Spitfire Flaps

I’d like to agree with the last couple of posts –
Both Clive and Mark V are great examples of applied enthusiasm – they’ve not sat on their hands telling others how it should be done – they got their hands dirty and got stuck in! It’s thanks to attitudes like that which gives us the airshows and aviation scene we’ve got – thanks chaps!

I has a “Dr Livingstone I presume” moment two years ago when I was chatting to some guys on a little island a long way from Britain about their very impressive latest restoration, just fabricked. “Ah, yes, Mr Denney…” said the shock-haired man at the Malta Aviation Museum, “…he has just been to fabric our Hurricane and will return to paint it!” My god, I thought – he gets EVERYWHERE! Is nothing fabric-covered safe?

Cheers

I’m an admirer of anyone’s work if they take the time to do the required research to ensure that they get it right. If it’s worth doing it’s worth doing right I say

No offence taken Glenn. I too am a long time admirer of your Dad’s work 🙂 .

I guess you could say that I’m biased towards Dad’s paint jobs for personal reasons too 🙂

Glenn

Glenn

Just so you know. I love all the stuff your Dad has done and I bow to his expertise. I’m just a little biased, for personal reasons, on this particular job. 😉

One would be hard-pressed to find a more accurately painted Spitfire.

I could point out quite a few accurately painted Spitfires 🙂

No disrespect to Mark V, but a bit of family honour is at stake here…

Look around us. There are plenty of accurately painted spitfires around. Spitfire paint schemes and warbird paint schemes in general have come along way recently. Lets hope they keep appearing in accurate schemes.

Glenn

[

Originally posted by Mark V
Nope, just guessed ’em 😀 !

Yeah right! You “guessed” them after buying, reading, memorising and assimilating every bit of available information on colours available to anyone anywhere. One would be hard-pressed to find a more accurately painted Spitfire.

Hi Airbedane,
Will pass on regards tomorrow! Welcome to the mad house!! 😉
Cheers
WarbirdUK 😎

WarbirdUK,

Sad to say, but I am who I am…….

Airbedane is the word used by daughter number 4 for aeroplanes, although she’s grown out of it now. I wanted to perpetuate the title and I couldn’t think of a better way, or a better handle. The only other alternative was ‘Spitsfires’ which was the name given to the beast by daughter number 3!

I’m glad MJ730 is now back in the air……but I wonder if the flaps are still asymmetric……….

A

Nope, just guessed ’em 😀 !

Thanks Mark V 🙂

Are you sure those colours are accurate? 😉 😀

It depends on the job. MJ730 was ‘mocked up’ with the paper codes Mikesh style but really to make sure the codes were symetrical and true before spraying. Period photos were used though.

For a picture of the finished job see:

http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/spitfiremk2a/mj730_gallery1.html

Only the last (air to air) photo shows the current paint.

Aha, thanks for the info!

Do you take the route on markings as suggested by Mikesh in Restoring Museum Aircraft, where you mock up the paint scheme with the paper letters and then take photos to compare with original photos?

Hi Eddie, they were masked. You draw them out on to a large sheet of paper on the floor. Cut them out, position them to your satisfaction and then secure with tape and mask around them. Just like on Blue Peter!

Merely for the sake of curiosity – do you mask the code letters or paint them freehand? I presume that at the units they would have been done more or less freehand.

I always found freehand signwriting very impressive to watch.

She was in Suffolk, Virginia the whole time. As you say, just the wing came over here for repair. The re-paint team (myself and a friend) went over to the USA to do the job. The paint and materials traveled ahead with the wing in the container. We got there a month or so later later to give the owners team time to get the wing back on, paint strip the airframe and prime it ready for us to do the fun bit!

Now, I’m certainly not going to get into an argument about it, but I can assure you that it is possible to hold the Spitfire level at flap limiting speed with one flap down and one flap up with about half aileron and no significant rudder pressure – and before you start on about asymmetric drag from the flaps, the torque from the engine is far more significant and any rudder required for the flap drag is not noticeable.

Ah, but with which flap down? 😉
I can’t quite work out the ‘Airbedane’ name!
I certainly bow to your knowledge If you are who you are! ( if that makes sense?) I’ll send a PM. 😀
Cheers
WarbirdUK

It’s going off subject a little, but I didn’t realsise MJ730 was back in the UK – I thought only the wings were sent back after the mishap in the US. Is she still here?

A

I guess the thing with one flap up and one flap down is that the flaps are close to the centreline of the aircraft, and so exert a much smaller moment than the ailerons do…?

Welcome to the forum Airbedane!

Welcome to the forum Airbedane, I know your knowledge and experience will be of interest to us all. I am certainly not going to argue with you 😉

Yes, the avatar is MJ730 just after the new codes were painted on (about 30 minutes actually) last November. Still in 32 Squadron colours but now GZ-? on the starboard side and not ?-GZ. The paint is also no longer glossy and she benefits from a complete set of stencils too.