Answers from BoB Spitfire pilot and Rigger

[PeterPanPan]

The unveiling event to Sqn Ldr Brian Lane DFC took place on Sunday in London, and was a great success. Over 400 people turned up which was incredible. Sadly, it was too windy (gusting up to 25kts) at RAF Coningsby, so the much anticipated BBMF flypast was scrubbed at the last minute. Amazingly, when they heard the bad news, the local police made a call and 15 minutes later, we were entertained with a very low and loud impromptu helicopter display by the Met Police's ASU, right over our heads - complete with waving pilots – incredible and nice to see that initiative is alive and well!

The highlight for me was meeting Flt Lt Ken Wilkinson AE RAF and Rigger Mr John Milne, both ex 19 Sqn. Ken flew under Brian's command and John was Brian's rigger. Such incredible gentlemen, both then and now, and yes, I did manage to ask them some questions and got some really interesting answers.

Stuff in [ ] are my own thoughts/assumptions and not the words of Ken or John.



Flt Lt Ken Wilkinson

Me: When you were scrambled, did you have to wait for your engine to warm up?

KW: Not at all. You just started it and off you went. No hanging around. I recall that one pilot [sorry, KW did mention his name, but I forgot it] saw his Spit with all the fairings off and yelled at his crew to get them bloody back on. As soon as they were on, he roared across the airfield and took off. [See Q&A with John Milne below though].

Me: When you took off, were you all lined up and ready to go or did you need to taxi into position?

KW: It depends when you are talking about. In the Battle [as KW called it] when we were on grass fields, the aircraft were dispersed. Had to be. Later on, when we had concrete runways, the aircraft were in hangars. [Didn’t quite answer my question – my fault. What I was angling at was whether dispersed aircraft were all generally pointing in the right direction and so could just scramble with little or no manoeuvring.]

KW: Later on, I remember watching Spit squadrons landing on the concrete runways. You would always see the canopies open right away and the pilots throw out their chewing gum.

Me: Why did they have gum? [I knew why but didn’t know they had gum and assumed that swallowing without gum would have cleared their ears]

KW: Well, to clear their ears.

Me: So I guess the runways were lined with gum then?

KW: Yes, I guess they were [chuckle].

Me: Could you hear other aircraft from inside the Spit cockpit?

KW: No. [Looked at me a little strangely as if he really wanted to say, of course not, what a silly question. [So flyby sounds within closed cockpit need to be disabled or at least made optional in the realism menu.]

Me: And what about the guns? Could you hear them?

KW: Oh yes, and feel them too. All combat was at about 120mph, on the edge of the stall, juddering all the time. If you fired the guns then, the juddering got even worse.

Me: In other words, it brought you closer to the stall.

KW: Yes [So there really was enough recoil of 8 machine guns to slow an aircraft down]

Me: Did you ever fly the Hurricane too?

KW: Yes, in fact I ended up instructing on Hurricanes.

Me: And was it much different to fly than the Spit?

KW: [shrug, as if to imply flipping between the two was easy, no real difference at all. In fact very much gave the impression if you were a Spitfire fighter pilot, of course the Hurricane was easy to fly! This does rather fit in with quote below*] Of course, the Hurricane had thick wings and so had a much wider undercart than the Spit [so there was some difference then!]

*In Dilip Sarkar’s Last of the Few Ken is reported to have said “If you were a fighter pilot, you were a cocky bugger. But as a Spitfire pilot, you were cockier still!”

Me: When were you last in a Spitfire?

KW: [shows me a photo (I think from the Duxford Spring airshow 2010) of him almost fully in the cockpit but with the lower half of his left leg hanging out of the open door.] I got my behind in, then my right leg, but I couldn’t get my left leg in! [laughs, then continues] I have been asked 3 times to fly in that 2 seater.

Me: Carolyn Grace’s Spitfire?

KW: Yes. Didn’t much fancy it. A 2 seater is just not the same, not a Spitfire. [ I always assumed flying in any type of Spitfire would be something most veterans, health depending, would love to do. But thinking about it, an integral part of the Spitfire fighter pilot experience is being alone, in total and sole control. To share the experience with someone else, who is the Pilot in Command, is perhaps understandably too much for some ex Spit pilots to bear].

Me: So how about a single seater then?!

KW: Hmmm, think I’d break it!

KW: One sweep in 1943, my flight was briefed that the target [in France, he told me the name but I have forgotten it, sorry!] had no AAA to speak of. So, we escorted the bombers towards the target but were jumped over the French coast by FW190s. 20 minutes or so ensured when we kept the 190s off the bombers. Eventually, the 190’s lost interest. I lost my squadron but eventually hooked up with another squadron of Spitfires and so continued with them escorting the bombers. Then, over the target, all hell broke loose. Flak everywhere. This wasn’t right. I then got closer to the bombers and noticed that they had different markings from the bombers I had originally been escorting. I was escorting the wrong bombers who were bombing another, evidently more well defended, target!



John Milne

Me: Was it necessary to warm a Merlin up before taking off?

JM: Oh yes, definitely.

Me: So what would happen if you didn’t? How bad would it be? Would the aircraft fly, albeit with a damaged engine?

JM: Yes, it would be bad. Yes the engine would be damaged. You might not even be able to take off at all with a cold engine. [Interesting when you compare this to Ken’s answer. Clearly, engines must have been run up by the ground crew so that the pilots could, at a moment’s notice, scramble with a pre-warmed engine. Warming the engine was not the concern of the pilots, hence Ken doesn’t ever recall having to wait for a warm engine before applying full throttle. [So, we definitely need a pre-warmed engine scenario with CEM set.]

Me: So when pilots ran to their aeroplanes, were the engines already running? Did the crews start the engines before the pilots got there?

JM: Sometimes, it depended.

Me: So as a rigger, what was your responsibility? Did you rearm the Spitfires?

JM: No, the armourers did that. I looked after the airframe [and I think he also said control systems and instruments] and refuelling.

Me: So it was down to you to fix broken panels, or bits with holes in them?

JM: Yes, but if it was really bad, you’d have to [I think he said] give the aircraft back. In those days, when 19 was based at Fowlmere, it was just a field. No hangars or buildings. It’s still like that.

Me: So how long did it take to refuel a Spitfire.

JM: About 10 minutes. The Spitfire only had 2 small tanks.

Me: In front of the cockpit.

JM: Yes.

Me: And what about 100 octane fuel? When was that introduced?

JM: Oh, quite early on.

Me: In the Battle of Britain?

JM: No, before the Battle of Britain. [Interesting, so it should be available in game.] It was dyed green. After we finished refuelling the Spitfires, we’d empty what was left in the fuel truck’s hose into our motor bikes! [Brilliant!!] My motor bike’s petrol tank was stained all green on the outside! [Who? Me Sir? No, no, I didn’t pinch the fuel Sir!!] Wasn’t good for the bikes though. Engines weren’t designed for 100 octane and we kept asking the fitters to fix them!

Me: Does all this seem like a long time ago or just like yesterday?

JM: Oh, just like yesterday. As clear as anything.


It was so amazing to talk to Ken and John. They may be showing signs of wear on the outside, but their verve and passion is undiminished by the years and their memories remain as fresh as the moment they were made.

PPP

[dflion]

Thanks very much PeterPanPan. Some very interesting comments from both pilot and rigger from a historical point of view. I liked the 'chewing gum' scenario. Thanks for your great effort to interview them, it is so important, because they are all gradually going, sadly.
DFLion

[Dano]

It just confirms what I've always thought, memory is very subjective to who is recalling it and where their attention was at that time, the engine warming being an absolute classic instance.

Very interesting, thanks for posting

[Moggy]

Absolutely fantastic interviews there PPP! I bet those 2 have some real stories between them to tell. I love the fact John filled his motorcycle with 100 octane fuel, it must of caused absolute havoc with it's engine though.

[Sutts]

Thanks for your efforts PPP, a great read and some nice info in there. If you manage to catch a pilot again please ask about the negative G cutout issue..would be great to understand that one.

Cheers

[O_Smiladon]

Cool thanks..

They are turly the modern day heros

O_Smiladon

[bongodriver]

Great thread, fascinating.

[biltongbru]

It is amazing how these gentlemen can still remember detail!

thanks for this wonderful post!

[JG53Frankyboy]

very nice, thanks for sharing !!

[ATAG_Snapper]

Well done, PPP, thanks for sharing this. As others above have noted, the perspectives of a pilot and a rigger can be quite different at times. I just received Brian Lane's "Spitfire!" a few days ago through Amazon.ca....it had been on back order for some time. Looking forward to reading it after I'm finished reading Ulrich Steinhilper's "Spitfire on my Tail" -- talk about a different perspective!!! LOL