how to handle the spitIX??

[AndyJWest]

I'd say that if you want to learn how to fly Spits, you are probably better off practising with the Mk V versions - less grunt, but better handling. Set one up in the QMB with 50% fuel and no enemy, but ensure 'spins and stalls' or whatever it is called is on, at 3000m. Fly it around - practice tight turns, loops, slow rolls, inverted flight. When you feel comfortable with this, do the silly stuff - tailslides (pull up vertical, throttle back, and keep pointing upwards - if you get it right you will slide backwards for a brief moment, then flip round into a dive - allow plenty of altitude, as you can easily get into a spin). Do pretty well anything you can think of that doesn't involve either ripping the wings off in a dive, or hitting the ground. While you do this you will get plenty of opportunity to practise spin recovery, but more to the point, you will get to recognise how far you can push a Spit before it bites.