efforts as ours as well. We were there from the start...we stayed to the end. Wonderful video.
Canadians are held in high esteem over here , we still remember how they fought and still fight with our boys (I did my infantry training with a huge Canadian we all gave the nickname Dolph as he looked like the actor , that was in 99)
I was with my mum in a café a few years ago. We heard Spitfires overhead practicing for a show. She just burst into tears remembering the sound and sights of Spitfires over London and recalling mothers running for their lives with children to the shelters. Terrible times.
Tears of JOY for the Spitfires over London, shooting down Messerschmidts and Juncker bombers to stop them from taking the lives of your mum in her childhood and the mothers running for their lives with children. A comforting sound to have at the time, but yes, it still stirs the buried memories. Enjoy precious peace!
Sounds like your mum had a classic case of PTSD. I wonder just how many people on both sides who lived through the war suffered in silence in the decades afterwards? Very sad.
Growing up in the 70's, I could never get enough pictures or videos of Spitfires & other plans of WWII. So glad all of these things are so easily available on the internet today.
I used to work at a factory in Sheffield that forged & machined all of the crankshafts for the Merlin, Hurricane .Lancaster Bomber, Wellington Bomber . I worked in the forge design office as a young apprentice and I went into the basement of the building and rolled up in the corner was the forging drawings for the dies used to stamp out the parts. It was an amazing experience as a young lad. Our training officer was an ex WW2 fighter pilot , his life experiences made him a real character. The hammer forge has gone now but the drawings for the forging hammers are still there. The name of the company was Ambrose Shardlow on grangemill lane , Sheffield. Happy times as a young apprentice , the filing cabinets in the drawing office had the machined component drawings that were used to design the forgings.
My late father worked at Shardlows down blackburn in Sheffield he told me virtually the same things you wrote. When i drive past the old site i always think of the WW11 aircraft and the day trips we had on the special train runs.
My father flew Spits in the RCAF from 1943-1945 in 403 squadron and 421 squadron. As a ferry pilot after the war he got to fly all the German fighters. Of course he was biased, but he always said that nothing compared to the Spit.
@@seangordon846 well said. And he was right. Look up the test flight assessment of the Seafire III by Corky Meyer (Grumman chief test pilot). A true non-biased comparison that shows how pilots loved its performance.
Still one of the prettiest aircraft ever made. The melodious Merlin sound is still ear-candy today. The more raspy sounding Griffon still sounds good. Lucky to have seen and heard eight spitfires (4 Merlin’s and 4 Griffons) doing a tail chase at Flying Legends in 2005, the last Legends appearance of the late great Ray Hanna in MH 434. Duxford is by far my favourite place in England. Must get back there soon. Cheers from Adelaide, South Australia.
You know, I would have said that same about the Merlin until I heard both back to back (but only here on TH-cam). I was astonished by the silky smooth, raw power of the Griffin. On a side note, the friend you picked up has a point about War. I don't love War but I love some aircraft designs from it.
By the way, our "loyal" British allies let the Polish pilots fly the less good Hawker Hurricane for a long time while they themselves flew the Spitfires. Nevertheless, the Polish pilots were more successful than the British. The highest scoring squadron during the Battle of Britain was the No. 303 Polish Hurricane Squadron. This squadron also had the distinction of having the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to own losses suffered.
@@GreatPolishWingedHussars Most squadrons flew the Hurricane during the battle of Britain as they where produced in a greater quantity to the spitfire. Was a good aircraft especially for bomber interception, scoring 60% of kills during the battle of Britain.
Many FW190 pilots reported after the war that they were shocked to see their sudden dominance over the Spitfire 5s in dogfights suddenly disappear. They looked so similar and in the intensity of a twirling airbattle were thought to have been Spitfire 5s flown by the best RAF pilots. A few weeks after the first encounters with the '9 they realised they were up against an aircraft that could match them for speed and manoeverability once again. This innovative model relects great credit on Joe Smith and the wonderful engineers and designers at Supermarine who worked tirelessly to keep the Spitfire competitive and their pilots alive.
Men at the Supermarine Works in Southampton trying to volunteer for military service, prior to conscription, were rejected and sent back to work. The workers were known in the city as "The Supers" and having been the victims of three seperate tactical Luftwaffe bombing raids are, quite rightly, held in legendary esteem.
Duxford is one of the worlds greatest aviation museums and it so good to see so many marks of Spitfires, both flying and static in one place. A great film by Graham who also gave a superb talk on the Lancaster which I attended a year or two ago.
I agree. In 2003 we saw the 9 marks of Spits in a flying display, then sadly the RN Historic Flights Firefly crashed on the other side of the field killing their 2 crew.
Sometimes in history something is just so perfect both in looks and performance that it takes your breath away. The Spitfire is such a thing. The RR engine was also a thing of beauty to those interested in mechanics.
Though in the battle of Britain the Merlin engine was actually one of the biggest handicaps of the Spitfires because it was a gravity fed system. The German Me 109 had active fuel injection which meant their engines wouldn't stall no matter how many G's they pulled. The biggest advantage of the spitfire was the British radar network. The pilots always knew the enemy when they were coming and the short range of the Me 109 meant aggressive dogfighting was only available for them for a few minutes. The home field advantage also was very significant. If a spitfire sustained moderate damage it could just land and the plane could be repaired and the pilot just put into a different plane. If a German plane sustained moderate damage the pilot would be captured. Many Me 109 actually crashed into the English channel running out of fuel. The Germans for some reason though didn't use drop tanks. I never understood the hesitations around them. Yeah they ruin agility but you should only use them at the start. Taking off uses up a very large amount of fuel as you need to accelerate quickly, climb a significant amount of altitude in a short span of time at relatively low speed and you also have to fight through the dense atmosphere. I feel you should size drop tanks to be empty at around the time the fighter is leaving safe skies.
@@MrMarinus18 Ther Merlin engine didn't stall, in fact the problem of negatice G was much reduced by the Battle of Britain and didn't worry RAF pilots, another fact is the Merlin engine was more efficient than the DB 601, drop tanks might have helped but the Bf 109 would run out of cannon ammunition in a few seconds and either have to make do with just two machine guns or head home to rearm.
One of the high points of my trip home to the UK, the land of my birth, was to spend a day in Duxford. I was born into an air force family and this visit was highly emotional for me. That said, what I want to share is an experience whilst going through the museum. I heard a Merlin engine and thought, "How appropriate, sound effects in the museum". As I left the building I saw one of the Spitties just touching down. Sound effects? Hah! This was the real deal. That day has become a once in a lifetime experience for me.
Yes, that's one of the joys of Duxford. If you visit during a nice spring or summer's day you are likely as not to hear a Merlin overhead. There are many flying vintage aircraft based there. If you look around the exhibits you can tell which they are; they will have oil drip trays under the engines.
It was probably MH434 Mk.IX that you saw. For my 50th birthday, my family clubbed together to pay for me to fly in the DeHavilland Dragon Rapide while MH434 flew alongside us... literally 100ft away. Memory of a lifetime 👌
Enjoyed the presentation on the Spitfire exhibit at the Imperial War Museum (Duxford) and plan to visit the museum on my next trip to England. Being of Polish descent, I noticed the Kościuszko Squadron 303 logo on the Mark 5 BM 597 and the Polish Air Force checkerboard on the Mark 9 in the videos. I sincerely appreciate the recognition given to those pilots by the RAF and the Imperial War Museum. Dziękuje i Bóg zapłac!
Szachownicę ? Właśnie nie ma ich na tym egzemplarzu RF M , a powinny być dwie w okolicy śmigła tak jak na wszystkich myśliwcach latających w polskich dywizjonach .
BM597 was a Polish spitfire, but not in 303.. They should have given it that recognition. There are numerous Polish Spitfires in the old footage used as well.
@Ted I have such respect for the Polish people in the war. From being occupied the longest, the early work on decoding the enigma, the pilots in Battle of Britain, taking Casino monastery in Italy, parachuting into Arnhem, Warsaw uprising, and many more instances. Well done, and Thank you, from Ireland.
The Polish contribution in the BoB is beginning to be recognised more widely. All told, it is proof that you are better having the Poles on your side than against you. After all, who conquered Russia in the seventeenth century?
Best plane ever built, i never get tired of the sight and sound of that beautiful aircraft. I live in Southampton and proud to say i had 2 family members, my great nan and great aunt who helped to build them at the supermarine factory in weston. I sadly never got the chance of meeting them as they died a good few years before i was born. RJ Mitchel lived in portswood a couple of miles away from where i live.
WHile on business in the UK, I had the opportunity to visit Duxford. What a great place! They have a superb collection of aircraft, tanks and other items. But I have to say that the thing that impressed me the most was a wall of glass panels that lined the walkway leading up to the U.S. Air Museum. Etched into these panels were thousands of aircraft that were flown by Americans. There were BN-17's, B-24's, B-25's and on and on. Each airplane etched into this glass wall represented an aircraft lost in combat. It's nice to know that the British people are still thankful for the sacrifices made by American aircrews. Thanks for remembering!
The sacrifice and courage of the the USAAF flying from Britain is well remembered. If anyone forgets it a visit to the American cemetery at Madingley just outside Cambridge would be a sobering reminder. 🇬🇧🇺🇸👍
Well do the same for the thousands of Australians Canadians, Kiwis, Poles Greeks Czechs Norwegians, Dutch Belgians Free French that were in it right from the start not 3 years later
Duxford is The best. I took my kids there nearly 20 years ago and they still talk about it. I still have the catalogue, in the bog and read it like every day. I'd love to go back there one day but all the kids are grown up and gone away ! Great authoritative video thanks.
I was lucky enough to be given a Spitfire cockpit experience for Christmas by my daughter and on January 1st this year I sat in the cockpit of the MK1 Spitfire. It was an unforgettable and truly humbling experience made extra special by the incredibly knowledgeable museum member of staff who took me through the history of the aircraft and guided me into the cockpit. Thanks very much IWM Duxford!
Smashing video, thanks so much for making this. My father built the Merlins in WWII at Derby, while my mother watched Spitfires and Hurricanes overhead in London during the Battle of Britain and likely cared for some of their pilots as a theatre nurse at Bart's hospital. Now, in my retirement, I fly Spitfires as r/c models and a MK IX in Virtual Reality in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Along with Concorde, quite possibly the most beautiful aircraft ever made.
It’s great to see Joe Smith getting a mention when discussing the Spitfire, many videos about this great aircraft only ever mention that it was originally designed by R.J. Mitchell and leave it at that.
That's literally all he did and died which is fine he did enough but that's life he didn't get to live to tell his story history is always shaped by survivors not deaths
Indeed. B.Shenstone was a bit of a genius on the aerodynamics side of things. There was quite a lot of experimentation getting the tailplane situated at a suitable position (in the vertical plane) for good handling characteristics. It seems obvious to us with hindsight that exhaust ports ejecting laterally on the prototype were less than ideal,...they gained a small speed increase by ejecting the exhaust aft of course.
I was just about to write the similar. Its simply fact there would be no Spitfire without Mitchell, but without Joe Smith's immense talent the aircraft may have never gone on to become the icon it has - or have the longevity it did. Only the jet age spelt the end of the Spit, not the design.
@@sbg911 Very true, in fact the Spitfire took us all the way from the biplane age to the jet age, the Spitfire first flew in 1936, the Gloster Gladiator entered service in 1937. Even in 1960 a Spitfire was tested against the English Electric lightning to see how best to combat a piston engine fighter with a fast jet.
When I was stationed in England (RAF Lakenheath, F-111F's) in the 80's I had the pleasure of visiting RAF Duxford. All the aircraft were absolutely gorgeous but of course the star was the Spitfire!!! A return trip to Duxford and a visit to the US museum there is on my bucket list!
Truly a piece of flying sculpture. And that wonderful Merlin! Music! She purrs along sounding so smooth, nothing like the guttural growl of the big Pratt & Whitney radials. I live in Hamilton, ON, home of one of only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world. It always makes a beautiful summer day even better when I see her flying by. Hearing those magical Merlins overhead gets me all verklempt every time.
My parents grew up in London during WW2.They told me so many stories of the Blitz and Doodle Bugs.My mum was walking home from school one day.She was on a railway bridge when a ME109 fired at the railway tracks just missing her.She was 8 yrs old.The children were evacuated out of London just after that.I am so grateful for the British and Allied forces for what they did.Great channel.Subscribed.
Yes, my late father was sent to Wales from London at the age of three or four. Can't imagine what these kids went through. Not to mention that his father had been terribly wounded at the Somme in WW1 and was never the same again. We should never forget what this Island has been through. As my Grand Father used to say, "move on, but with caution".
Had the privilege to meet him last year, he made my day, say hi to him for me. I'm the girl with the spitfire tattoo, I got to see a spitty that is close to my soul Z-XM and Grahams knowledge and enthusiasm was intoxicating. 😊
The Spitfire was named after the daughter of chairman of Supermarine. Mitchell didn't like the "Spit" being named after this girl but accepted it. As it turned out, this was the perfect name for this fighter. The RAF was flying them in Hong Kong in the late 40's and early 50's, they'd go up and put on tremendous displays of dog fights, almost every day. There was very little commercial air traffic back then. Several of them were WW2 aces, it was really exciting to see two of them square off against 5 or 6 young pilots and go thru their moves.
I am VERY lucky to live near Duxford and come here 2-3 times a year, It is an incredible place and it never gets boring, good food there, regular planes flying around, lots of learning, ww2 and other historical planes too, its an amazing place. Fun Fact: Once me and my brother was in the hangar with the Concorde, a guide let us too in the cockpit due to our kindness and questions on it, No one had sat in either the pilot or co-pilot seat in that plane in over 50 years. Lesson learned, Be kind and something good will happen.
I remember Spits like VN 485 flying in HK, there wasn't much air traffic at Kai Tak in 1949, airlines like BOAC, PanAM, TWA, AirFrance and PAL had only a few flights per week and HK was no where near as densely packed as it became after 1952, the population was less than 140,000. There were a few WW2 aces who'd go up and practice dogfights with the younger pilots almost every day. It was better than any formal show, the only thing missing was live fire. A couple of the old boys would square off against 6 or 8 young guys and totally wax them. The younger guys got better for it which made for an even better show over time. It was the closest thing to live combat you could see anywhere.
When my father retried from the RAF he took a job as chief flying instructor at a flying club in Norfolk. I met a lot of old RAF pilots who flew Spitfires. A man called Taffy Rich bought one and I was allowed to sit in the cockpit. Later that day during a flying club event they put on he flew it down the field and did a couple of barrel rolls. I also met Douglas Bader who didn't fly anymore. My father taught his daughter to fly. She was learning in a Tiger Moth. Taffy Rich took me up in one and flew me upside down. Great fun when you are 11 years old.
Now there's a name that I haven't heard in many years, Douglas Bader. My late father used to recount his heroics to me as young boy and he became my hero.Thank you for bringing back a very positive memory!
This gent is very VERY knowledgeable. Had him for a talk in the Lancaster just before lockdown and what a true gent he is. Glad I can watch him online too now!
A beautiful Aircraft to fight for King & Country. Conversely, despite me being German, the British Spitfires and American B-17s make me feel proud of their respective Nations. Is Remote Patriotism a thing?
I envy you good sir. It lifts my heart to see a WWII British plane fly over my house. Four days ago I saw a hawker hurricane fly over my house, and I cheered with pride.
She is the embodiment of liberty and freedom - a beauty, a warrior, a legend. Thank you for mentioning Castle Bromwich, my Nan rivetted many wings there. I am so lucky I live close to several airfields around High Wycombe, a solitary Spitfire, a Mk9 flies a few times a year and she still stops traffic to this day. And that says it all. A brilliant appraisal of a truly iconic warplane. The Spitfire and the Mosquito, per ardua ad astra, and thank you.
@@valopotato175 That empire, fought together to rid the world of the German empire and the Japanese empire and the Italian empire. We are left with American, Chinese and Russian empires, only one of which will prevail. So if you’re going to have a snipe at empire perhaps rather than snivel at historic entities long gone like the Akkaidian, Aksumite, Angevin, Assyrian, Babylonian, Belgian, Bruneian, Bulgarian, Byzantine, Carthaginian, Chavín, Chola, Comanche, Dacian, Danish, Dutch, Egyptian, Elamite, French, Frankish, Gallic, Ghana, Gorkha, Great Moravian, Gupta, Han, Harsha, Hepthalite, Hoysala, Hunnic, Inca, Italian, Japanese, Johor, Jolof, Josean, Kaabu, Kanem, Khmer, Kong, Macedonian, Majapahit, Maratha, Mauryan, Mexican, Mitanni, Mongol, Mughal, Nanda, Nicaea, Omani, Ottoman, Oya, Pala, Palmyrene, Parthian, Pontic, Portuguese, Prussia, Ptolemaic, Roman, Samanid, Serbian, Siam, Sikh, Songhai, Spanish, Shunga, Swedish, Thessalonica, Timurid, Toucouleur, Vijayanagara, venetian, Wari, and Zulu……go right ahead. Or are you just Anglophobic?
I saw BM597 at Luga airport on Malta, such a wonderful experience, but seeing all the old chaps, in their uniform, silently looking at the Spitfire and the Hurricane flying in formation, brought a tear to my eye.
One of the best memories I have now was walking through all those beautiful Spitfires at Duxford. Thank you IWM for putting on such a brilliant display.
Our Brit brothers had a magnificent, stunning National defense instrument! I love how the Spitfire was so ‘alive’ and dynamic-it was always growing and improving. I can’t help but wonder what the P-51D Mustang could have done with the RR Griffon power plant. Cheers from the States! 🇺🇸💛🇬🇧
"Deservedly the best known fighter of the war". Very true words. While not as numerous as the Hurricane, the Spitfire was the longest continually developed plane of all WWII nations and the one that saw service in every single theatre. From Europe to Africa, the Mediterranean to the Middle East, the Pacific and South East Asia, the Spitfire was the icon of Allied air power and the Royal Airforce's jewel in a crown of excellent aircraft.
No other prewar design kept steadily improving so reliably throughout the war like the Spitfire. The BF-109 despite more powerful engines topped out in the F series and afterwards became overweight cannon platforms for bomber interception. The A6M Zero's design was so specific that it continued to be outclassed after 1942 only with marginal "improvements" at best. The Spitfire was deadly threat to its best opponents both at the beginning of the war and the same could be said at the end of the war. Simply a brilliant (and beautiful) airplane.
The B-25 comes to mind. Technically a pre-war design in that it was first approved in the US before the US entered the war. It was retired from service only in 1979. And of course the C-47 is still in active service to this date in several countries, having been upgraded with turboprop engines and often a lengthened fuselage as well. Which doesn't at all take away from the brilliance that was the Spitfire/Merlin combination.
The P 38 time line profile is something that should interest you, first flight 27 January 1939. Took 90% of the photo recon pictures in Europe, combat range, 1,300 miles. Continually refined throughout the war as well. And mission capability included serious bomber role as well. Worth a read.
@@jwenting in late 43 the story goes it was soon to be 44, many people at the time agreed with that and today looking back there's lot of so-called evidence saying it's absolutely true. Although I believe 44 after only about 12 months became 45. I think most people in the early 40s were expecting the year to change in a regular manner, some suggest it may have been as little as 52 weeks, it wasn't all milkshake and lamb joints back then, some effort was put into what people could carry on a train, let me tell you, more than a bucket of water at weekends.
The Bf 109 was used in the Spanish Civil War, and was still developed further after WW2 - most notably as the "Merlin" (!!!) - engined Spanish development as the HA1112. It was finally withdrawn from Spanish service in 1965. The Spanish built "109"s are widely used to portray earlier models in films. You can tell the Merlin-engined ones because they have the exhausts much higher up than on the (German) BMW-engined models. 1937 to 1965 is quite a good run for an "operational" (not prototype) timeline - indeed, the 109 saw actual combat in 1937 with the Condor Legion. As to the late-war bomber-destroyers - they weren't all built like that, though a plethora of "R" kits and "U" kits meant that some were (although the logistics must have been a nightmare - indeed, lack of oil and ridiculous logistical complexity were two of the reasons why the Germans lost the War).
By the way, our "loyal" British allies let the Polish pilots fly the less good Hawker Hurricane for a long time while they themselves flew the Spitfires. Nevertheless, the Polish pilots were more successful than the British. The highest scoring squadron during the Battle of Britain was the No. 303 Polish Hurricane Squadron. This squadron also had the distinction of having the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to own losses suffered.
The fact it was a pre war design and yet it was so much better than nearly everything was amazing. Truly one of the best fighters ever and it was lucky enough to share the sky with hurricanes which was another remarkable plane
As an American I was unaware of the IWM Duxford until I stumbled on to this video. So glad that I did because we are planning a trip to England in 2026 and I just added this museum to our itinerary. Can't wait to see these beautiful machines in person!
I remember as a teenager with the ATC in the 1980s visiting the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and they started one of their Spitfires and I saw why it got its name! And as it turned around the prop wash nearly blew me over. Happy memories of an Amazing aircraft we owe so much too. Not forgetting all the airmen who were to make the ultimate sacrafice for their countries during the war, we will remember them.
Whilst a lot of wartime pilots praised the Mk.IX and said that it was their favourite, the test pilots who flew all of them generally said that the Mk.VIII was the best of the bunch - Like a IX but more refined. Most VIII's went to Australia and a few went to Italy, they weren't as common as the IX so fewer pilots got to fly them. All of the later Griffon engined Spitfire marks were based on the VIII as opposed to the IX - The IX was based on the Mk.V airframe and was actually a stop-gap measure, the VIII was the next generation airframe, featuring numerous aerodynamic and structural improvements.
Your comment itself described why exactly Mk.IX was the favourite among frontline pilots: thanks to using the Mk.V airframe it got to the front sooner and remained easier to produce. At that time new 60-series Merlins easily compensated for slight airframe problems like unretractable tail wheel, so Mk.IX was a huge success. And by the time Griffons came to mass production, the Mk.VIII airframe was adapted. I'm not sure how it was with fighters production, but cannon production dropped significantly from 1943 to 1945, saying there was more than enough of them produced, perhaps the same "lack of urgency" let the brits take more time to shape new Griffon Spitfires.
As you probably know, Mk. VIII, despite it's lower number, was more advanced model than Mk. IX and it was the model originally developed for the Merlin 60 series engines. But the development wasn't finished yet when FW 190 appeared on the scene and because they were superior to Mk. V, a provisional solution was made in the form of Mk. IX which was basically Mk. V airframe with the Merlin 60 engines. This solution was succesful so basic war logic said it's easier to continue in producing less demanding and cheaper Mk. IX in big numbers and Mk. VIII, probably the best balanced version of Spitfire ever, was sentenced into the secondary role.
@@MDzmitry Actually, no, the IX did not arrive first. The VIII was produced in small number before the IX, and was intended to be the main production and final Spitfire model (RAF believed newer types would replace the Spit) but when the FW-190 threat became clear, they had to rapidly adapt the best parts of the VIII onto the V airframes already in production, as they could never produce VIIIs quickly enough. As it stood, only the smaller Supermarine factory produced the Mk VIII because they already had tooling for it, whilst the much larger Castle Bromwich plant was hurriedly adapted to turn Vs into IXs, instead of the original plan for both factories to produce the VIII. Historically, then, you can see the VIII as the definitive, "perfect" Spitfire model, which wartime necessity forced to be sidelined in favour of an interim mark that simply never stopped being produced (the IX). Frontline pilots don't care about production speed... they just want the best plane. It's basically undeniable the VIII was superior to the IXs, but most pilots never got to experience it due to the rarity, that's all. Not to say the decision was wrong. The IX took the best attributes of the VIII, specifically the longer nose and Merlin 61, and shoved them into existing production airframes. More than "good enough" to sort out the power imbalance with the Luftwaffe in 1942/43, and even some later IXs started to use the same pointier vertical tail as the VIII, just lacking the retractable tailwheel.
By the way, our "loyal" British allies let the Polish pilots fly the less good Hawker Hurricane for a long time while they themselves flew the Spitfires. Nevertheless, the Polish pilots were more successful than the British. The highest scoring squadron during the Battle of Britain was the No. 303 Polish Hurricane Squadron. This squadron also had the distinction of having the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to own losses suffered.
@@GreatPolishWingedHussars That's a somewhat ungracious comment given the UK declared war on Germany over the invasion of your country and the destruction of the Polish Air Force had taken the Luftwaffe a little over a week, albeit at cost. The French had therefore been similarly sceptical of Polish ability and with major differences in language and equipment it was hardly surprising British officials took the same dim view at a time of high urgency and limited resource. In the event, those Poles who made it to the UK showed their experience and undoubted motivation mattered. The Polish contribution to the BoB has long been celebrated. You might like to show equivalent respect, especially given the UK's currently growing commitment to the defence of your country.
Going back to the Mk 1, Getting in the neighborhood of 1,300hp out of an engine back in 1940 was absolutely phenomenal. Britain needed the Rolls Royce Merlin for aircraft so badly that the engine wasn't available for use in tanks(as the R.R. Meteor) until the tail end of the war in 1945 as used in the Cruiser Comet tank. The elliptical wings of the Spitfires, the sleek fuselage, and the bubble canopy are absolutely beautiful-if I may be so bold as to say that a weapon meant for killing could be deemed as such... anyone with the heart of an engineer can understand.
The supply of high octane aviation fuel from the US was a big help in getting all that power. The Germans could only dream of such high quality fuel for their fighters.
Living, as i do in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the summer months I quite regularly see a two-seater Spit (giving flight experiences) overhead flying towards Beachy Head lighthouse and the towering chalk cliffs. Each time I just have to dash outside as soon as I hear that unmistakable engine noise, and every time I do, it never fails to give me goosebumps!
I was fortunate enough to be down there with my family when I saw them approaching from the sea. It's like being transported back in time. Goose bumps.
The most iconic thing mankind has made. The beauty, the romance, the drama of the theatre, the consequences of the outcome of the battle, the power and precision of performance. All hail R.J. Mitchell!
My father was a machinist apprentice in Manchester before The War. After joining the Army, he became part of the BEF and became stranded like so many thousands of other men at Dunkirk. He eventually swam out to sea and was picked up by a fishing trawler and taken to Portsmouth. After a few days of recovery he was assigned to a plant in Crew, I think, as a machinist helping build the RR Merlin Engine. We, his family, are very proud of his service during WWII. God Bless all the men and women who helped hold England together during such a damnable time.
My father was a WW2 Combat Veteran of the 101st (not starting with D-Day but later). He was a Private and Commercial Pilot. I joined but while I now despise War, I love a good Aircraft. That RR Sound is legendary.
U do understand literally every industry in the US was used to help the war all he did was make stuff like that's cool but he didn't serve in any sense of the word he was a mechanic that's it...
@@ScoobyShotU Excuse me but you are unaware of what it was like in Britain for workers during WWII. Were the US mechanics being bombed whilst they worked? Did they have their homes destroyed and families killed? Did they have to live on rationed food for years with the fear of invasion from just a few miles over the channel? Did their wives and girlfriends take over the manning of searchlights to pick out the bombers or take jobs in munitions factories? So, did British mechanics making engines for Spitfires serve? You'd better believe it. You have no idea.
I was very proud to meet a great chap who flew Spitfires at the grand old age of 18 in the Battle of Britain, Geoffrey Wellum, a true gentle man who is greatly missed.
I was privileged to meet one of the designers who played a major part in the development and incremental improvements of the Spitfire's super charger. He mentioned that it was a cat and mouse game to gain an advantage over incremental Messerschmitt horse power improvements.
I was in hospital not to long ago. I was pretty ill but our local airfield had a visit from a spitfire. I heard it and had to get out of my sick bed with my drip to see it. The noise invoked so many feelings and I had to see it. It worked I saw it, it didnt see me but that didnt matter. I felt pride and loved the sound and I knew I was on the mend. Is it that powerful a symbol? You bet your arse it is.
Thanks for this. A friend of mine his Dad was a Kiwi Spitfire pilot and fighter ace in WW2 his name was Flt Lt David Livingstone... we have Spitfire warbirds here in NZ.. cheers from down under 👍🇳🇿✈️
As a young lad in the 50's I remember seeing Spitfires flying over, the sound of the Merlin engine was unmistakable. I didn't know there were so many upgrades, so thank you for uploading.
Altho' the Seafire 47 went on in production until 1949, I think the last Mk24 was sitting in the South Marsden factory in Swindon, in February 1948 on the day I appeared in the world.
Thank you... very interesting and informative. I am a scale modeller and my first love was (and probably always will be) the Spitfire, some very useful footage there! Once again, many thanks - long may she grace the skies, to me, the most beautiful piece of British engineering.... EVER...
As an American, have a HUGE respect for the Spitfire. An amazing aircraft piloted by some of the bravest heroes of the war. The Brits SHOULD be proud of this machine in all of it iterations. Its not only beautiful....but BADASS in all forms.
Thank you for sharing this with me as an ordinary member of the public. Can I say that my generation (born in the 1960s) fortunately haven't really experienced any conflicts at all so we only had the stories of our fathers (who were children themselves in the late 30s and early 40s) and grandfathers to recount what happened. When I see films like this it reminds me of how lucky those of us alive today actually are. That some of those men who fought _whether in the air, on the sea or land_ gave all of their tomorrows so that I and others who came after them may have had our todays. Most grateful for their sacrifices and respectful of their memory, always.
BRILLIANT they saved the Netherlands - I never thought that so few could make a difference for so many - and turned the war around - so a big fan of these shows!!!
Duxford is my second home, I never get tired of the place. See this beautiful collection of spits 6 day's ago on my birthday, and what a birthday treat it was seeing these all together. Makes ya proud to be British around such legendary aircraft 🇬🇧
Learned a lot from this video, surprised that you did not say more about the armament as this element evolved a lot as well and I would have been very interested to learn more.
Great video thanks! The Spitfire was so beautiful to look at! As perfect as a plane can be. On my last visit home from Australia in 2016 with my 2 boys I was able to have a pint of Spitfire in the Poppylands Pub in Horsey in Norfolk with a good friend. During the war my uncle George had been a Spitfire pilot trainer.
Out walking my dogs on a common half an hour ago and one just flew fairly low right over me! As I live not far from Cambridge and Duxford I will assume it was from Duxford and was practising for the Jubilee holiday that starts tomorrow. Always a pleasure to see one and the noise! It's like a hundred of your favourite sports cars revving in unison, marvellous!
I'm sure you've been told over and over " great and exceptional documentary on the Spitfire. " Very educational. Learned many things that I never knew. Thank you for all the hard work that went into this video.
My father was one of the pilots in the RHKAAF that flew VN485, I always remember going to 'lunch' at Duxford with him and others from the 'Flying Dragons', and the slightly glazed look that came over most of them, if not all, as a Spitfire did a low pass across the airfield.
There’s very few aircraft in all of history that stood the test of time and had their airframes in use for as long as they did. A true statement of the incredible machinery that is this warbird
I remember making an Airfix model of the Mk 5 Spitfire when I was a little boy. That was long after the war but it was such a beautiful aeroplane that it captured my imagination despite being an old aeroplane by then. I'm no aeronautical engineer but the proportions just look right and it's easy to believe that they were as good to fly as the RAF pilots all seem to recall.
@@garyelderman1229 You have made a statement, that cannot (perhaps ever) be, challenged. Reginald Mitchell's creation is indeed, the ' most beautiful plane to ever, take flight ', not to mention its lethal armament ❣ 🇬🇧 Roland Singh, Canada 🇨🇦
Thank you for posting. Very instructive and I appreciate that. There are lots of iconic things about the Spitfire and I think we all have our favorite. For me it’s the music of the Merlin engine just beautiful to hear
I can't explain it exactly. But seeing and hearing a Spitfire, triggers my emotion just like a beautiful piece of music. I literally tear up whenever I hear that RR engine start up and see it take off into the sky. It's simply beautiful.👌👍
Re Spitfire mkv, clipping the wings did increase rate of roll. However clipped (wing), cropped (supercharger vanes) better at low altitude & clapped (high service hours) was used mainly for low level raiding across the Channel. My father affectionately called them clipped, cropped & clappted out MKv's usually with the early B wing to accommodate 2 cannons with 4 .303's. Fresh MKV's were sent out to the North African theatre. Unfortunately they suffered detonation due to sand intake turning to glass in the combustion chambers. Rolls Royce engineers advised engine fitters to scrape deposits via spark plug holes! Eventually the ugly Vokes air filter remedied that problem but sacrificed some speed. At this time MK IX'S were kept for home defense. Just a few anecdotes about Spits that my dad told me.
@@Slaktrax that is very true, however to the men that maintained them they affectionately called them clipped, cropped & clapped. I was not saying that they literally machined the vanes, but as you say they had smaller impellers together with the housing to match. I hope that's straightened things out with regard to "cropped".
A "bucket list" destination for every man that read Commando mags as a lad . I was given a brilliant tour of the MK14 by one of the restorers , he allowed me behind the ropes one rainy and quiet saturday afternoon to see the griffin engine , which i had never seen before , i got to go up some ladders and peer over the exposed workings , it was amazing how in that era , in a war , the engine builders could come up with such a beast. Its a day that stands alongside my first xxxx in good memories of the past.
Dear Graham, thank you for the superb video. Your voice and presentation style work beautifully. I hope to see you again soon in sunny Duxford. Kind regards Nick
One of the most beautiful planes ever created! The pure smooth look of the plane and the noise of those Merlin engines roaring over is just a wonderful sound... Probably my Fave WW2 plane.
A chap flies over where I work in Meopham, Kent. He has D Day invasion stripes on wings and fuselage. It looks like a mark 1X. I'm sure he buzzes the estate that I work on with the odd barrel roll thrown. I always wave to him and appreciate his displays. Thankyou Sir.
@@David.Bobson I tend to think it's single seat. He/she flies low enough to see it's single seat. It hasn't flown over for a few weeks now, maybe due to time of year. Hope all's alright.
Have seen it over East Sussex too. There are the two seater ones that operate from Headcorn Kent. In the summer they can be seen battering along toward beachy head (instead of Dover) then a short while later heading back the other way.
I live near Southend airport and we have a lot of light aircraft flying over most sound very similar but as soon as a Spitfire fly's over I know exactly what it is, love the sound of the Merlin!
Another fantastic video by Duxford! I hope to one day have the privilege of being back on that side of “the pond” and once again having the opportunity to visit such an amazing facility! Until then, thank you for producing these wonderful videos!
Thanks for the great footage and excellent presentation. The word 'iconic' is overused nowadays, but the Supermarine Spitfire is truly iconic - especially marks 1 and 2. Had the Battle of Britain been lost, the later marks might never have been produced.
The F-15 is probably the modern equivalent to the Spitfire. A display of sheer power and class that has proven itself so incredibly adaptable that they're _still_ finding new ways to get more out of it.
The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a model of the Merlin engine that was used to train apprentices I think. Bits of it are cut away and have glass covering them so that many of the moving parts are exposed. Obviously you have to crank it over because there is no way it could run, but it's very interesting to see.
It also has a Mk XVI that the Battle Of Britain producers offered to get airworthy but the museum refused fearing that is may be destroyed in a crash. In the mid 80s it still had the original battery sitting in the back.
I was born next to r j Mitchell's house in butt Lane in stoke I would have 2 fly over every few years to commemorate him very low and rocking wings it was an amazing sight
Fantastic video - thank you, Graham Rodgers, for presenting an excellent showcase on arguably the most famous and beautiful fighter - the Supermarine Spitfire.
I was a sailor on a US carrier from 1989 to 1992. At sea, the Air Wing was aboard the ship held F-14s, F/A-18s, S-3s, E2 Hawkeyes, A6s and EA6Bs. One time, we had liberty in Hong Kong and a Spitfire was sitting on the pier. I was shocked at how tiny the plane was and how massive modern aircraft had become. The Spitfire seemed like a 2/3 scale version of an airplane, if that big.
It is because Jet Engines are much thirstier. The extra fuel adds more weight. Then there is more ordnance on the newer fighters. All that requires more space. It and the weight require more lift, so....
Had a similar experience a few years ago in Ottawa, Canada. Flying museum had a Spitfire (a Mk.VII I think it was, may have been a IX) parked next to a RCAF CF-18B. I'd known how different in size they were (been building models for decades), but seeing them in the flesh that close together really brought it home. Paradoxically, the pilot workspace, the cockpit is no roomier on the Hornet as compared to the Spitfire. It's just got way more stuff packed into it, with the absolute minimum of space to fit a human left over in both of them.
Very true, I went to an air museum in the north of england and thought the same thing that the old fighters were so much smaller than the jet engine fighters that replaced them. Saw a lightening prototype and it was massive!
I'm always amazed how tiny the WW2 fighters were too. I was at an airshow where you could walk up and look into the cockpit of an F15. The pilot was there answering questions and a boy started asking him about F14's. The pilot said they are big and slow. The boy looked at his father as they left and said the plane was really big for one guy. I said, "Well it has to have room for his ego"! Everyone in ear shot laughed...except the pilot! It really is amazing one guy needs that much plane. I wish someone would just start building full size Spits and P-51's again. All of the romance has been designed out of modern fighters. Like hypercars, they all look like the answer to a mathematic equation.
I had that experience as well when a restored B-29 flew in that we got to tour. A WW II vet talked about it being the biggest plane in the war. It sounds really big, but when you are inside there isn't much room. When you are outside, the B-29, other than its wing span, was dwarfed by a meager 737-200 nearby.
What an interesting coincidence: the Mk V shown in the museum is from the Polish No. 303 Squadron, and the Mk IX in the black-and-white American documentary also happens to be Polish, from No. 302 Squadron.
My father was a aircraft mechanic , and the saying was "don't panic- aircraft mechanic" because they would have a panic on the repair the Spitfires ready to go back out , such a beautiful plane, and tough , strong people who built and flew this machine for the time the technology in making the rollsroyce engine was amazing, God rest all those who put their best into stopping the tyrinny of the world. I miss you Dad 😞.
Great video I have been to Duxford and seen these aircraft Over the years I have been fortunate to see many fly. A truly lovely aircraft. Cheers Uncle Reg
Excellent research and video, My uncle used to work at the Hall of Aviation (Solent Sky) here at Southampton, he told me that a guy who worked at Supermarine came in one day with some interesting information that confirmed the Spitfire they had there was a genuine mk1 test version. When Supermarine had come to an end, he was told to go burn a desk, but instead, asked if he could take it home, when he looked inside a drawer he found papers containing jottings and test results matching the engine numbers that were tested with and without the split peas over the rivets, he also liberated some spitfire wing formers that would have been destroyed after the factory clearout, so much is lost and regretted later.
Interceptor, air-superiority fighter, fighter-bomber, photo recon, high-altitude interceptor, carrier fighter, even an excellent float-plane version... top-of-the-line fighter from the beginning of the war to the end, operational in all theaters... what other airplane compares? Plus, it was so damn beautiful!
Not good for escorting Lancasters into Germany. Very much a short range fighter--- exactly what England needed for most of the war. Lousy dogfighter against Zeros and Hayabusas though. My favorite WW2 fighter.
@@2lotusman851 Very good for escorting RAF and USAAF bombers and capable of doing so into Germany if it was needed. Also better against the Zero than other fighters, the Zero couldn't take on a Spitfire as long as the Spitfire pilot maintained speed, the Zero turned tight at low speed but not well as speed went up.
Interesting commentary there. I had never thought about the problems of having such power in a prop plane before, the need to counteract the roll of the aircraft in reaction to the angular acceleration of the prop and also the aerodynamic limits of trying to pull an aircraft through the air with a big fan.
@@larrycable984 The contra rotating prop was tested on griffon engine Spitfires, it was put on the post war Seafires, Having seen a Spitfire take off with a contra rotating prop it is quite impressive, the Spitfire Mk XIV for take off Revs and boost were limited, 7 lbs boost because of the high torque then for normal climb about 14 lbs boost. The contra rotating prop allowed them to use full boost and revs for take off but added complexity and weight.
Thanks for watching! As always, let us know what aircraft you want to hear about next. Later this month, Liam Shaw will be showing you inside the cockpit of the Mk 1 Spitfire, N3200 so stay tuned for that!
Definitely some less known RAF and FAA aircraft! Thank you guys for doing all of this!
Beaufighter please…
Also it would be interesting to hear about some of the more troubled designs, such as the Boulton-Paul Defiant or the Short Sterling.
Jup. Nice.
Happy Advent *
Hawker Hurricane please!
As a former member of the Canadian military, it did my heart good to see those fine Canadian aviators rerpresented! I spoke to a dear old chap years ago in a nursing home and he told me how he flew Lancasters and hisTWO brothers who flew Spitfires! Canadians for the most part look at Britain's war efforts as ours as well. We were there from the start...we stayed to the end. Wonderful video.
Fearsome reputation the Canadians and Anzacs had during the second world war , the British couldn't ask for finer Allie's.
And WWI. Very brave and fearsome fighters the Canadians and ANZACS. Thank you to our brave allies in both World Wars.
Canadians are held in high esteem over here , we still remember how they fought and still fight with our boys (I did my infantry training with a huge Canadian we all gave the nickname Dolph as he looked like the actor , that was in 99)
🇬🇧🤝🇨🇦
The Netherlands will always be grateful for the Canadian forces that played a large part in its liberation! 🇳🇱
I was with my mum in a café a few years ago. We heard Spitfires overhead practicing for a show. She just burst into tears remembering the sound and sights of Spitfires over London and recalling mothers running for their lives with children to the shelters. Terrible times.
Tears of JOY for the Spitfires over London, shooting down Messerschmidts and Juncker bombers to stop them from taking the lives of your mum in her childhood and the mothers running for their lives with children. A comforting sound to have at the time, but yes, it still stirs the buried memories. Enjoy precious peace!
@@RaBob"tears of joy" no lol.
@@RaBobDon't glorify what was a horrible time, and try to speak for those who were there lol
@@lorddoge8410 He's not glorifying the era, he's glorifying those who saved London from attacks.
Sounds like your mum had a classic case of PTSD. I wonder just how many people on both sides who lived through the war suffered in silence in the decades afterwards? Very sad.
Growing up in the 70's, I could never get enough pictures or videos of Spitfires & other plans of WWII. So glad all of these things are so easily available on the internet today.
I'm not quite that old but I must have checked out the libraries few books on warbirds dozens of times haha
As long as you didn't not get enough of WW3 "plans" you're alright
I used to work at a factory in Sheffield that forged & machined all of the crankshafts for the Merlin, Hurricane .Lancaster Bomber, Wellington Bomber . I worked in the forge design office as a young apprentice and I went into the basement of the building and rolled up in the corner was the forging drawings for the dies used to stamp out the parts. It was an amazing experience as a young lad. Our training officer was an ex WW2 fighter pilot , his life experiences made him a real character. The hammer forge has gone now but the drawings for the forging hammers are still there. The name of the company was Ambrose Shardlow on grangemill lane , Sheffield. Happy times as a young apprentice , the filing cabinets in the drawing office had the machined component drawings that were used to design the forgings.
My late father worked at Shardlows down blackburn in Sheffield he told me virtually the same things you wrote. When i drive past the old site i always think of the WW11 aircraft and the day trips we had on the special train runs.
My great grandfather was a spitfire pilot in the RCAF from 1943-45. I have many great photos he had taken of him and his kite as he called it.
My father flew Spits in the RCAF from 1943-1945 in 403 squadron and 421 squadron. As a ferry pilot after the war he got to fly all the German fighters. Of course he was biased, but he always said that nothing compared to the Spit.
@@seangordon846 well said. And he was right. Look up the test flight assessment of the Seafire III by Corky Meyer (Grumman chief test pilot). A true non-biased comparison that shows how pilots loved its performance.
Don't forget test pilots Eric "Winckle" Brown and Jeffrey Quill's books. They flew every Mark of Spitfires.
Still one of the prettiest aircraft ever made. The melodious Merlin sound is still ear-candy today. The more raspy sounding Griffon still sounds good. Lucky to have seen and heard eight spitfires (4 Merlin’s and 4 Griffons) doing a tail chase at Flying Legends in 2005, the last Legends appearance of the late great Ray Hanna in MH 434. Duxford is by far my favourite place in England. Must get back there soon. Cheers from Adelaide, South Australia.
You know, I would have said that same about the Merlin until I heard both back to back (but only here on TH-cam). I was astonished by the silky smooth, raw power of the Griffin. On a side note, the friend you picked up has a point about War. I don't love War but I love some aircraft designs from it.
@@GarrishChristopherRobin777 are we supposed to take you serious with that scuffed ass profile pic?
Sad to say I grew up in the UK but never got there, plan to see Grey nurse next year so should hopefully fill a gap.
By the way, our "loyal" British allies let the Polish pilots fly the less good Hawker Hurricane for a long time while they themselves flew the Spitfires.
Nevertheless, the Polish pilots were more successful than the British. The highest scoring squadron during the Battle of Britain was the No. 303 Polish Hurricane Squadron. This squadron also had the distinction of having the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to own losses suffered.
@@GreatPolishWingedHussars Most squadrons flew the Hurricane during the battle of Britain as they where produced in a greater quantity to the spitfire. Was a good aircraft especially for bomber interception, scoring 60% of kills during the battle of Britain.
Many FW190 pilots reported after the war that they were shocked to see their sudden dominance over the Spitfire 5s in dogfights suddenly disappear.
They looked so similar and in the intensity of a twirling airbattle were thought to have been Spitfire 5s flown by the best RAF pilots.
A few weeks after the first encounters with the '9 they realised they were up against an aircraft that could match them for speed and manoeverability once again.
This innovative model relects great credit on Joe Smith and the wonderful engineers and designers at Supermarine who worked tirelessly to keep the Spitfire competitive and their pilots alive.
Hello there 👋👋,how are you doing today? Hope you’re having a good day? God bless you!!!
Aren’t you forgetting Rolls -Royce?
And visa versa when the FW190 appeared.
Men at the Supermarine Works in Southampton trying to volunteer for military service, prior to conscription, were rejected and sent back to work.
The workers were known in the city as "The Supers" and having been the victims of three seperate tactical Luftwaffe bombing raids are, quite rightly, held in legendary esteem.
That would be the scariest thing to realise
Duxford is one of the worlds greatest aviation museums and it so good to see so many marks of Spitfires, both flying and static in one place. A great film by Graham who also gave a superb talk on the Lancaster which I attended a year or two ago.
I agree. In 2003 we saw the 9 marks of Spits in a flying display, then sadly the RN Historic Flights Firefly crashed on the other side of the field killing their 2 crew.
Duxford is certainly a great day out!
Yes it is a great museum - where else can you see a B52 in the UK and concorde.
Couldn't agree more David , nice one.
@@allanblack8990 Allan there is nothing more sad than an accident like that to happen ,R I P to the two crewmen of the Firefly. x.
Sometimes in history something is just so perfect both in looks and performance that it takes your breath away. The Spitfire is such a thing. The RR engine was also a thing of beauty to those interested in mechanics.
Look at Daimler engine
Though in the battle of Britain the Merlin engine was actually one of the biggest handicaps of the Spitfires because it was a gravity fed system. The German Me 109 had active fuel injection which meant their engines wouldn't stall no matter how many G's they pulled.
The biggest advantage of the spitfire was the British radar network. The pilots always knew the enemy when they were coming and the short range of the Me 109 meant aggressive dogfighting was only available for them for a few minutes. The home field advantage also was very significant. If a spitfire sustained moderate damage it could just land and the plane could be repaired and the pilot just put into a different plane. If a German plane sustained moderate damage the pilot would be captured. Many Me 109 actually crashed into the English channel running out of fuel.
The Germans for some reason though didn't use drop tanks. I never understood the hesitations around them. Yeah they ruin agility but you should only use them at the start. Taking off uses up a very large amount of fuel as you need to accelerate quickly, climb a significant amount of altitude in a short span of time at relatively low speed and you also have to fight through the dense atmosphere.
I feel you should size drop tanks to be empty at around the time the fighter is leaving safe skies.
@@MrMarinus18 Ther Merlin engine didn't stall, in fact the problem of negatice G was much reduced by the Battle of Britain and didn't worry RAF pilots, another fact is the Merlin engine was more efficient than the DB 601, drop tanks might have helped but the Bf 109 would run out of cannon ammunition in a few seconds and either have to make do with just two machine guns or head home to rearm.
just like an E type jag!
Yes, I had Ian guns tons allied fighter book as a kid and it had a photo of the mk 22 I think. So beautiful, that was 38 years ago
One of the high points of my trip home to the UK, the land of my birth, was to spend a day in Duxford. I was born into an air force family and this visit was highly emotional for me. That said, what I want to share is an experience whilst going through the museum. I heard a Merlin engine and thought, "How appropriate, sound effects in the museum". As I left the building I saw one of the Spitties just touching down. Sound effects? Hah! This was the real deal. That day has become a once in a lifetime experience for me.
Yes, that's one of the joys of Duxford. If you visit during a nice spring or summer's day you are likely as not to hear a Merlin overhead. There are many flying vintage aircraft based there. If you look around the exhibits you can tell which they are; they will have oil drip trays under the engines.
It was probably MH434 Mk.IX that you saw. For my 50th birthday, my family clubbed together to pay for me to fly in the DeHavilland Dragon Rapide while MH434 flew alongside us... literally 100ft away. Memory of a lifetime 👌
Enjoyed the presentation on the Spitfire exhibit at the Imperial War Museum (Duxford) and plan to visit the museum on my next trip to England. Being of Polish descent, I noticed the Kościuszko Squadron 303 logo on the Mark 5 BM 597 and the Polish Air Force checkerboard on the Mark 9 in the videos. I sincerely appreciate the recognition given to those pilots by the RAF and the Imperial War Museum. Dziękuje i Bóg zapłac!
Szachownicę ? Właśnie nie ma ich na tym egzemplarzu RF M , a powinny być dwie w okolicy śmigła tak jak na wszystkich myśliwcach latających w polskich dywizjonach .
BM597 was a Polish spitfire, but not in 303.. They should have given it that recognition. There are numerous Polish Spitfires in the old footage used as well.
na wzajem. pozdro.
@Ted I have such respect for the Polish people in the war. From being occupied the longest, the early work on decoding the enigma, the pilots in Battle of Britain, taking Casino monastery in Italy, parachuting into Arnhem, Warsaw uprising, and many more instances. Well done, and Thank you, from Ireland.
The Polish contribution in the BoB is beginning to be recognised more widely. All told, it is proof that you are better having the Poles on your side than against you. After all, who conquered Russia in the seventeenth century?
Best plane ever built, i never get tired of the sight and sound of that beautiful aircraft. I live in Southampton and proud to say i had 2 family members, my great nan and great aunt who helped to build them at the supermarine factory in weston. I sadly never got the chance of meeting them as they died a good few years before i was born. RJ Mitchel lived in portswood a couple of miles away from where i live.
WHile on business in the UK, I had the opportunity to visit Duxford. What a great place! They have a superb collection of aircraft, tanks and other items. But I have to say that the thing that impressed me the most was a wall of glass panels that lined the walkway leading up to the U.S. Air Museum. Etched into these panels were thousands of aircraft that were flown by Americans. There were BN-17's, B-24's, B-25's and on and on. Each airplane etched into this glass wall represented an aircraft lost in combat. It's nice to know that the British people are still thankful for the sacrifices made by American aircrews. Thanks for remembering!
The sacrifice and courage of the the USAAF flying from Britain is well remembered. If anyone forgets it a visit to the American cemetery at Madingley just outside Cambridge would be a sobering reminder. 🇬🇧🇺🇸👍
@@fus149hammer5 Indeed, my local library in Norwich has a memorial library section devoted to the USAAF.
Well do the same for the thousands of Australians Canadians, Kiwis, Poles Greeks Czechs Norwegians, Dutch Belgians Free French that were in it right from the start not 3 years later
@@fus149hammer5 See above USA 1942 Everyone else 1939
Duxford is The best. I took my kids there nearly 20 years ago and they still talk about it. I still have the catalogue, in the bog and read it like every day. I'd love to go back there one day but all the kids are grown up and gone away ! Great authoritative video thanks.
You can adopt me and I'll go! 8 D
I was lucky enough to be given a Spitfire cockpit experience for Christmas by my daughter and on January 1st this year I sat in the cockpit of the MK1 Spitfire. It was an unforgettable and truly humbling experience made extra special by the incredibly knowledgeable museum member of staff who took me through the history of the aircraft and guided me into the cockpit. Thanks very much IWM Duxford!
Smashing video, thanks so much for making this. My father built the Merlins in WWII at Derby, while my mother watched Spitfires and Hurricanes overhead in London during the Battle of Britain and likely cared for some of their pilots as a theatre nurse at Bart's hospital. Now, in my retirement, I fly Spitfires as r/c models and a MK IX in Virtual Reality in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020. Along with Concorde, quite possibly the most beautiful aircraft ever made.
beautiful ? lol, most of the german planes are much prettier
@@MUFSpoilernah.
It’s great to see Joe Smith getting a mention when discussing the Spitfire, many videos about this great aircraft only ever mention that it was originally designed by R.J. Mitchell and leave it at that.
That's literally all he did and died which is fine he did enough but that's life he didn't get to live to tell his story history is always shaped by survivors not deaths
Indeed. B.Shenstone was a bit of a genius on the aerodynamics side of things.
There was quite a lot of experimentation getting the tailplane situated at a suitable position (in the vertical plane) for good handling characteristics. It seems obvious to us with hindsight that exhaust ports ejecting laterally on the prototype were less than ideal,...they gained a small speed increase by ejecting the exhaust aft of course.
I was just about to write the similar. Its simply fact there would be no Spitfire without Mitchell, but without Joe Smith's immense talent the aircraft may have never gone on to become the icon it has - or have the longevity it did.
Only the jet age spelt the end of the Spit, not the design.
@@sbg911 Very true, in fact the Spitfire took us all the way from the biplane age to the jet age, the Spitfire first flew in 1936, the Gloster Gladiator entered service in 1937. Even in 1960 a Spitfire was tested against the English Electric lightning to see how best to combat a piston engine fighter with a fast jet.
When I was stationed in England (RAF Lakenheath, F-111F's) in the 80's I had the pleasure of visiting RAF Duxford. All the aircraft were absolutely gorgeous but of course the star was the Spitfire!!! A return trip to Duxford and a visit to the US museum there is on my bucket list!
I was shown around Lakenheath by the guys of the 48th TFW back in ‘82. They showed off the Pave Tac pod to me.
Truly a piece of flying sculpture. And that wonderful Merlin! Music! She purrs along sounding so smooth, nothing like the guttural growl of the big Pratt & Whitney radials. I live in Hamilton, ON, home of one of only two airworthy Lancasters left in the world. It always makes a beautiful summer day even better when I see her flying by. Hearing those magical Merlins overhead gets me all verklempt every time.
... and the Harvards prop noise as they fly abeam your position. Transonic blade tips.
One of the best sounding fighter plane engines and absolute symphony of engineering.
A.G.R.E.E.D - The Supermarine Spitfire & The North American P-51D Mustang are some of my favorite WW2 fighter plane's of all time.
My parents grew up in London during WW2.They told me so many stories of the Blitz and Doodle Bugs.My mum was walking home from school one day.She was on a railway bridge when a ME109 fired at the railway tracks just missing her.She was 8 yrs old.The children were evacuated out of London just after that.I am so grateful for the British and Allied forces for what they did.Great channel.Subscribed.
Wow, that was quite a close call.
Yes, my late father was sent to Wales from London at the age of three or four. Can't imagine what these kids went through. Not to mention that his father had been terribly wounded at the Somme in WW1 and was never the same again. We should never forget what this Island has been through. As my Grand Father used to say, "move on, but with caution".
Thank you. A wonderful journey. One of my Uncles flew a Seafire. He did not survive the war, but I still love the Spit!
Sorry to hear your Uncle lost his life in the War , R I P to him . Nice one to him for flying the Seafire. Rob.
That's my friend Graham. His knowledge about this incredible aircraft is second to none. And he's one of the nicest chaps you are ever likely to meet.
Had the privilege to meet him last year, he made my day, say hi to him for me. I'm the girl with the spitfire tattoo, I got to see a spitty that is close to my soul Z-XM and Grahams knowledge and enthusiasm was intoxicating. 😊
The Spitfire was named after the daughter of chairman of Supermarine. Mitchell didn't like the "Spit" being named after this girl but accepted it. As it turned out, this was the perfect name for this fighter. The RAF was flying them in Hong Kong in the late 40's and early 50's, they'd go up and put on tremendous displays of dog fights, almost every day. There was very little commercial air traffic back then. Several of them were WW2 aces, it was really exciting to see two of them square off against 5 or 6 young pilots and go thru their moves.
It was an affectionate nickname he gave her, on account of her spectacular temper. Which somehow makes it more fitting.
I am VERY lucky to live near Duxford and come here 2-3 times a year, It is an incredible place and it never gets boring, good food there, regular planes flying around, lots of learning, ww2 and other historical planes too, its an amazing place. Fun Fact: Once me and my brother was in the hangar with the Concorde, a guide let us too in the cockpit due to our kindness and questions on it, No one had sat in either the pilot or co-pilot seat in that plane in over 50 years. Lesson learned, Be kind and something good will happen.
Same here mate,I live in Thaxted just the other side of Saffron Walden,get to Duxford about the same amount and am working around it and driving past!
I remember Spits like VN 485 flying in HK, there wasn't much air traffic at Kai Tak in 1949, airlines like BOAC, PanAM, TWA, AirFrance and PAL had only a few flights per week and HK was no where near as densely packed as it became after 1952, the population was less than 140,000. There were a few WW2 aces who'd go up and practice dogfights with the younger pilots almost every day. It was better than any formal show, the only thing missing was live fire. A couple of the old boys would square off against 6 or 8 young guys and totally wax them. The younger guys got better for it which made for an even better show over time. It was the closest thing to live combat you could see anywhere.
Other than seeing live combat!!
P. ....................sounds like a early version of what we had in the 60s in the States as Top Gun School ???????
@@dannycalley7777 except Top Gun is staged over a desert in Nevada where nobody can see them..
When my father retried from the RAF he took a job as chief flying instructor at a flying club in Norfolk. I met a lot of old RAF pilots who flew Spitfires. A man called Taffy Rich bought one and I was allowed to sit in the cockpit. Later that day during a flying club event they put on he flew it down the field and did a couple of barrel rolls. I also met Douglas Bader who didn't fly anymore. My father taught his daughter to fly. She was learning in a Tiger Moth. Taffy Rich took me up in one and flew me upside down. Great fun when you are 11 years old.
Now there's a name that I haven't heard in many years, Douglas Bader. My late father used to recount his heroics to me as young boy and he became my hero.Thank you for bringing back a very positive memory!
My dad met douglas bader years ago at an air show gotta love norfolk
This gent is very VERY knowledgeable. Had him for a talk in the Lancaster just before lockdown and what a true gent he is. Glad I can watch him online too now!
What's his name?
I live not too far from Duxford, so I can see and definitely hear them flying around. My most favourite airplane.
A beautiful Aircraft to fight for King & Country.
Conversely, despite me being German, the British Spitfires and American B-17s make me feel proud of their respective Nations.
Is Remote Patriotism a thing?
It might well be! I'm an Aussie with a soft spot for your country's Fw 190 and Me 262
Could be... I'm exceptionally proud of the way your country successfully integrated East and West.
Cheers from NYS!
I live not far from Derby, home of Rolls-Royce. Their Spitfire often flies over our house. What a sound! Such a beautiful plane.
I envy you good sir. It lifts my heart to see a WWII British plane fly over my house. Four days ago I saw a hawker hurricane fly over my house, and I cheered with pride.
She is the embodiment of liberty and freedom - a beauty, a warrior, a legend. Thank you for mentioning Castle Bromwich, my Nan rivetted many wings there. I am so lucky I live close to several airfields around High Wycombe, a solitary Spitfire, a Mk9 flies a few times a year and she still stops traffic to this day. And that says it all. A brilliant appraisal of a truly iconic warplane. The Spitfire and the Mosquito, per ardua ad astra, and thank you.
"liberty and freedom" and the British Empire are oxymorons.
@@valopotato175
That empire, fought together to rid the world of the German empire and the Japanese empire and the Italian empire.
We are left with American, Chinese and Russian empires, only one of which will prevail. So if you’re going to have a snipe at empire perhaps rather than snivel at historic entities long gone like the Akkaidian, Aksumite, Angevin, Assyrian, Babylonian, Belgian, Bruneian, Bulgarian, Byzantine, Carthaginian, Chavín, Chola, Comanche, Dacian, Danish, Dutch, Egyptian, Elamite, French, Frankish, Gallic, Ghana, Gorkha, Great Moravian, Gupta, Han, Harsha, Hepthalite, Hoysala, Hunnic, Inca, Italian, Japanese, Johor, Jolof, Josean, Kaabu, Kanem, Khmer, Kong, Macedonian, Majapahit, Maratha, Mauryan, Mexican, Mitanni, Mongol, Mughal, Nanda, Nicaea, Omani, Ottoman, Oya, Pala, Palmyrene, Parthian, Pontic, Portuguese, Prussia, Ptolemaic, Roman, Samanid, Serbian, Siam, Sikh, Songhai, Spanish, Shunga, Swedish, Thessalonica, Timurid, Toucouleur, Vijayanagara, venetian, Wari, and Zulu……go right ahead. Or are you just Anglophobic?
@@valopotato175 Compared to who they were fighting and other empires through out history, they certainly were on the more freedom and liberty side.
Nobody is lucky to be near High Wycombe
@@valopotato175 PRAT!
I saw BM597 at Luga airport on Malta, such a wonderful experience, but seeing all the old chaps, in their uniform, silently looking at the Spitfire and the Hurricane flying in formation, brought a tear to my eye.
One of the best memories I have now was walking through all those beautiful Spitfires at Duxford. Thank you IWM for putting on such a brilliant display.
Duxford.
@@lateralg3169 thanks - typed that on my phone at the time and autocorrect messed it up. I hadn't even noticed.
Our Brit brothers had a magnificent, stunning National defense instrument! I love how the Spitfire was so ‘alive’ and dynamic-it was always growing and improving. I can’t help but wonder what the P-51D Mustang could have done with the RR Griffon power plant.
Cheers from the States! 🇺🇸💛🇬🇧
There was at least one post-war Unlimited Class racer, called Beguine. Fast, but IIRC it crashed before it could be raced.
The P-51H wasn't bad at over 2200hp with water injection!
"Deservedly the best known fighter of the war". Very true words. While not as numerous as the Hurricane, the Spitfire was the longest continually developed plane of all WWII nations and the one that saw service in every single theatre. From Europe to Africa, the Mediterranean to the Middle East, the Pacific and South East Asia, the Spitfire was the icon of Allied air power and the Royal Airforce's jewel in a crown of excellent aircraft.
I think there is one in the Reno air races.
@@OkenWS Makes you wonder if a Griffon could reach 3,000 hp with water methanol injection.
No other prewar design kept steadily improving so reliably throughout the war like the Spitfire. The BF-109 despite more powerful engines topped out in the F series and afterwards became overweight cannon platforms for bomber interception. The A6M Zero's design was so specific that it continued to be outclassed after 1942 only with marginal "improvements" at best. The Spitfire was deadly threat to its best opponents both at the beginning of the war and the same could be said at the end of the war. Simply a brilliant (and beautiful) airplane.
The B-25 comes to mind. Technically a pre-war design in that it was first approved in the US before the US entered the war.
It was retired from service only in 1979.
And of course the C-47 is still in active service to this date in several countries, having been upgraded with turboprop engines and often a lengthened fuselage as well.
Which doesn't at all take away from the brilliance that was the Spitfire/Merlin combination.
The P 38 time line profile is something that should interest you, first flight 27 January 1939. Took 90% of the photo recon pictures in Europe, combat range, 1,300 miles. Continually refined throughout the war as well. And mission capability included serious bomber role as well. Worth a read.
@@jwenting in late 43 the story goes it was soon to be 44, many people at the time agreed with that and today looking back there's lot of so-called evidence saying it's absolutely true. Although I believe 44 after only about 12 months became 45.
I think most people in the early 40s were expecting the year to change in a regular manner, some suggest it may have been as little as 52 weeks, it wasn't all milkshake and lamb joints back then, some effort was put into what people could carry on a train, let me tell you, more than a bucket of water at weekends.
The Bf 109 was used in the Spanish Civil War, and was still developed further after WW2 - most notably as the "Merlin" (!!!) - engined Spanish development as the HA1112. It was finally withdrawn from Spanish service in 1965. The Spanish built "109"s are widely used to portray earlier models in films. You can tell the Merlin-engined ones because they have the exhausts much higher up than on the (German) BMW-engined models. 1937 to 1965 is quite a good run for an "operational" (not prototype) timeline - indeed, the 109 saw actual combat in 1937 with the Condor Legion. As to the late-war bomber-destroyers - they weren't all built like that, though a plethora of "R" kits and "U" kits meant that some were (although the logistics must have been a nightmare - indeed, lack of oil and ridiculous logistical complexity were two of the reasons why the Germans lost the War).
By the way, our "loyal" British allies let the Polish pilots fly the less good Hawker Hurricane for a long time while they themselves flew the Spitfires.
Nevertheless, the Polish pilots were more successful than the British. The highest scoring squadron during the Battle of Britain was the No. 303 Polish Hurricane Squadron. This squadron also had the distinction of having the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to own losses suffered.
Excellent presentation. Fast,sleek an beautiful. Just as the Spitfire itself. Thank you IWM
Glad you liked it!
I really appreciate how you compare the spitfire versions to their FW190 opponents. Nice to see unbiased coverage.
The fact it was a pre war design and yet it was so much better than nearly everything was amazing. Truly one of the best fighters ever and it was lucky enough to share the sky with hurricanes which was another remarkable plane
As an American I was unaware of the IWM Duxford until I stumbled on to this video. So glad that I did because we are planning a trip to England in 2026 and I just added this museum to our itinerary. Can't wait to see these beautiful machines in person!
I remember as a teenager with the ATC in the 1980s visiting the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and they started one of their Spitfires and I saw why it got its name! And as it turned around the prop wash nearly blew me over. Happy memories of an Amazing aircraft we owe so much too.
Not forgetting all the airmen who were to make the ultimate sacrafice for their countries during the war, we will remember them.
Whilst a lot of wartime pilots praised the Mk.IX and said that it was their favourite, the test pilots who flew all of them generally said that the Mk.VIII was the best of the bunch - Like a IX but more refined. Most VIII's went to Australia and a few went to Italy, they weren't as common as the IX so fewer pilots got to fly them. All of the later Griffon engined Spitfire marks were based on the VIII as opposed to the IX - The IX was based on the Mk.V airframe and was actually a stop-gap measure, the VIII was the next generation airframe, featuring numerous aerodynamic and structural improvements.
Your comment itself described why exactly Mk.IX was the favourite among frontline pilots: thanks to using the Mk.V airframe it got to the front sooner and remained easier to produce. At that time new 60-series Merlins easily compensated for slight airframe problems like unretractable tail wheel, so Mk.IX was a huge success. And by the time Griffons came to mass production, the Mk.VIII airframe was adapted.
I'm not sure how it was with fighters production, but cannon production dropped significantly from 1943 to 1945, saying there was more than enough of them produced, perhaps the same "lack of urgency" let the brits take more time to shape new Griffon Spitfires.
As you probably know, Mk. VIII, despite it's lower number, was more advanced model than Mk. IX and it was the model originally developed for the Merlin 60 series engines. But the development wasn't finished yet when FW 190 appeared on the scene and because they were superior to Mk. V, a provisional solution was made in the form of Mk. IX which was basically Mk. V airframe with the Merlin 60 engines. This solution was succesful so basic war logic said it's easier to continue in producing less demanding and cheaper Mk. IX in big numbers and Mk. VIII, probably the best balanced version of Spitfire ever, was sentenced into the secondary role.
@@MDzmitry Actually, no, the IX did not arrive first. The VIII was produced in small number before the IX, and was intended to be the main production and final Spitfire model (RAF believed newer types would replace the Spit) but when the FW-190 threat became clear, they had to rapidly adapt the best parts of the VIII onto the V airframes already in production, as they could never produce VIIIs quickly enough. As it stood, only the smaller Supermarine factory produced the Mk VIII because they already had tooling for it, whilst the much larger Castle Bromwich plant was hurriedly adapted to turn Vs into IXs, instead of the original plan for both factories to produce the VIII. Historically, then, you can see the VIII as the definitive, "perfect" Spitfire model, which wartime necessity forced to be sidelined in favour of an interim mark that simply never stopped being produced (the IX). Frontline pilots don't care about production speed... they just want the best plane. It's basically undeniable the VIII was superior to the IXs, but most pilots never got to experience it due to the rarity, that's all. Not to say the decision was wrong. The IX took the best attributes of the VIII, specifically the longer nose and Merlin 61, and shoved them into existing production airframes. More than "good enough" to sort out the power imbalance with the Luftwaffe in 1942/43, and even some later IXs started to use the same pointier vertical tail as the VIII, just lacking the retractable tailwheel.
By the way, our "loyal" British allies let the Polish pilots fly the less good Hawker Hurricane for a long time while they themselves flew the Spitfires.
Nevertheless, the Polish pilots were more successful than the British. The highest scoring squadron during the Battle of Britain was the No. 303 Polish Hurricane Squadron. This squadron also had the distinction of having the highest ratio of enemy aircraft destroyed to own losses suffered.
@@GreatPolishWingedHussars That's a somewhat ungracious comment given the UK declared war on Germany over the invasion of your country and the destruction of the Polish Air Force had taken the Luftwaffe a little over a week, albeit at cost. The French had therefore been similarly sceptical of Polish ability and with major differences in language and equipment it was hardly surprising British officials took the same dim view at a time of high urgency and limited resource. In the event, those Poles who made it to the UK showed their experience and undoubted motivation mattered. The Polish contribution to the BoB has long been celebrated. You might like to show equivalent respect, especially given the UK's currently growing commitment to the defence of your country.
Going back to the Mk 1, Getting in the neighborhood of 1,300hp out of an engine back in 1940 was absolutely phenomenal. Britain needed the Rolls Royce Merlin for aircraft so badly that the engine wasn't available for use in tanks(as the R.R. Meteor) until the tail end of the war in 1945 as used in the Cruiser Comet tank. The elliptical wings of the Spitfires, the sleek fuselage, and the bubble canopy are absolutely beautiful-if I may be so bold as to say that a weapon meant for killing could be deemed as such... anyone with the heart of an engineer can understand.
The supply of high octane aviation fuel from the US was a big help in getting all that power. The Germans could only dream of such high quality fuel for their fighters.
Living, as i do in Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the summer months I quite regularly see a two-seater Spit (giving flight experiences) overhead flying towards Beachy Head lighthouse and the towering chalk cliffs. Each time I just have to dash outside as soon as I hear that unmistakable engine noise, and every time I do, it never fails to give me goosebumps!
I was fortunate enough to be down there with my family when I saw them approaching from the sea. It's like being transported back in time. Goose bumps.
The most iconic thing mankind has made. The beauty, the romance, the drama of the theatre, the consequences of the outcome of the battle, the power and precision of performance. All hail R.J. Mitchell!
My father was a machinist apprentice in Manchester before The War. After joining the Army, he became part of the BEF and became stranded like so many thousands of other men at Dunkirk. He eventually swam out to sea and was picked up by a fishing trawler and taken to Portsmouth. After a few days of recovery he was assigned to a plant in Crew, I think, as a machinist helping build the RR Merlin Engine. We, his family, are very proud of his service during WWII. God Bless all the men and women who helped hold England together during such a damnable time.
My father was a WW2 Combat Veteran of the 101st (not starting with D-Day but later). He was a Private and Commercial Pilot. I joined but while I now despise War, I love a good Aircraft. That RR Sound is legendary.
U do understand literally every industry in the US was used to help the war all he did was make stuff like that's cool but he didn't serve in any sense of the word he was a mechanic that's it...
@@ScoobyShotU Ugly comment Scooby.
@@ScoobyShotU Excuse me but you are unaware of what it was like in Britain for workers during WWII. Were the US mechanics being bombed whilst they worked? Did they have their homes destroyed and families killed? Did they have to live on rationed food for years with the fear of invasion from just a few miles over the channel? Did their wives and girlfriends take over the manning of searchlights to pick out the bombers or take jobs in munitions factories? So, did British mechanics making engines for Spitfires serve? You'd better believe it. You have no idea.
@@ScoobyShotU I'm guessing you missed reading the bit about Dunkirk?
I was very proud to meet a great chap who flew Spitfires at the grand old age of 18 in the Battle of Britain, Geoffrey Wellum, a true gentle man who is greatly missed.
If I remember correctly, wasn't he filmed for the 2018 "Spitfire" documentary?
I'd recommend you give it a watch, perhaps you'll like it
I was privileged to meet one of the designers who played a major part in the development and incremental improvements of the Spitfire's super charger. He mentioned that it was a cat and mouse game to gain an advantage over incremental Messerschmitt horse power improvements.
I was in hospital not to long ago. I was pretty ill but our local airfield had a visit from a spitfire. I heard it and had to get out of my sick bed with my drip to see it. The noise invoked so many feelings and I had to see it. It worked I saw it, it didnt see me but that didnt matter. I felt pride and loved the sound and I knew I was on the mend. Is it that powerful a symbol? You bet your arse it is.
Thanks for this. A friend of mine his Dad was a Kiwi Spitfire pilot and fighter ace in WW2 his name was Flt Lt David Livingstone... we have Spitfire warbirds here in NZ.. cheers from down under 👍🇳🇿✈️
As a young lad in the 50's I remember seeing Spitfires flying over, the sound of the Merlin engine was unmistakable. I didn't know there were so many upgrades, so thank you for uploading.
Altho' the Seafire 47 went on in production until 1949, I think the last Mk24 was sitting in the South Marsden factory in Swindon, in February 1948 on the day I appeared in the world.
Thank you... very interesting and informative. I am a scale modeller and my first love was (and probably always will be) the Spitfire, some very useful footage there! Once again, many thanks - long may she grace the skies, to me, the most beautiful piece of British engineering.... EVER...
As an American, have a HUGE respect for the Spitfire. An amazing aircraft piloted by some of the bravest heroes of the war. The Brits SHOULD be proud of this machine in all of it iterations. Its not only beautiful....but BADASS in all forms.
How does your nationality contribute to your opinion?
@@mattischlese5385 Because he is American praising a non American plane
Truly wonderful piece of film. I remember taking my young Son to Duxford many years ago, he still remembers it now he's 27.
Thank you for sharing this with me as an ordinary member of the public. Can I say that my generation (born in the 1960s) fortunately haven't really experienced any conflicts at all so we only had the stories of our fathers (who were children themselves in the late 30s and early 40s) and grandfathers to recount what happened.
When I see films like this it reminds me of how lucky those of us alive today actually are. That some of those men who fought _whether in the air, on the sea or land_ gave all of their tomorrows so that I and others who came after them may have had our todays.
Most grateful for their sacrifices and respectful of their memory, always.
Nothing beats the elegance of WW2 aircraft like the Spitfire, Mustang, FW190 and the BF109. The pinnacle of aviation beauty.
The Corsair and Yak-3 were also pretty stunning
Don’t forget the P38 the devils fork
Show some love to the Hellcat as well
And when talking about bombers they are b17 b24 lancaster pe-8 and the he 111
No love for the P47 Thunderbolt? Lol. Nah it was an ugly brute.
BRILLIANT they saved the Netherlands - I never thought that so few could make a difference for so many - and turned the war around - so a big fan of these shows!!!
Very well presented by Mr. Graham Rodgers. Quite enjoyable and educational. Thank you. Jim (USA)
My favorite aircraft of all time....the hum of the engine is like a symphony to me - Cheers from Texas !
Duxford is my second home, I never get tired of the place. See this beautiful collection of spits 6 day's ago on my birthday, and what a birthday treat it was seeing these all together. Makes ya proud to be British around such legendary aircraft 🇬🇧
Learned a lot from this video, surprised that you did not say more about the armament as this element evolved a lot as well and I would have been very interested to learn more.
A wonderful and accurate portrayal of history and sacrifice made by the brave men and women of there time, God bless them all.
Remember... Religion is a complete and utter delusion.
@@angela1984a He is being nice. Go find someone else to annoy.
@@angela1984a inappropriate remark as a response to the context of the OP's comment
Great video thanks!
The Spitfire was so beautiful to look at! As perfect as a plane can be.
On my last visit home from Australia in 2016 with my 2 boys I was able to have a pint of Spitfire in the Poppylands Pub in Horsey in Norfolk with a good friend.
During the war my uncle George had been a Spitfire pilot trainer.
Out walking my dogs on a common half an hour ago and one just flew fairly low right over me! As I live not far from Cambridge and Duxford I will assume it was from Duxford and was practising for the Jubilee holiday that starts tomorrow. Always a pleasure to see one and the noise! It's like a hundred of your favourite sports cars revving in unison, marvellous!
I'm sure you've been told over and over " great and exceptional documentary on the Spitfire. " Very educational. Learned many things that I never knew. Thank you for all the hard work that went into this video.
My father was one of the pilots in the RHKAAF that flew VN485, I always remember going to 'lunch' at Duxford with him and others from the 'Flying Dragons', and the slightly glazed look that came over most of them, if not all, as a Spitfire did a low pass across the airfield.
There’s very few aircraft in all of history that stood the test of time and had their airframes in use for as long as they did. A true statement of the incredible machinery that is this warbird
I remember making an Airfix model of the Mk 5 Spitfire when I was a little boy. That was long after the war but it was such a beautiful aeroplane that it captured my imagination despite being an old aeroplane by then. I'm no aeronautical engineer but the proportions just look right and it's easy to believe that they were as good to fly as the RAF pilots all seem to recall.
The most beautiful plane to ever take flight
@@garyelderman1229 You have made a statement, that cannot (perhaps ever) be, challenged. Reginald Mitchell's
creation is indeed, the ' most beautiful plane to ever, take flight ', not to mention its lethal armament ❣ 🇬🇧
Roland Singh, Canada 🇨🇦
There will never be another plane like this. Molded to perfection. Made with love and precision.
or as effective
Made with love? Are you serious?
You never know.
Thank you for posting. Very instructive and I appreciate that. There are lots of iconic things about the Spitfire and I think we all have our favorite. For me it’s the music of the Merlin engine just beautiful to hear
I can't explain it exactly. But seeing and hearing a Spitfire, triggers my emotion just like a beautiful piece of music. I literally tear up whenever I hear that RR engine start up and see it take off into the sky. It's simply beautiful.👌👍
Re Spitfire mkv, clipping the wings did increase rate of roll. However clipped (wing), cropped (supercharger vanes) better at low altitude & clapped (high service hours) was used mainly for low level raiding across the Channel. My father affectionately called them clipped, cropped & clappted out MKv's usually with the early B wing to accommodate 2 cannons with 4 .303's. Fresh MKV's were sent out to the North African theatre. Unfortunately they suffered detonation due to sand intake turning to glass in the combustion chambers. Rolls Royce engineers advised engine fitters to scrape deposits via spark plug holes! Eventually the ugly Vokes air filter remedied that problem but sacrificed some speed. At this time MK IX'S were kept for home defense. Just a few anecdotes about Spits that my dad told me.
The supercharger vanes in the 45M and 55M merlins were not cropped, they just had a smaller impeller for better power below 15,000 feet..
@@Slaktrax Well, I don't know of ANYONE qualified to give a Supercharger a haircut so, it is merely a distinction.
@@Slaktrax that is very true, however to the men that maintained them they affectionately called them clipped, cropped & clapped.
I was not saying that they literally machined the vanes, but as you say they had smaller impellers together with the housing to match. I hope that's straightened things out with regard to "cropped".
A "bucket list" destination for every man that read Commando mags as a lad .
I was given a brilliant tour of the MK14 by one of the restorers , he allowed me behind the ropes one rainy and quiet saturday afternoon to see the griffin engine , which i had never seen before , i got to go up some ladders and peer over the exposed workings , it was amazing how in that era , in a war , the engine builders could come up with such a beast.
Its a day that stands alongside my first xxxx in good memories of the past.
That was before or after Wolfenden ruined the UK?
Dear Graham, thank you for the superb video. Your voice and presentation style work beautifully. I hope to see you again soon in sunny Duxford. Kind regards Nick
One of the most beautiful planes ever created! The pure smooth look of the plane and the noise of those Merlin engines roaring over is just a wonderful sound... Probably my Fave WW2 plane.
Very much agreed old chap. Beautiful plane, what!
A chap flies over where I work in Meopham, Kent.
He has D Day invasion stripes on wings and fuselage.
It looks like a mark 1X. I'm sure he buzzes the estate that I work on with the odd barrel roll thrown. I always wave to him and appreciate his displays. Thankyou Sir.
Is it a two seater? That pilot could be a lady
@@David.Bobson I tend to think it's single seat. He/she flies low enough to see it's single seat.
It hasn't flown over for a few weeks now, maybe due to time of year. Hope all's alright.
Have seen it over East Sussex too. There are the two seater ones that operate from Headcorn Kent. In the summer they can be seen battering along toward beachy head (instead of Dover) then a short while later heading back the other way.
@@teaandmedals My sister lives at Headcorn so we get free airshow tickets when anything's on.
I live near Southend airport and we have a lot of light aircraft flying over most sound very similar but as soon as a Spitfire fly's over I know exactly what it is, love the sound of the Merlin!
Another fantastic video by Duxford! I hope to one day have the privilege of being back on that side of “the pond” and once again having the opportunity to visit such an amazing facility! Until then, thank you for producing these wonderful videos!
Thanks for the great footage and excellent presentation. The word 'iconic' is overused nowadays, but the Supermarine Spitfire is truly iconic - especially marks 1 and 2. Had the Battle of Britain been lost, the later marks might never have been produced.
Had we lost the Battle of Britain, we would now be in a living hell with no freedom or liberty of opinion. That's how important the war effort was.
As an American, The Spitfire, Especially the Mk. IX, is the best looking airplane EVER. Even beats out the F-15 and F-22, not by much
The F-15 is probably the modern equivalent to the Spitfire. A display of sheer power and class that has proven itself so incredibly adaptable that they're _still_ finding new ways to get more out of it.
@@Spudtron98 And, incredibly, the F-15 remains undefeated in combat.
Let's go Brandon, the spitfire makes my hairs stand on end every time I hear one go by.
The P-51D was a bit of a looker too.
@@alecfoster5542
102-0.
King of the Skies. The Americans made a right good piece of kit there.
The Auckland War Memorial Museum has a model of the Merlin engine that was used to train apprentices I think. Bits of it are cut away and have glass covering them so that many of the moving parts are exposed. Obviously you have to crank it over because there is no way it could run, but it's very interesting to see.
It also has a Mk XVI that the Battle Of Britain producers offered to get airworthy but the museum refused fearing that is may be destroyed in a crash. In the mid 80s it still had the original battery sitting in the back.
Like the moonwalk of Apollo 11, seeing a flight of 5 Spitfires in the UK was the memory of a lifetime! Beautiful machine.
I was born next to r j Mitchell's house in butt Lane in stoke I would have 2 fly over every few years to commemorate him very low and rocking wings it was an amazing sight
Fantastic video - thank you, Graham Rodgers, for presenting an excellent showcase on arguably the most famous and beautiful fighter - the Supermarine Spitfire.
I love the sheer sense of authority this man brings to his presentations
I was a sailor on a US carrier from 1989 to 1992. At sea, the Air Wing was aboard the ship held F-14s, F/A-18s, S-3s, E2 Hawkeyes, A6s and EA6Bs. One time, we had liberty in Hong Kong and a Spitfire was sitting on the pier. I was shocked at how tiny the plane was and how massive modern aircraft had become. The Spitfire seemed like a 2/3 scale version of an airplane, if that big.
It is because Jet Engines are much thirstier. The extra fuel adds more weight. Then there is more ordnance on the newer fighters.
All that requires more space. It and the weight require more lift, so....
Had a similar experience a few years ago in Ottawa, Canada. Flying museum had a Spitfire (a Mk.VII I think it was, may have been a IX) parked next to a RCAF CF-18B.
I'd known how different in size they were (been building models for decades), but seeing them in the flesh that close together really brought it home.
Paradoxically, the pilot workspace, the cockpit is no roomier on the Hornet as compared to the Spitfire. It's just got way more stuff packed into it, with the absolute minimum of space to fit a human left over in both of them.
Very true, I went to an air museum in the north of england and thought the same thing that the old fighters were so much smaller than the jet engine fighters that replaced them. Saw a lightening prototype and it was massive!
I'm always amazed how tiny the WW2 fighters were too. I was at an airshow where you could walk up and look into the cockpit of an F15. The pilot was there answering questions and a boy started asking him about F14's. The pilot said they are big and slow. The boy looked at his father as they left and said the plane was really big for one guy. I said, "Well it has to have room for his ego"! Everyone in ear shot laughed...except the pilot! It really is amazing one guy needs that much plane. I wish someone would just start building full size Spits and P-51's again. All of the romance has been designed out of modern fighters. Like hypercars, they all look like the answer to a mathematic equation.
I had that experience as well when a restored B-29 flew in that we got to tour. A WW II vet talked about it being the biggest plane in the war. It sounds really big, but when you are inside there isn't much room. When you are outside, the B-29, other than its wing span, was dwarfed by a meager 737-200 nearby.
What an interesting coincidence: the Mk V shown in the museum is from the Polish No. 303 Squadron, and the Mk IX in the black-and-white American documentary also happens to be Polish, from No. 302 Squadron.
What about "Fairchild Packet"? (Nicknamed " Flying Coffin")
My father was a aircraft mechanic , and the saying was "don't panic- aircraft mechanic" because they would have a panic on the repair the Spitfires ready to go back out , such a beautiful plane, and tough , strong people who built and flew this machine for the time the technology in making the rollsroyce engine was amazing, God rest all those who put their best into stopping the tyrinny of the world.
I miss you Dad 😞.
That was an extremely quick quarter of an hour.
Fascinatingly engrossing, learnt a lot.
Great video I have been to Duxford and seen these aircraft Over the years I have been fortunate to see many fly. A truly lovely aircraft. Cheers Uncle Reg
loving these videos guys, just what i was looking for alongside my other museum subscription for tanks! thanks a lot
Fantastic video ,clearly and precisely taking us through all the Spitfire marks and their power units.Well done Duxford IWM
Not even close to all the marks but a good overview of the most significant ones
You're doing a great job!
Excellent research and video, My uncle used to work at the Hall of Aviation (Solent Sky) here at Southampton, he told me that a guy who worked at Supermarine came in one day with some interesting information that confirmed the Spitfire they had there was a genuine mk1 test version. When Supermarine had come to an end, he was told to go burn a desk, but instead, asked if he could take it home, when he looked inside a drawer he found papers containing jottings and test results matching the engine numbers that were tested with and without the split peas over the rivets, he also liberated some spitfire wing formers that would have been destroyed after the factory clearout, so much is lost and regretted later.
Jeeeze .... even now just one sight of that plane and I'm awed ... so beautiful ...
Interceptor, air-superiority fighter, fighter-bomber, photo recon, high-altitude interceptor, carrier fighter, even an excellent float-plane version... top-of-the-line fighter from the beginning of the war to the end, operational in all theaters... what other airplane compares? Plus, it was so damn beautiful!
Not good for escorting Lancasters into Germany.
Very much a short range fighter--- exactly what England needed for most of the war.
Lousy dogfighter against Zeros and Hayabusas though.
My favorite WW2 fighter.
F4U Corsair, Fw 190, P51, P47, are all by far superior planes.
@@2lotusman851 Very good for escorting RAF and USAAF bombers and capable of doing so into Germany if it was needed. Also better against the Zero than other fighters, the Zero couldn't take on a Spitfire as long as the Spitfire pilot maintained speed, the Zero turned tight at low speed but not well as speed went up.
Interesting commentary there. I had never thought about the problems of having such power in a prop plane before, the need to counteract the roll of the aircraft in reaction to the angular acceleration of the prop and also the aerodynamic limits of trying to pull an aircraft through the air with a big fan.
at one point did they not introduce contra-rotating props for this very reason?
@@larrycable984 The contra rotating prop was tested on griffon engine Spitfires, it was put on the post war Seafires, Having seen a Spitfire take off with a contra rotating prop it is quite impressive, the Spitfire Mk XIV for take off Revs and boost were limited, 7 lbs boost because of the high torque then for normal climb about 14 lbs boost. The contra rotating prop allowed them to use full boost and revs for take off but added complexity and weight.
I wasn't alive during ww2 but I must say every time I hear that sound, the pride that resonates in me is off the scale.
Thanks for putting these together!
Thank you for such an excellent video.