Sorry I can't leave this alone. I'm a little fanatical about it :-)
This should probably go to personal e-mail but I don't know who is
interested in it. You're probably hitting the delete key now................
Roland writes:
> Garry's comments about the history of the Spitfire jogged my memory a
> bit, back to movie I saw on the tube a number of years ago.
> Appropriately enough it was entitled "Spitfire" though I think the
> British title might have been something else. It was a biography about
> the man responsible for the development of this airplane. The film was
> made during the war so I suspect some liberties were taken with history
> in the interest of the war effort but I imagine that some of the
> technical details were accurate. It's probably been 20 years or so
> since I saw it but as I recall, ...
Yes, the film was entitled, "Spitfire". Famous British actor of the time,
Leslie Howard played the part of Reginald Joseph Mitchell, the designer of
the Spitfire and of the Schneider Trophy winning seaplanes for Supermarine
at Southampton, England.
Interestingly, Mitchell's first prototype gull-winged fighter aircraft in 1933
was dubbed "Spitfire". A later prototype with the more reknown wings of
later Spitfires first flew on 5th March 1936. When they told him that his
aircraft would keep the name given to his earlier gull-winged prototype he
said it was "just the sort of bloody silly name they would choose"!
Mitchell died in 1937 (aged 42) and therefore never saw how great his
aeroplane came to be.
Roland continues:
> the original Spitfire was not land
> based but had pontoons and was carried shipboard. In fact, I
> believe the fuel tank(s?) was in its large center float. 1936 sounds
> about right for the first model.
Dave Van Horn responds:
# Not quite. Roland is referring to the Schneider trophy racers that
# were the ancestors of the Spit. The Schneider was a seaplane race
# held regularly (annually? semi-annually?) with the trophy going to the
# custody of the winner until the next race, like the America's cup. By
# winning the race three times in succession, Great Britain got the trophy
# permanently and the races ended.
#
# The Schneider airplanes were specialized racers, designed for that
# particular race. Low-wing, open cockpit monoplanes, they were pure
# seaplanes, with twin pontoons and no wheels. Since it was a lap race
# around an oval, all of the turns were in the same direction and I believe
# all the fuel was in just one of the pontoons. I believe no more than
# two or three of each model were built, and they may have been one-offs.
#
# The engine was the Rolls-Royce 'R', the precursor of the Merlin.
The races weren't held every year for some reason. Mitchell's Supermarine
seaplanes won the trophy three times (1922, 1929 and 1931 [the only entrant!]),
and as Dave notes, thus Great Britain permanently retained the trophy.
Mitchell's last trophy winning Supermarine seaplane, the S6B, achieved a speed
of 407mph (World Record) using special chemical fuels. Phew!!!
In earlier e-mail, Jim wrote:
|> ... Another interesting factor, so said the review, is that
|> military historians have criticized the series in that the Hawker Hurricain
|> should have been used, since the Spitfire didn't become operational until
|> 1940 and this starts in 1939 (I think, or certainly before 1940). ...
I responded earlier that Spitfires were actually operational at the outbreak
of the war... however:
Tom Borman later writes:
#> Weird thing happened, I picked this book up about a week before the series
#> started (it's been stuck to my face ever since :-))
#> So that you know, in the book it's all Hurricanes - nary a Spit in the lot.
#> This despite the Spit on the cover of the book.
Hmmm, this was interesting... So Garry decides to do some research. Jim may
have misquoted the military historians. Jim, perhaps you meant (more precisely
that "they" meant) Hurricanes should have been used because NO SPITFIRES
were sent to France to support the British Expeditionary Forces prior to
the Fall of France. Followers of the show or book, "Piece of Cake", will
remember that early in the story the squadron was sent to France.
The following were the original squadrons sent to France:
No. 1 Squadron (Northolt) Hawker Hurricanes
No. 73 Squadron (Church Fenton) Hawker Hurricanes
No. 85 Squadron (Martlesham) Hawker Hurricanes
No. 87 Squadron (Church Fenton) Hawker Hurricanes
No. 607 Squadron (Tangmere) Gloster Gladiators
No. 615 Squadron (Kenley) Gloster Gladiators
607 and 615 Squadrons were later upgraded to Hurricanes. Other squadrons
were sent over later (79 Biggin Hill, 501 Croydon, 56 North Weald, 111 Croydon
and 242 [all Canadian] Biggin Hill), ALL were Hurricanes.
So, in this respect, YES, the show is inaccurate!!! -- WIZARD PRANG!
Either I missed it, or it was not mentioned... but what is the Squadron
Number featured in the show? It should be one of the above unless they
treat the entire story as fictional. Perhaps the book is more forthcoming.
Tom?
Bandits, One O'Clock... tally ho! Red leader out...
- Garry
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