Spitfires are so distracting!

[AES]

Dave, "Well if you're going to bring up Bomber Command.......... ": Yeah, correct, as I wrote to t8hants, I'm off on (one of) my hobby horse/s again!

101 Sqn was very well known at the time. In the end, German night fighters were becoming such a big problem that Bomber Command set up a special new Group, specifically for what would be called today "ECM" (Electronic Counter Measures). Led by 101 Sqn I believe. Their equipment varied from the very simple (a microphone in one of the engine nacelles which could be switched on and off at odd times and then transmitted over one or more of the German fighter controller radio frequencies, so blocking their comms completely, up) to what was then state of the art electronic gear to interfere separately with both the German ground-based and airborne radars. Plus not "just" bombers in the main stream but also Mosquitos equipped with a device called "Serrate" to try and identify German fighters introducing themselves into the main stream. BTW, apparently it took a long while for the penny to drop, but the H2S ground mapping radar that was standard fit in all RAF bombers by 1944 could actually be homed in on by a special receiver in the German fighters.

All fascinating stuff, all remarkably brave young men (on both sides) IMO, but as someone just said in another thread,. this is a wood working Forum. My wrist is now well & truly slapped - by myself!

 

[woodbloke66]

My favourite book of all in that genre (and I've read many!) is "Night Fighter"by C.F.Rawnsley, which I read first in my twenties and is another book I regularly re-read. It's the autobiography of the navigator/radar operator who was teamed up early in the war with John "Cats Eyes" Cunningham, probably the greatest British night-fighter pilot of WWII, and is about the development of night fighter radar and has some gripping stories of night engagements with enemy bombers and intruders, and later their own Mosquito intruder raids against German night fighters over Germany. It's written in a really engaging and humble style and is as much about his own self-doubt, lack of confidence and struggles with the early equipment. Excellent.

Ta :lol: ...there's another one added to my holiday Kindle reading list! - Rob

 

[Yojevol]

Spitfires are so distracting for me at the present time - I've started reading John Nichols book 'Spitfire'

It's an anthology of the Spit's history told through the memories and anecdotes of pilots, mechanics, engineers and politicians of those associated with it throughout the war.
A thoroughly good read if you're interested in such things.
Brian

 

[AES]

Haven't seen that one Brian, thanks.

 

[heimlaga]

An old man in the other end of the village lost control of his green Lada 1600 in a turn of the road one day some 10 years ago. The car became a total wreck but miraculosly the old man stepped out bruised but otherwise unharmed.
Some bypassers came to see if he needed any help and the first thing he said was " I have been shot down twice but never this bad".
He had flown both fighters and bombers against Soviet forces in the war.
The fighters were likely Fokker D.XXI or Messerschmitt Bf 109 or Brewster............... not quite your Spitfires.

 

[Student]

And on the subject of the sound of a Merlin, as said in the comments on this clip, how about "half a Lancaster or twice a Spitfire"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06T1OXnb36k

There's quite a lot of footage of the Mosquito that was rebuilt in NZ on YouTube.

 

[Student]

but if you prefer just the sound of a single engine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yTHDQZL1dE

 

[woodbloke66]

And on the subject of the sound of a Merlin, as said in the comments on this clip, how about "half a Lancaster or twice a Spitfire"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06T1OXnb36k

There's quite a lot of footage of the Mosquito that was rebuilt in NZ on YouTube.

Back in the 70's I had a Saturday job and used to work with a bloke who flew Mossies during the war. If memory serves, I believe he said that he took part in one of the raids on Gestapo HQ's in occupied Europe and I do remember him saying the insane speed the aircraft reached in a shallow dive although what the airspeed actually was I can't remember. He also said without question that it was the finest aeroplane he'd ever flown - Rob

 

[DTR]

I read recently that one one of the Mosquitoes under restoration in NZ is due to come to the UK in 2020. I'd love to see a flying Mosquito

 

[AES]

Yeah, me too! Hope he comes to Switzerland on the way!

I once sat in the cockpit of a Mosquito, it was used as a target tug and must have been in the late 1950s, when I was a sprog ATC cadet. I THINK it was at RAF Shawbury, Shropshire, but can't swear to it after all this time.

Never seen/heard one flying though, apart from in vids.

 

[Chris152]

When we were kids growing up in Wiltshire, we used to have Hercules flying over low quite often. I think they were based in Lyneham? When they did, whatever we were up to stopped to watch, partly because of the noise, partly in awe at the flying monsters. I'd completely forgotten til I read this thread.

 

[AES]

Ah, modern "fuel to noise converters" Chris, and America too. Don't count!

IF I haven't done this subject to death, if anyone is still interested, I thought I'd seen a Youtube piece about Merlins, and sure enough:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fo7SmNuUU4

Rather old-fashioned, & in B&W of course, but I found it interesting anyway. It lasts about a half hour.

And BTW; if anyone IS still interested, the bit at about 9 mins in about traceability of all incoming raw materials is by no means restricted to R-R, all aeroengine manufacturers do it (they have to, by "law") even up until today. (The marking techniques are SOMETIMES a little more modern today though)!

 

[woodbloke66]

When we were kids growing up in Wiltshire, we used to have Hercules flying over low quite often. I think they were based in Lyneham? When they did, whatever we were up to stopped to watch, partly because of the noise, partly in awe at the flying monsters. I'd completely forgotten til I read this thread.

We live directly under the flight path of Boscombe Down runway, probably no more than a few miles away. It's amazing what we get buzzed with almost on a daily basis; Apache 'choppers (and others) Hercules (and other similarly sized aircraft) and the odd Hawker Hunter from time to time. If anyone remembers 'Newt' (who very sadly passed away a few years ago) he was, before retirement, the No1 head honcho at Boscombe Down - Rob