Yo, Brit history buffs!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Volume three uploading now. I should have it done through Jan 1, 1941 today.

Meanwhile . . .

They did something called a "Spitfire" (sp?) a few issues early. First I'd heard of it. Did it see any action?

[klr]

Volume three uploading now. I should have it done through Jan 1, 1941 today.

Meanwhile . . .

They did something called a "Spitfire" (sp?) a few issues early. First I'd heard of it. Did it see any action?

Oh, a bit.

One of my aviation journals has a great story about a pilot in 1952 operating out of Kai tak, who tried to get his Spitfire PR XIX up to 51,000 feet over Hong Kong. "Don't try this at home ..."

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Volume three uploading now. I should have it done through Jan 1, 1941 today.

Meanwhile . . .

They did something called a "Spitfire" (sp?) a few issues early. First I'd heard of it. Did it see any action?

Oh, a bit.

One of my aviation journals has a great story about a pilot in 1952 operating out of Kai tak, who tried to get his Spitfire PR XIX up to 51,000 feet over Hong Kong. "Don't try this at home ..."

I hope he was using oxygen.

[klr]

Volume three uploading now. I should have it done through Jan 1, 1941 today.

Meanwhile . . .

They did something called a "Spitfire" (sp?) a few issues early. First I'd heard of it. Did it see any action?

Oh, a bit.

One of my aviation journals has a great story about a pilot in 1952 operating out of Kai tak, who tried to get his Spitfire PR XIX up to 51,000 feet over Hong Kong. "Don't try this at home ..."

I hope he was using oxygen.

I can check my journal later, but in the meantime, here's the distilled version from wiki:

On 5 February 1952, a Spitfire 19 of No. 81 Squadron RAF based in Hong Kong reached probably the highest altitude ever achieved by a Spitfire. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Ted Powles,[121] was on a routine flight to survey outside-air temperature and report on other meteorological conditions at various altitudes in preparation for a proposed new air service through the area. He climbed to 50,000 ft (15,240 m) indicated altitude, with a true altitude of 51,550 ft (15,712 m). The cabin pressure fell below a safe level and, in trying to reduce altitude, he entered an uncontrollable dive which shook the aircraft violently. He eventually regained control somewhere below 3,000 ft (900 m) and landed safely with no discernible damage to his aircraft. Evaluation of the recorded flight data suggested that, in the dive, he achieved a speed of 690 mph (1,110 km/h, Mach 0.96), which would have been the highest speed ever reached by a propeller-driven aircraft, but it has been speculated this figure resulted from inherent instrument errors.[118]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarin ... de_records

[Geoff]

He climbed to 50,000 ft (15,240 m) indicated altitude, with a true altitude of 51,550 ft (15,712 m). The cabin pressure fell below a safe level and, in trying to reduce altitude, he entered an uncontrollable dive which shook the aircraft violently. He eventually regained control somewhere below 3,000 ft (900 m) ...

:clench:

[klr]

He climbed to 50,000 ft (15,240 m) indicated altitude, with a true altitude of 51,550 ft (15,712 m). The cabin pressure fell below a safe level and, in trying to reduce altitude, he entered an uncontrollable dive which shook the aircraft violently. He eventually regained control somewhere below 3,000 ft (900 m) ...

:clench:

"Somewhere" being the operative word. It is reckoned that there was altimeter lag, meaning that he was actually well below 3,000 feet when he bottomed out - the instrument just couldn't keep up with the speed of descent. He was lucky he didn't crash into the sea, or nearby hills ...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Volume four uploaded.

[klr]

Volume four uploaded.

Will check tomorrow morning at work, where I can download as much as I like, as fast as I like ...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Volume five uploading.

(Keywording: The War Illustrated.)

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Aircraft Without Air Screws: A New Development

[Geoff]

They'll never take off...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

They'll never take off...

"I told Orville, I told Wilbur, and now I'm telling you, that thing will never get off the ground."

[colubridae]

Phwoar rachel wiesz!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Phwoar rachel wiesz!

I thought I'd do something nice for Mandy and show her in a veil.



Plus it's fucking HOT!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

One from the "I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, I won't laugh, . . . " file.

http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/TWI/hat.jpg