Battle Of Britain RAF Sports Cars

[Lankytim]

Great pics. I too enjoy this film but find it RUINED by the 1960's doorbell, garage door and outside light on that Squadron leader bloke's bungalow. They use the wrong model of Spitfires, too. Special effects are pretty good for a 1960's movie though.

[Owain-328i]

Great pics. I too enjoy this film but find it RUINED by the 1960's doorbell, garage door and outside light on that Squadron leader bloke's bungalow. They use the wrong model of Spitfires, too. Special effects are pretty good for a 1960's movie though.

 

Well the trouble is there wernet any mk1's flying at the time, are there any now? I know theres a few mk2's, most of what you see in the film are mk v and mk ix doesnt really bother me tbh, would be more noticable if they'd been using griffon engined ones.

[Jozza]

Well the trouble is there wernet any mk1's flying at the time, are there any now?

 

There is one airworthy Mk1a Spitfire, but it wasn't delivered to the RAF until 1941 and was used only for training duties so it has no combat record and the Battle of Britain was long over when it was built. It's still the only BoB 'spec' Spitfire left flying though .

[AXrescuer]

Oh yes, almost every historical movie has a few context/out of time crimes. I have a hard time believing the Abbeville Boys (Me-109 pilots) "found" a Willys to hoon around France, for example. Or the IH lorries hauling canal boats for the Kriegsmarine preparing for Op SeaLion, sure, yeah. The director had to use "something" old and likely didn't have FredTransit to call upon. Forgiveness is thus extended. You have to give them severe credit for building all those Heinkels!! And finding all those Spanish Me-109s (even with wrong engines for accurate Luftwaffe use).

 

The Heinkel He111s that featured in the film were Spanish built too. They were known as the CASA 211

[Lankytim]

I think a number of radio controlled 1/2 scale Heinkels were built too, and blown up.

 

Its amazing to think that most of those merlin powered CASA 211's were scrapped not long after the making of the film, One was still flying into the early 2000's, but was destroyed in a crash. tragic! Would I like a CASA/Heinkel 111 in my back garden? yes I would!

[Negative Creep]

If I had a time machine I'd go back, buy a massive barn and fill it full of as many WW2 aircraft as I possibly could. It would make the scene tax on mk.1 Escorts seem pathetic in comparison

[ashmicro]

Even if you could get just the front end of a 111, it would make an excellent mini-greenhouse.

[Alexg]

What happened to the talked about remake of this film?

[Owain-328i]

If I had a time machine I'd go back, buy a massive barn and fill it full of as many WW2 aircraft as I possibly could. It would make the scene tax on mk.1 Escorts seem pathetic in comparison

 

Deffinately, with a preference towards spitfires as these bad boys have an amazing scene tax!! 3 times the price of an airworthy Mustang is what you'l pay for a Spitfire (if you can find one for sale)

[Negative Creep]

If I had a time machine I'd go back, buy a massive barn and fill it full of as many WW2 aircraft as I possibly could. It would make the scene tax on mk.1 Escorts seem pathetic in comparison

 

Deffinately, with a preference towards spitfires as these bad boys have an amazing scene tax!! 3 times the price of an airworthy Mustang is what you'l pay for a Spitfire (if you can find one for sale)

 

 

 

Actually I'd be slightly different and buy things like the Beaufighter, Halifax, Meteor and Sunderland as there are no airworthy examples left

[Owain-328i]

If I had a time machine I'd go back, buy a massive barn and fill it full of as many WW2 aircraft as I possibly could. It would make the scene tax on mk.1 Escorts seem pathetic in comparison

 

Deffinately, with a preference towards spitfires as these bad boys have an amazing scene tax!! 3 times the price of an airworthy Mustang is what you'l pay for a Spitfire (if you can find one for sale)

 

 

 

Actually I'd be slightly different and buy things like the Beaufighter, Halifax, Meteor and Sunderland as there are no airworthy examples left

 

Cornering the market i like it..... Id throw a few fw190's into the mix i think and some early 109's, possibly a b24 or 2 not many of them about, and a me 262 for a laugh

[MrDuke]

Would I like a CASA/Heinkel 111 in my back garden? yes I would!

 

I'd just have the tail end of the fuselage, from the cockpit back, mounted at a 60 degree angle in the middle of a pond in my back garden, complete with large-caliber bullet-holes. No, my neighbours wouldn't like it, not in the least

 

'Tis an incredible film, true. I was really impressed by the lack of cheesy background music during combat scenes, unusual for the time but gave it a lot more impact. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was about 15, then a couple of weeks later while looking round the cemetery where my granddad was buried I found a huge memorial to an 18-yr-old Spitfire pilot - I knew none of the details but straight away thought of the 2 newbies in the film going up and getting taken out almost straight away, it was pretty affecting.

[trigger]

Sometimes I think I'm a bit odd as I don't really have any interest or knowledge in old airplanes, were as most other people i know do, That said i do get a bit excited when i hear the sound of a old Spitfire flying over.

 

The day i got married (17th June 2006) i was in the pub having a swift pint before getting married when the battle of Britain flyover flew over us, That was a nice moment i though.

[Owain-328i]

Always had an interest in old aircraft, both my grandfathers were RAF in ww2 (groundcrew) and worked on Spits aswell as others i belive. From an early age I was taken to the annual airshow at RAF St Athan as thats quite local, nothing beats the sound of a Spitfire flying over-head. Gota say though a low pass by a Vulcan bomber is quite an experience at a young age too

[Lankytim]

Maybe its worth looking at old aero shite now. Ive been looking for a cheapo recent jet cockpit to annoy the entire street with. Canberra, Hunter, Provost or something similar. They can go for mega money but sometimes appear at real bargain prices, its just a case of being in the right place at the right time. A complete Jaguar minus engines and instruments can be had for 7k or so I hear, plus of course the entire Harrier fleet is being retired/scrapped. Bet things like that can only go up in value as they become rarer, in the meantime i'd have something interesting to sit in and make wooshing noises. I could park it up next to my Leyland National .

[Owain-328i]

Great if you have plenty of land

[Negative Creep]

Always had an interest in old aircraft, both my grandfathers were RAF in ww2 (groundcrew) and worked on Spits aswell as others i belive. From an early age I was taken to the annual airshow at RAF St Athan as thats quite local, nothing beats the sound of a Spitfire flying over-head. Gota say though a low pass by a Vulcan bomber is quite an experience at a young age too

 

 

My interest stems from a B-17 flying over my head as a kid. Think it was at Southend and I was stunned by the noise it made

[Owain-328i]

Always had an interest in old aircraft, both my grandfathers were RAF in ww2 (groundcrew) and worked on Spits aswell as others i belive. From an early age I was taken to the annual airshow at RAF St Athan as thats quite local, nothing beats the sound of a Spitfire flying over-head. Gota say though a low pass by a Vulcan bomber is quite an experience at a young age too

 

 

My interest stems from a B-17 flying over my head as a kid. Think it was at Southend and I was stunned by the noise it made

 

I bet it made an awesome noise

[Owain-328i]

 

This would probably be worth a few quid now, Top scoring allied ace Johnnie Johnson's personal mount in 1943, mk ix en398, they reckon one of the most sucessful Spitfires of the war. Scrapped in 1952.

[Lankytim]

Amazing isn't it? Up until the mid 70's there wasn't any huge interest in second world war aircraft, they just scrapped them all regardless of individual histories. The last Halifax was scrapped in 1971, not long after that they were fishing them out of fjords and restoring them at huge expense.

 

Johnny Johnson had PERSONALISED SQUADRON CODES on the side of his Spitfire, how cool is that?

[Owain-328i]

Once you became a wing leader or something i belive you could have your enitials on the side of the aircraft, pretty cool yeh!

[eddyramrod]

both my grandfathers were RAF in ww2 (groundcrew)

 

So was my dad! Hello son! He did his squarebashing at St Athan, and my brother-in-law recently retired as a crew chief there.

 

a low pass by a Vulcan bomber is quite an experience at a young age too

 

It certainly is. We used to camp on a farm in Anglesey when I was about 7 or 8, it must have been right at the end of the runway of RAF Valley as I distinctly remember the Vulcans taking off over our caravan. That does tend to stay with you!

[Formula Autos]

Sorry for the thread hijack, but a thread of its own on planes might have looked a bit odd on Autoshite, and those with an interest in such things have already gravitated here.

 

Just thought this place might be of interest to you shiters who have an interest in planes - the restoration hall of RAF Millom museum in West Cumbria. The museum has recently closed, so this might be the last chance to get these things known about.

 

I've managed to work out the blueish fuselage is a Canberra.

 

Centre of shot is the skeletal remains of what I guess is a gondola from an airship.

 

View from the road outside. None of this is fenced off. You can wander freely among it.

 

Sadly, the really interesting stuff like a complete Vampire airframe has been taken away - the local rumour mill reckons for scrap.

 

It's on Google Earth (and their street view) - just type in Devonshire Road, Millom. It's the last junction of the industrial estate (sorry, I'm not IT literate enough to provide links and what-not). [EDIT]I've just looked it up on there though, and from the aerial view the site now seems to have been cleared.

[Owain-328i]

Interesting to note that the highest scoring pilots of the war were Germans, but then i suppose shooting down bombers flying over in their hundreds does present a good opportunity to rack up a good score.

 

Another legend Douglas Bader;

 

And of course Top scoring British pilot during the battle of Britain - Ginger Lacey

 

[simmo]

An exRAF mate used to live in Rhodes-Moorhouse Court which was named after a Battle of Britain pilot who had a few kills to his name before he was killed in action himself. His father was a decorated RFC pilot in WW1.

 

The Battle of Britain museum at Hawkinge is well worth a visit but check before travelling as I think it shuts around this time of year.

[Negative Creep]

Interesting to note that the highest scoring pilots of the war were Germans, but then i suppose shooting down bombers flying over in their hundreds does present a good opportunity to rack up a good score.

 

 

The majority of Luftwaffe high scores came against the Soviets, in the early days of the war in the East kills were raked up so easily they referred to it as infanticide. The Germans also used to keeps their aces in constant battle whereas the RAF tended to withdraw them after every tour, hence the disparity in scores

[Owain-328i]

Didnt AVM Park get the boot along with Dowding aswell?

[Shep Shepherd]

The RAF Manston Spitfire and Hurricane Memorial Museum is well worth a visit if you find yourself in east Kent with a few hours to spare. I used to visit it a fair bit when I was younger as I grew up a few miles from RAF Manston:

 

http://www.spifirememorial.org.uk

[Negative Creep]

I believe a large part of them being relieved was that they refused to bow to higher pressure to simply throw everything we had against the Luftwaffe. It was in fact their micro management and refusal to be drawn out that was instrumental in winning the Battle. Even if the Germans had invaded we would have had plenty of aircraft in reserve further up the country

[Owain-328i]

Radar was without doubt a deciding factor. I think what the germans failed to realise was that the UK at the time had the worlds first Integrated Air Defence System, very well trained pilots, and the best aircraft in the world at the time (even if that margin was small).

 

Basically they underestimated the UK, and totally missed the point of Radar, but then of course at the time no one knew what a IADS was.