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Spitfire flight

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patrickjladd(at)hotmail.c
Guest

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 4:40 am Post subject: Spitfire flight

Here it is for  the benefit of those interested. My Spitfire Flight.  John and those others who consider that this has no place on a Kolb list (and  they may be right) look away now or hit delete. For those who have expressed  interest, here it is, an experience which very few have had since 1940.

  

 I went to  Biggin Hill, kown as Biggin on the Bump from the steeple  chase type runway, where I FLEW A SPITFIRE ON Wednesday. 28th Oct. Wx was  awful.Spent the night in digs nearby listening to the rain. Morning was overcast  with heavy rain forecast. Turned up at Biggin at 8.30 fully expecting to have a  cancellation. However around 10 a clearance came through.Cloudbase above 4/5000  with just a little light scud around 1200 ft. A long and boring talk to cover  all the Health and Safety aspects which surrounds everything we do today in case  I break a nail and decide to sue somebody.This was followed by a very good talk  about actual safety procedures in the case of having to bale out etc. Decide  that unless the wing falls off I shall stay in the a/c. Got tucked in the rear  cockpit which was comfortable but narrow. My pilot taxied and we  took off.  Great surge of power as the throttle opened and the tail came up. Climbed out of  the pattern and the pilot handed over control to me. 2500ft lid as we were under  the approach into Gatwick. No room between my legs for the stick to move  sideways, so it was fixed vertically from the cockpit floor to above knee height  with no lateral movement but with a swivelling handle on the top which gave the  left to right movement. Controls were very light. Laterally just light, fore and  aft, like balancing on a pin. I remembered during helicopter training being told  to rest the wrist on the knee and keep it there. All stick movement to be done  with the fingers. The Spit. was just like that. Wings seemed very small and the  whole thing had a light aircraft feel about like flying my Extra but with much  lighter control inputs.I am used to steep turns from my gliding days and have no  problem in putting a wing down.  Did what I thought were steep turns,,  until the pilot stood us absolutely vertically on one wingtip. The steepest I  have ever been except during aerobatics. Flew around the area and could see down  the Thames to Gravesend, Rochester airport, Brands Hatch circuit, .Kenley,  another famous B of B station.Very nostalgic to be flying in the same airspace  that the Battle of Britain was fought in and it was easy to imagine some young  guy, less than  a quarter my age, with only a couple of hundred   flying hours flying over that same counrtryside after  maybe the fourth  climb of the day to 20,000feet, perhaps just a boring patrol, perhaps shot up  from fight, nursing a damaged plane back into Biggin with the prospect of doing  it all again, soon. 

 Enough day dreaming. Did I want to do a victory roll? You bet. When I did  this in the Mustang, about 40 years ago, we barrel rolled and had time for  discussion while it happened, More stick, more, hard over. I can hear the pilots  voice now. In the Spit we wound her up to about 280 and pulled into a very   steep climb and FLICKED. I have never been spun so fast. Faster than any  fairground ride. We had spun through 360 degrees before I could blink. No need  to be strapped in. I was plastered against the side of the cockpit. Slowly lost  height as we flew back towards Biggin. Entered circuit at 1000ft, thump as the  wheel came down on downwind leg, slowed as the flaps were deployed and a nice  curving approach right onto the numbers. Love to do it again when I had more  idea what to expect.

 The local pub for Biggin pilots during the war was The White Hart at the  village of Brasted. There they preserve behind glass the old wooden blackout  shutters from the pub. These are signed in chalk by the many of the pilots who  used the bar. Paddy Barthrop, Peter Townsend, Screwball Buerling, Neville Duke  etc. An amazing relic to have survived. I have had a drink there a few times and  although the place has been tarted up it does not need much imagination to see  it filled with young guys in uniform, drinking and smoking as though it was  there last day on earth. Which for many, of course, it was.

  

 Pat

  [quote][b] [quote][b]

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williamtsullivan(at)att.n
Guest

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 5:34 am Post subject: Spitfire flight

Pat- Thank you!  It's something lots of us either can't afford, or will never have the opportunity to do.  Great write up.



do not archive



                                                                      Bill Sullivan



-------------------------------------------

On Sun, 11/1/15, Patrick Ladd <patrickjladd(at)hotmail.com> wrote:



 Subject: Spitfire flight

 To: kolb-list(at)matronics.com

 Date: Sunday, November 1, 2015, 7:40 AM

 

 

 

 

 

 Here it is for  the benefit of those interested.

 My Spitfire Flight. 

 John and those others who consider that this has no place on

 a Kolb list (and 

 they may be right) look away now or hit delete. For those

 who have expressed 

 interest, here it is, an experience which very few have had

 since 1940.

  

 I went to  Biggin Hill, kown as Biggin on the Bump

 from the steeple 

 chase type runway, where I FLEW A SPITFIRE ON Wednesday.

 28th Oct. Wx was 

 awful.Spent the night in digs nearby listening to the rain.

 Morning was overcast 

 with heavy rain forecast. Turned up at Biggin at 8.30 fully

 expecting to have a 

 cancellation. However around 10 a clearance came

 through.Cloudbase above 4/5000 

 with just a little light scud around 1200 ft. A long and

 boring talk to cover 

 all the Health and Safety aspects which surrounds everything

 we do today in case 

 I break a nail and decide to sue somebody.This was followed

 by a very good talk 

 about actual safety procedures in the case of having to bale

 out etc. Decide 

 that unless the wing falls off I shall stay in the a/c. Got

 tucked in the rear 

 cockpit which was comfortable but narrow. My pilot taxied

 and we  took off. 

 Great surge of power as the throttle opened and the tail

 came up. Climbed out of 

 the pattern and the pilot handed over control to me. 2500ft

 lid as we were under 

 the approach into Gatwick. No room between my legs for the

 stick to move 

 sideways, so it was fixed vertically from the cockpit floor

 to above knee height 

 with no lateral movement but with a swivelling handle on the

 top which gave the 

 left to right movement. Controls were very light. Laterally

 just light, fore and 

 aft, like balancing on a pin. I remembered during helicopter

 training being told 

 to rest the wrist on the knee and keep it there. All stick

 movement to be done 

 with the fingers. The Spit. was just like that. Wings seemed

 very small and the 

 whole thing had a light aircraft feel about like flying my

 Extra but with much 

 lighter control inputs.I am used to steep turns from my

 gliding days and have no 

 problem in putting a wing down.  Did what I thought

 were steep turns,, 

 until the pilot stood us absolutely vertically on one

 wingtip. The steepest I 

 have ever been except during aerobatics. Flew around the

 area and could see down 

 the Thames to Gravesend, Rochester airport, Brands Hatch

 circuit, .Kenley, 

 another famous B of B station.Very nostalgic to be flying in

 the same airspace 

 that the Battle of Britain was fought in and it was easy to

 imagine some young 

 guy, less than  a quarter my age, with only a couple of

 hundred  

 flying hours flying over that same counrtryside after 

 maybe the fourth 

 climb of the day to 20,000feet, perhaps just a boring

 patrol, perhaps shot up 

 from fight, nursing a damaged plane back into Biggin with

 the prospect of doing 

 it all again, soon. 

 Enough day dreaming. Did I want to do a victory roll?

 You bet. When I did 

 this in the Mustang, about 40 years ago, we barrel rolled

 and had time for 

 discussion while it happened, More stick, more, hard over. I

 can hear the pilots 

 voice now. In the Spit we wound her up to about 280 and

 pulled into a very  

 steep climb and FLICKED. I have never been spun so fast.

 Faster than any 

 fairground ride. We had spun through 360 degrees before I

 could blink. No need 

 to be strapped in. I was plastered against the side of the

 cockpit. Slowly lost 

 height as we flew back towards Biggin. Entered circuit at

 1000ft, thump as the 

 wheel came down on downwind leg, slowed as the flaps were

 deployed and a nice 

 curving approach right onto the numbers. Love to do it again

 when I had more 

 idea what to expect.

 The local pub for Biggin pilots during the war was The

 White Hart at the 

 village of Brasted. There they preserve behind glass the old

 wooden blackout 

 shutters from the pub. These are signed in chalk by the many

 of the pilots who 

 used the bar. Paddy Barthrop, Peter Townsend, Screwball

 Buerling, Neville Duke 

 etc. An amazing relic to have survived. I have had a drink

 there a few times and 

 although the place has been tarted up it does not need much

 imagination to see 

 it filled with young guys in uniform, drinking and smoking

 as though it was 

 there last day on earth. Which for many, of course, it

 was.

  

 Pat

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Rex Rodebush

Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 209
Location: Branson West area, Missouri

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 7:36 am Post subject: Re: Spitfire flight

I envy you. Thanks for sharing.

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Tom O'Hara

Joined: 26 Jan 2006
Posts: 34

Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2015 10:17 am Post subject: Re: Spitfire flight

Wow-- what an experience. Thanks for the flight debriefing.

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Frankd

Joined: 28 Mar 2008
Posts: 64

Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 2:06 pm Post subject: Re: Spitfire flight

Hey Pat, 

that was AWESOME,  I felt like I was there with you.. 

having done some Acro in a Citrabria your FLICK and turn on a wingtip sounded wonderful. 

Now I have another bucket list item... Darn that list is getting big.. 

My uncles flew in Lancaster tail gunner positions and my first model as a kid  was a spitfire and my Granddad took me to see the Battle of Britain movie when I was very small. 

I think all that made me want to fly. 



I am still in awe with aircraft in general and our KOLB's allow us to fly low and slow and safe and also tell folks "I built that!"  

Fantastic!! 

Thanks for sharing.



Do not Archive



FrankD

MkIII Xtra

1014S.

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brubakermal(at)yahoo.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 1:05 pm Post subject: Spitfire flight

I met a guy lastv month e fromTexas that clamed tobe the owner and manufacture of the spitfire back in the day Dell was his name anywon have any idea about the companies early days? 



 

Malcolm & Jeanne Brubaker 

Michigan Sport Pilot Repair 

http://michigansportpilotrepair.com

LSRM-A, PPC, WS

Great Sails - Sailmaker 

for Ultralight & Light Sport

(989)513-3022

 

 

 

 

        From: Tom O'Hara <tohara(at)alphagraphics.com>

 To: kolb-list(at)matronics.com 

 Sent: Sunday, November 1, 2015 1:17 PM

 Subject: Re: Spitfire flight

  

 

--> Kolb-List message posted by: "Tom O'Hara" <tohara(at)alphagraphics.com (tohara(at)alphagraphics.com)>



Wow-- what an experience.  Thanks for the flight debriefing.





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