Quote:
Originally Posted by taildraggernut
It's Ok to have an oppinnion, my oppinion is that the stability was not a problem given the actual pilots who were flying the aircraft at the time had the bare minimum time on type and weren't ripping the wings off the aircraft, just my oppinion but the Spitfire was not famed for being an aircraft 'only experts' could fly.....quite the opposite in fact.
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I've not said it could be only flown by experts: I'm saying that only experts could fly it at its limits. It was a easy plane to fly below those limits.
As this is true for any plane, IMO it's easier to gain confidence in a plane who actually doesn't allow you to fly it in a wrong way than a plane who does not put limits to the pilot's input.
But involuntary spins actually happened, and some pilots were so afraid of it that they could not outturn a 109 flown by a RAF pilot (enough confident in his new ride but, imo, not as the pilots who were flying it all the time).
Quote:
Towards D-Day
The Norwegian squadrons continued their operations over the channel and into France. Covering American or British bombers on their way to targets on the continent were one of their jobs. Sometimes they were on offensive patrols over France or the channel trying to get the Germans up in the air to fight. Other times they were flying low offensive sweeps into France. The youngest pilot of them all, Marius Eriksen, barely 19 years old of age got shot down when he tried a head-on attack on a FW190. He survived and was taken prisoner. His best friend Jan Eirik Løfsgaard is not so lucky and is shot down when Marius is on leave in London. Other casualties included Captain Stein Sem.
-We dived side by side heading for the coast of France. Just before reaching the coast a FW190 appeared just over and behind Sem’s plane. I called out to him over the radio but it was too late. Black smoke came out from his engine. I heard him calling to me over the radio but I couldn’t hear what he said. I last saw him breaking hard right and upwards with thick black smoke still coming out. I pulled up and to the left but the plane got into a spin and the engine stopped. I couldn’t get the plane out of the spin and knew I had to jump out. I couldn’t get the canopy open and thought I was over and done with. At 4000 feet the plane flatted out and I continued over the channel before the engine stopped again and glycol streamed out. I finally got the hood open enough to get out but the release handle hit me in my face and I had to get out by pulling myself up and kicking the stick hard enough so I would get free. Covered in blood and oil I had a hell of a time finding the parachute opener but found it after awhile and the chute opened at 300 feet. I got into my dingy and after half an hour I was picked up by a British fishing boat. – Pilot Officer Malm.
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