I’ve just finished watching the DVD version of the movie ‘First of the Few’. I haven’t seen it for decades, and was surprised that the ending wasn’t what I remembered.

My recollection was that it ended with the invalid R J. Mitchell seated in a wheelchair in his garden, and telling his nurse (who wants to take him indoors) to leave his outside for a little longer. He hears the sound of a Merlin engine, looks up and sees a solo Spitfire, which flies a long and beautifully photographed aerobatic sequence – virtually an aerial ballet – to the sound of Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue.

I’m wondering if my memory is faulty, or if this scene has been cut from the DVD release.

There are several versions of this film, including one called “Spitfire”, I believe the “proper” ending has David Niven flying into the clouds saying “they can’t take the Spitfires Mitch”

In reality, if a replica isn’t totally accurate, what purpose does it serve?

stuart
a number of flying warbirds are a long way from totally accurate(pw powered zero’s the bbmf spitfires wrong merlin versions,the first boomerang to fly in 46 years with alcad covered instead of ply etc)these still serve a strong purpose of both entertainment and education,alot of drawings exist for the whirlwind according various people (i think lindys lad may have some clues)but the biggest problem seems to be engines,the structure inside doesn’t neeed to bee perfectly accurate to fullfil the above ideals alot of people are waitng to see a flugwerk 190 fly at airshows even though it has some different build techniques and engine,so why not a whirwind replica with modern v12’s a real one needs to be rebuilt and preserved in a museum as it would likely be the only one left and shouldn’t be risked(an accurate replica would do)
paul[/QUOTE]

I was speaking dimensionally; I personally don’t have a problem with A/C flying with the “wrong” engine, or even an amount of substitute material in it’s construction (although I believe the CAA might), but if you are building a replica of an extinct type, you have some responsibility with regards to accuracy of construction, if you intend for it to be on display to the public.

Everytime the “Battle of Britain” is screened, it sets off a new shockwave
of “Hurricanes and Spitfires are made from wood” b0ll0cks, because of the scenes of the burning A/C.

You really want a pair of Peregrines for a Whirlwind, but given the number of people that are thinking of building one, you will need to be quick….

I should have said it definitely isn’t from a Lancaster!

You are quite correct about the MkII Lancaster of course but a Hercules piston is bigger (5.75”) and looks like this…

…except it wouldn’t be green.

Thanks for trying.

WA$.

Unless it was running in Duckhams oil!

I tend to think that buried deep in th RR folklore, there are some truths, I do wonder given RR’s eliteist nature , whether the re drawing issue, wasn’t “payback” from companies (such as Fords UK), that hither to, RR would have had no truck with.

With regard to the tightening up of tolerences, clearly, closing up any running clearances wouldn’t have been acceptable; I have heard it said that RR engine builders never used a torque wrench, instead relying on their experience of bolt sizes and just how tight they should be , obviously that would be a recipe for disaster, with an unskilled workforce, but that merely needs a spec sheet drawn up (and adhered to!)

On the subject of U.S rebuilds, can anyone shed any light on who may have done this rebuild?
It is a V-1650-7 which I have in from a customer in the UK. Odd thing is that it has not been run, but has had a professional rebuild done and sadly there is no paperwork with it.
He purchased it from Denis Kay about 10 years ago.
The colour scheme tells me it must have come from across the pond.

Pete

Worryingly, it looks like the picture was taken in a bedroom; I hope there’s a good reason for that…..

It would be great if they did start making them again. I have often wondered with today’s technological improvements whether the engine would be more powerful, fuel efficient and reliable. I guess there isn’t much need these days for such large pistons, but I wonder if it could actually be a commercial success to begin manufacture again.
Not to upset the purists but I would imagine a number of warbird/classic operators would be interested if a new one would cut down on maintenance and fuel costs.

Rgds,

James

Why not fit a turbo prop and be done with it!

Personally I would have thought that by the time the Typhoons were operating over mainland europe, the morale of your average German soldier, was already at rock bottom; faced with certain death on the Russian front, or extreme hardship/certain defeat elsewhere, its hard to imagine a relatively small siren being as unsettling, as a wing full of rocket projectiles.