"Roger That" flies a real Spitfire.

Frank v B · September 17, 2019, 07:57:24 PM

I am taking the liberty of publishing the e-mail I received from our club member Roger Mason who flew in a real Spit today in England. Roger regularly posts relevant WW2 stuff and DeHavilland historical stuff.

The rest of us can only dream.

Frank

From his note:

Hi Aviation Buddies,

Well...Today 17 Sept 2019, has been a magnificent day! It is hard to describe the joy in racing through the air over the fields of Kent and the English Channel in a 1943, MkIX Spitfire.

Did I just say that??? Am I in a dream?

After a blisteringly fast take off, Don the pilot changed the prop pitch to coarse and asked me to demonstrate my skills at climb, dive, left and right banks. I presume I passed his test, as he invited me to fly us all the way to the coast, twisting, turning, diving and climbing as we went. At this point I have to say, it is true what real pilots say about the Spitfire, she is very light on the controls and instantly responds to the touch. Honestly, it is the sweetest experience. How do you describe an enormously heavy (6 tons) but powerful machine that claws through the air with a huge Merlin driven prop and at the same time, responds to the lightest touch just like a paper airplane? I don't have a word to describe it. Oh, yes I do. Spitfire.

As we approached Beachy Head, the pilot resumed control and took us into a dive toward the English Channel, accelerating to 300mph and then doing a sharp left turn and flying close and parallel to the white chalk cliffs. Holy blooming smoke, I've never experienced G forces like that before. It was very surprising and extremely interesting. On the back-facing GoPro video footage, my face has an expression on it that I've never seen before. Clenching my teeth and squeezing my gut down into the seat, as I struggled to handle the G.

We flew along the cliffs to the lighthouse in the sea and then climbed at 45º to about 5,000 ft., only to do a barrel roll and plummet down again along the cliff face but this time in the opposite direction. Then climb up, 'wing over', dive and 'barrel roll', turn out to sea at 3,000 ft, do a 180 and a power-dive toward the base of the cliff face, then the piece d' resistance, the Victory Roll up and over the chalk cliffs and inland. The pilot then offered control once more and asked if I'd like to fly us back to Biggin Hill? Oh, alright then! :-)

Along the route, he requested I do left and right turns and banks in order to see the many points of interest along the way - The Royal Observatory, Henry the VIII's ship yards at Chatham, (only recently closed in 1985, having made Naval ships for 400 years), the many white figures carved in the chalk cliffs including a 3,000 yr old horse carving and a steep bank and circle around Brands Hatch where a motor race was taking place. All very interesting and super fun to execute.

Pilot resumed control for cross wind, down wind, a lovely curling base and final, lightly putting her down on - 03 at RAF Biggin Hill. 45 of the most exciting minutes I have ever spent. Taxiing in to my family, all equally as excited as me!

I don't believe it! I have flown a Spitfire! A MkIX Spitfire, MJ627! A 76 year old lady with considerable bite still! What a day.

Thank you weather Gods for clear blue skies. Thank you Biggin Hill Heritage Hangar and pilot Don Sigournay for a magnificent opportunity. Thank you family for your support on the day and thank you JoAnn for suggesting I might like to do this!

Did I ever!

Roger

sihinch · September 17, 2019, 08:22:52 PM

That is Super Cool.

Probably the coolest thing I've read all year!

Wow!

Way to go Roger.

Crazyflyer · September 17, 2019, 08:36:22 PM

Just ... WOW!

davidk · September 17, 2019, 11:23:39 PM

Wonderful... well done. What an amazing narrative. Cheers.

BJROB · September 18, 2019, 08:32:19 AM

What a dream come true
WOW
I want one too
It would kill me but what a way to go. Lol

msatin · September 18, 2019, 10:02:16 PM

Very cool indeed Roger- thanks for sharing your fantastic experience with us!
Will you wear that flight suit to the field?

VadimKirillov · September 19, 2019, 10:33:50 AM

"Been There, Done That" bar is set pretty high now. Roger That!
Thank you for sharing.
I'm pretty sure every TEMAC member just updated their bucket list to add flight in Spitfire over the English Channel.

SeeFernando · September 20, 2019, 08:46:00 AM

This was awesome! Thanks Roger!

Quote from: VadimKirillov on September 19, 2019, 10:33:50 AM
"Been There, Done That" bar is set pretty high now. Roger That!
Thank you for sharing.
I'm pretty sure every TEMAC member just updated their bucket list to add flight in Spitfire over the English Channel.

You Said it! Group trip across the pond?

bweaver · September 20, 2019, 02:52:21 PM

Quote from: SeeFernando on September 20, 2019, 08:46:00 AM
This was awesome! Thanks Roger!

Quote from: VadimKirillov on September 19, 2019, 10:33:50 AM
"Been There, Done That" bar is set pretty high now. Roger That!
Thank you for sharing.
I'm pretty sure every TEMAC member just updated their bucket list to add flight in Spitfire over the English Channel.

You Said it! Group trip across the pond?

Think of it. Maybe we could get group discount?

sihinch · September 20, 2019, 03:28:35 PM

If you don't mind getting the train to Kent on the day of the flight, we could all stay at my Mums!? Some of us may need to sleep on the floor!?

BJROB · September 20, 2019, 03:31:23 PM

I'd gladly sleep on the floor to fly in a spitfire....
are you kidding me

Frank v B · September 20, 2019, 06:05:59 PM

re: Vadim's "I'm pretty sure every TEMAC member just updated their bucket list to add flight in Spitfire over the English Channel."

Obviously there are different sizes of "bucket". I just wanted to fly a 1.2m Spitfire. Roger's trip tells me I have a "Solo Cup list"

Or, if I have a "Bucket list", Roger has a "Barrel list"

Frank

SeeFernando · September 20, 2019, 06:32:09 PM

Quote from: sihinch on September 20, 2019, 03:28:35 PM
If you don't mind getting the train to Kent on the day of the flight, we could all stay at my Mums!? Some of us may need to sleep on the floor!?

SHORTBREAD!!

Seriously though Roger, how does one get to do this? You got the fly the thing? Do my MAAC wings provide me enough clearance to do the same?

davidk · September 20, 2019, 08:20:12 PM

Quote from: sihinch on September 20, 2019, 03:28:35 PM
If you don't mind getting the train to Kent on the day of the flight, we could all stay at my Mums!? Some of us may need to sleep on the floor!?

I bet your Mum does an excellent fry-up.

I'm in.

davidk · September 21, 2019, 09:27:22 PM

Continuing Roger's exploits... below. Frank... that's just enough aileron in that first roll... but how much is in that 2nd?

Hi guys,
We've just stopped for two overnights in Clovelly in Devon and I have had a moment to capture two minutes of the Spitfire flight. There's much more to come but this is one of the highlight moments...

Roger

Victory Roll Over Beachy Head:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/edxduilqb5zsd94/Victory%20Roll%20over%20Beachy%20Head.mov?dl=0=