Warbird Information Exchange

Hi Bill,

After all of your discussions here on WIX and, believe it or not, I HAVE met you in person at Oshkosh once or twice. But this question keeps popping into my head.

Why did you settle on a Two Seat version of a Spitfire versus boring holes in the sky in a single seat model or Mark Number ?? I am NOT taking anything away from your plane....not by a long shot, it is very unique Spitfire to be sure.

I know this sounds like s dumb question but to me it's one of those types that you just "gotta know why" ya know ?

Safe Flights ALL Summer Long for you Sir,

Paul

Paul, not a dumb question at all. My Spitfire was the only one advertised in TradeAPlane. That's the paper where you trade most of your assets and your sanity for some cool machine that takes over your life. Spits weren't and still aren't offered that often. Also a big factor was that I was only a 400 hour or so pilot, I might have been in trouble in a Mustang or Fury. With the 2nd cockpit I could get 20 hours of dual time before solo. To me the Spit was a marvel, I really didn't think much about the looks of the 2nd canopy. It really flies about like the single seaters I have flown, mine is pretty much factory, not an Americanized version. Remember I have never seen a single place with a jump seat, if you are going to have a passenger at all it needs to be a two place. Of course, I'd love to have a couple of single seaters, and maybe a P-51, B-17, Stearman, Bearcat, etc. etc. also.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Hi Bill,
Here's a couple more Q's.
You had talked about removing your drop tank. Does having it on limit
acrobatics, gs or affect the flying qualities of the a/c in anyway?
I had earlier mentioned the drop tanks on my friends WWII SpitV & VII
from Africa and Italy. He said it flew like a cow with the non-baffled tank.
Now that I think about it they used a cylindrical shaped tank.
Does the forward cockpit on your T IX change your sight picture compared to single seaters?

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Don't touch my junk!!

Jack, the notes say not to do any acro if carrying a 90 gal tank, mine is 60 gal, I just think it is a good idea not to roll with it ,, if it came loose it could take off the tailwheel or fall on and hit someone. Neslon built mine with good baffles in it, but fully loaded it weighs about 420 lbs so you can definitely feel it on takeoff and climb. The notes caution that flying with the huge 190 gal imp, (228 US) makes the plane unstable and tyring to fly. Yes the sight picture in the single is slightly different, further back, but the siingle is a little lighter and can land a little slower. Landing a Spit is not hard normally, just gettin it to slow down can be.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK