"Comfort" in cockpits of BOB adversaries

[LukeFF]

Lol, these video clips are becoming a weekly feature of this forum.

[major_setback]

Getting into the cockpit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO9mEv5Ve54

yeah, bit still it clearly shows how BF109 cockpit was small....really not much room for pilot....

That's very true. I never had the chance of sitting in a 109, but I sat in a Spit Mk.IX and the impression that you get is to sit in a very vulnerable position: the seat is like a trestle suspended in the middle of the monocoque fuselage and you feel very exposed, not a nice place to be when they're shooting at you with 20mm..

[Trumper]

The pilot in the video is the ex BBMF leader Paul Day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLOlp_cGsuo&NR=1

,probably has more flight time in a WW11 fighter than anyone else ,[maybe John Romain excepted] and you call him a twat and biased.
If you actually listen to what he says ,they are facts.
Cockpit is small/cramped
Canopy is heavy and difficult to get open [Black 6 crashed and the pilot asked the fire crews NOT to cut the airframe to release him] as he could'nt get out any other way had to be lifted.
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org...es/lrg1545.jpg
He praises the controls,throttles,panel and the layout so not really totally biased against at all.
I think you need to listen more carefully and make a less biased statement yourself.

[Il2Pongo]

we need his height and weight

[Royraiden]

The guy pointed out bad things while on the Spit too, so not completely biased, but the fact that he seems really big and tall doesnt necessarily represent what most 109 pilots felt while inside that cockpit.

[Jaws2002]

Modern era western civilians, used to have everything at their disposal judge war machines from an old era......


I bet was more comfortable in the pit of the 109 than it was in the frozen trenches in Stalingrad.
We can argue and comment all we want eighty years later in a peaceful era.
Comfort don't mean crap in war. The Russians flew with open canopies in frigid winter and didn't whine like this guy.
Back then people were not used to be pampered like we are today, on top of that it was war, and in war you use what they give you the best you can.
They did mighty good throughout the war in those "oh my God this is cramped" Bf109 cockpits.
For the ammount of time the 109 had fuel that pit was plenty comfortable.

With this whiny generation of pampered crybabies, God help us if we have to fight a real war, against a real enemy.

[Skoshi Tiger]

Originally Posted by Il2Pongo

we need his height and weight

FWIW In the video he describes himself as lightly built.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by Trumper

The pilot in the video is the ex BBMF leader Paul Day.

,probably has more flight time in a WW11 fighter than anyone else ,[maybe John Romain excepted] and you call him a twat and biased.
If you actually listen to what he says ,they are facts.
Cockpit is small/cramped
Canopy is heavy and difficult to get open [Black 6 crashed and the pilot asked the fire crews NOT to cut the airframe to release him] as he could'nt get out any other way had to be lifted.
http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org...es/lrg1545.jpg
He praises the controls,throttles,panel and the layout so not really totally biased against at all.
I think you need to listen more carefully and make a less biased statement yourself.

..since when having more flight time in a WW2 fighter than anyone else means you're not a xxxx?!

Ok, let's put it in this way: I met the man in person in a couple of occasions and both times he talked, behaved and addressed people like a xxxx, is that better?

As for what he says on the video, the patronising tone in which he's giving his comment on the bf109 is as useless as his judgement: these aeroplanes were developed for combat duty, and as such the bf109 design was far superior.
Yes, the cockpit is way more crammed, but for EVERYTHING ELSE the bf109 is by far better than the Spitfire. Just to give you a couple of examples: the Luftwaffe tended to select small size men for their fighter crews, a choice that meant a better tolerance of G-loads and ease of movement in a machine that was deliberately small; second thing (and this is something that your friend here forgot to mention) the spitfire was designed with engineering farts like a fuel tank behind the cockpit panel with no adequate firewall, which meant that many Commonwealth pilots suffered severe burns because of this "uh, whoopsie!"..