Quote:

You don't say which Mark of Spitfire but I assume it's an early one. Plenty of things are done in wartime which wouldn't be acceptable in peacetime or in civil aviation. I haven't seen this reason mentioned before. I always understood the canopy was left open during take-off & landing for improved visibility & to prevent it misting up.

Quote:

Which measurements are you referring to? I would expect all measurements in a manual for the Spitfire (or any other British aircraft) to be Imperial. Feet is the international standard for altitude still in use today.

Britain has used the Imperial system for centuries & officially "went metric" only recently, within the last 5 years or so. We still use mph & beer is sold in pints. Many industries still use the Imperial system & existing documents would not generally be updated, especially for vintage types. I worked in the aircraft industry for 40 years & all maintenance manuals, drawings & documents I dealt with used Imperial measurements.

It's from 'Pilot's Notes for Spitfire IX, XI, and XVI' pp 39...  It's one of the items I was telling you about, Mark.

Ahhh, right that is the fumes issue
The electrical UC switch would arc, and you don't want an electrical spark in a nice enviroment of fuel and air now Not unless you want to say goodbye to your eyebrows

Ozzy. I know I've read about a similar fumes problem on a US fighter. If it wasn't the P-51 it might have been the P-40.

Quote:

Is this the Spit or the P-51? I'm not sure the Spitfire had an electric U/C switch. The gear was originally operated by a manual handpump & I assumed this was modified with a selector lever of some sort to operate a valve on the hydraulic system.

Quote:

I'm sure all Spitfires had hydraulically operated gear. The pump was engine-driven & simply replaced the original manual handpump. No electrics involved*. AFAIK

Quote:

I've seen the yo-yo effect demonstrated by a Nord N.1000 "Pingouin" (Bf 108 Taifun) on the UK display circuit - although obviously in the hands of an experienced pilot.

*PS. There is some sort of electrical cable conduit attached to the undercarriage selector on the Spitfire Mk IX. I can only assume this is connected to a warning or indicator light. When I next get close enough to a Spit I shall make it my business to find out & also take some photos.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_avsafety/documents/page/dft_avsafety_5...

One of our members here got a ride in one as a kid Andrew. I think it might have been Brensec..... Not sure though, I haven't had my morning cup of tea yet, so the braincell isn't up and running!

Ozzy

Leaving the canopy open was also a good idea in case of a forced landing....

In the US Navy, it was standard practice - up until the advent of non-sliding canopies - to leave the canopy open on catapult launches and traps.

Quote:

Good point. Many BoB pilots were killed or severely burned when the sliding canopy on their Spitfire or Hurricane jammed, trapping them in the cockpit of a burning aircraft. This is what happened to Richard Hillary, one of the first members of the Guinea Pig Club. His experiences are described in his book "The Last Enemy". http://www.historyofmilitary.com/The_Last_Enemy_Classics_of_War_1580800564.html

I believe one of the guys in the photo on this page appeared in the film "Battle of Britain".
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/guinea_pig_club.htm

I think you'll find its the tall gentleman holding the pint glass and standing in the middle of the shot next to the pianist.
Just he doesn't half look like the man I saw in the film earlier today, as it was on Hungarian TV! The odd thing was they only dubbed the English language parts, they subtitled the German

Ozzy

Quote:

I think this would depend on the circumstances & when the aircraft turned over. A thin sheet of perspex would not offer much protection if it slid for any length of runway or even on grass. It really doesn't bear thinking about. I think I would prefer it to be open if possible. I've read of several WWI pilots who survived this type of accident only to break their necks on releasing the harness to get out. This might also have happened during WWII.

Quote:

This leads to another point. All versions of the Bf 109 have a side-hinged canopy which would be impossible to open during take-off or landing - or if it turned on its back in the process which many apparently did. I read somewhere that more Bf 109 pilots were kiled in this sort of accident than in combat during WWII. It might have been in "I Flew for the Fuhrer" by Heinz Knoke which is worth reading if you can get hold of it. I always wondered why they didn't modify the Bf 109 with a sliding hood as on the British types. I also thought the same thing about the gull-wing Mercedes sports cars that were popular back in the 50s. There's a modern sports car with the same feature but I forget which.

I could be wrong about the guy in the Guinea Pig Club photo. The chap standing at the left of the piano with his head bandaged reminded me of the one in the film for some reason. It's possible that many of those brave young men looked much the same after having similar surgery. Their spirit after suffering such severe injuries always amazed & impressed me. Sir Archibald McIndoe must have been a very special kind of person.