Warbird Information Exchange

I received a PM from Down Under Dave Homewood, asking about the handling of dual control two seat Spitfires compared to single seat ones, especially in aerobatics. First, while I have done a fair amount of aerobatics in my dual MKIX, I have only done a few rolls and stalls, etc. in the others, a single seat MKIX and MKXVI that I have flown. There wasn't time to do that much with them as they were due at other airports. Also, while I have an acro card for Spitfire, 500' limit, I am nowhere near as experienced an aerobatic pilot as some are. I have watched Bud Granley fly my plane, and Elliot Cross fly a Mk IX and could not tell much difference between the single and the dual. Either seem very suited to acro. A Spitfire has a good excess of power and the Merlin marks are fairly light weight; so coupled with the good control response and the excellent characteristics at high g and low speed, both types are fine aerobatic planes. I have not flown a Griffon powered Spitfire, but I think you'd need to use more margin near stall and leave more altitude as a safety margin. Nothing that I have flown, not civilian or warbird, has better stall handling characteristics than a Merlin Spitfire, with the possible exception of a stock 220 hp Stearman. I recently flew a flight simulator for a Mk I Spit. Man it was light and easy, I felt like I suddenly was Patty Wagstaff. I don't know how accurate this simulation was, but it was easy. I did moves I don't normally even practice.
Another point, mine and one other two seater are pretty much as the factory made them, not counting avionics, etc. Others have single stage engines, etc, and their weight and balance re CG may be off. That was the case of one two seater being flown and the experienced pilot asked me about it. It did not seem to handle like mine, and sure enough, they later found it was aft CG. Spit CG has a pretty broad range, it can be flown aft of normal, and during the war they were ferried that way, but they had to be gentle and avoid acro until fuel burned off. A single seat version only has this problem when the aft tank is filled. I am not even sure if any of the current flying ones even still have the aft fuselage tank.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

A couple of other points come to mind re dual and single seaters. Each airplane may have differences in instrunments, one airspeed may be in knots like mine, another may be in mph. Before the first landing aproach, it is good practice to go up high and do a couple of power off stalls in order to find the speed to use for final approach. In mine VSO(gear and flaps down, power off) is 62 knots so 1.3x give 81 knots. Solo and/or light I find 80knots fine at the threshold is good. Much over 85 gives float you don't really need. I have used 80 MPH in single seaters and that is plenty. For my two seater if solo, it is right at the forward edge of the cg limit so a good 3 point landing requires a definite flare. The elevator is light and very effective, so it only requires an easy pull, but there is a definite flare. If you carry any power on final, then when you close the throttle you need slight back pressure to hold the nose up. Of course, a three point landing is normal and preferred for Spitfires, however one can make a good landing if it is just tail low. A wheel landing is possible, but I don't like to try to push it down on the runway if the airspeed is too fast. With a larger person in the rear seat, up to 190lbs in my plane, it is at the rear CG limit for normal handling. In this case the elevator is even more sensitive and you need to flare with a slow and smooth movement, no jerking. The ideal is with a smaller person in the rear seat. With about 120 lbs. aft, it is then right in the middle of CG and feels like it almost lands itself. If you touch down straight , and there's no side wind, it wants to roll straight and true mostly. I usually don't need brakes for steering, just rudder until you get slow. At touchdown speed it is pretty sensitive to steer with brakes. I have noticed the single seaters seem to have more drag and slow quicker on the rollout likely because of 10" vs. 12" wheels.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Interesting insights, Bill. Thanks for sharing . I am, however very concerned with the statement, " I began to feel like Patty Wagstaff " ! Hopefully these apparent gender issus shall pass, maybe once you get over the trauma of the last month you'll begin to feel like your old self !

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Thank you Bill, very interesting info.

All the best
Dave

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