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B-29, two of the other Spitfires that I have flown had the standard or smaller rudder and my two seat Spitfire has the larger one.
Frankly, I really never gave the rudder difference much thought, either before or after I flew them, and in thinking back on the experience nothing sticks out in my mind.
The rudder is so effective that you really are not using full travel for any normal flying or landing, so it just doesn't jog in your mind that one plane or the other has any lack. It is a bit like power, in normal flying you always have a lot left and don't think of needing more.
When I flew the other Merlin Spitfires,in the first case I did not have a long time to check out and that one had the clipped wing tips so I wanted to see if it was any different at stall. Turns out I used 5 mph more on short final and that was plenty, the landing was almost the same. It sure did nice rolls though.The radio was not so good and I had to take it to another towered airport before the weather got too windy. It was, in retrospect, easy and a real kick to fly my first single seater.
When I got to fly the other single in Canada, I had sat in it and run it up, but did not get to practice before the flight due to weather. My first taxiing really was on rollout after the first landing. We were going cross country back into the US for the Thunder show and my mind was very full with the facts of that flight. The radio, and gear procedure and flap handle, and reserve fuel was different than mine, but I remember that after takeoff once the gear came up , I sort of relaxed and said to myself, "Hey, it's a Spitfire." I was thinking of the facts of the trip and of landing at a Canadian airport that I had never seen before, then getting through the Detroit Class B and landing and night was coming on. And of course as well as feeling out the plane on the way over and looking at the beautiful country, I was also looking out one side and seeing a Hurricane and the other and seeing an Me 109. If that doesn't fill up your senses and make you feel awfully lucky,then one would have to be very blase. Detroit Class B proved to be no obstacle as these planes carry their own press agent as it were, and we made a formation pass right over the main runway at 1000 feet as per ATC instructions.
I have also fast taxied a Griffon engine MK XVIII and it's rudder seemed pretty normal also. As for as the engine being the opposite turn, you brief yourself on that, but then just do what it takes to keep the nose straight.
Whenever I have made a not so good landing, it has usually been the flare portion that was at fault, rather than the rudder. A Spit is pretty blind just before touchdown, and the elevator is light and sensitive, so it takes some feel and touch. On other hand, you have such a long nose out in front that it is easy to see if you are pointing it straight down the runway, (like sighting a rifle, instead of a pistol) even if you can't see the runway, you can detect any yaw. This strong point of the plane seems to fit my strong point as a pilot.
Things that I did notice is that the single seat cockpit is roomier than mine, not tight at all and of course the single is nicer to look at from outside. The view from inside mine is slightly better, but no big deal. I liked the sound/feel of my Rolls engine better than the Packard in the first one,but again they are all great.
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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK
Last edited by Bill Greenwood on Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:45 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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