Warbird Information Exchange

very sad to see a spitfire get splattered

for those of you that didn't pick up on the spitfire...its at 02:20

i saw a firefly?

Definitely a Griffon powered Spit.

Five bladed prop, low back, bubble canopy, no rear crew station - it doesn't look all that much like a Firefly, does it?

It's Mk22 Spitfire PK519

PeterA

3 minutes of shooting the banner, shooting rockets, and one pass with one can of nape that explodes...interesting description for the video. Looks like one of those films put together by a Hunter training class summarizing all the air to air and air to ground training they accomplished during the course.

My money is that the Spit isn't even getting hit by the rockets shot by the Hunters. If you look at the dispersion pattern of the rockets in the last two rocket shots in the vid, you see that there is not a very dense impact pattern. Contrast to the first two shots against the Spit, which all impact very close and dense. The color/video quality of the Spit shot also doesn't match the rest of the Hunter flying footage.

So, the point of this is to cry over the Spit getting nailed as a range target?

Yikes - but then, I've seen photos of Keystone bombers and a P-12 on target ranges in Hawaii. When was this filmed, and where in England was the target range?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

It doesn't look like any of the ranges on Airstrip One that I've been to -

Holbeach
Wainfleet
Donna Nook
Tain

The location is the Larkhill Ranges on Salisbury Plain, UK.

Date is 26th August 1954.

The residuals are the basis for a static rebuild.

PeterA

Gonna have to give some more details on what you mean -

Unlikely this is the date of the film being made or the sortie being flown, as it is obviously a composite of several different sorties.

Do you mean this is the date that the Spit was targeted as depicted in the video, and if so, I'm guessing this means that it was part of some specific test for the date to have been noted (not just some Hunters randomply shooting rockets at it on a range).

Also, I'm not able to find the target complex as it appears on the video at Larkhill. Obviously things like the four dive circles could have changed over the last 40 years since the film was made, but I don't see anything that looks like the roads, the intersection, or the two white-ish ovals long of the target.

Yes I agree the video is a composite. The target markers may be nothing to do with the Spitfire(s) and indeed may be at a different range or location.

The Spitfire(s) is/are at the military training area at Larkhill. The stills I have were downloaded from the Pathe News footage taken from the ground and dated 26 August 1954.

When I visited the range in 1977 it was a long haul from the nearest track to the Spitfires by Military Land Rover, perhaps a mile of low gear/low range.

PeterA

The colour film of the Hunters (all T.7's) I'd say was taken mid-1960's so, judging by the colour scheme etc., probably 10 years or more after the Spitfire 'destruction' and that's why you can't correlate Larkill and those shots of the range's in the film - not one and the same.

The prototype Hunter T.7 only made it's first flight in June 1954, so T.7's weren't responsible for the 'hit' on the Spit on Larkhill in Aug 1954.

IAF Vs Jordanian Hunters.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXFADxHNfK4

Very interesting....shame they (the movie makers) didn't detail the Jordanian pilots. Names, pics, etc....

There's also one,(can't find the link)with an IAF f-15 shooting down a Syrian MIG with canon.

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Regards,
R.J.Mitchell