[QUOTE=Mark12]A cleaned up Mk V with a bit more ‘oomph’, a four blade prop, a retracting tail wheel to order and a broad chord late Mk IX/VIII rudder.

I give you the…

Mark XII

Mark12 Speaks the truth! There is only one…er….100 and 1. The nicest of all the Spits, the Spit XII! They don’t get any prettier then that 🙂

Not that I’m biased at all…

The first. DP845 in October 1943 with F/L Clive Gosling at the controls for photographer Charles Brown.

And the last, MB882 also with Clive Gosling at the controls in October 1943.

Why??

I thought you only did that to plastic aircraft..

I’m sorry. But I think that is a waste…. As I can see from the pictures of the interior, it is being lovingly restored. Only to be left outside?? On a pole??

Me thinks Fluffy was kidding 🙂

Richard Bach’s ‘Gift of Wings’ Should be made compulsory reading for all aspiring PPLs

‘Terror in the Right Hand Seat’ Can’t recall the author. Honest navigator on intruder Mosquitos who spent the war trying to stay out of trouble.

“Tail End Charlies” By the bloke that was navving a Tornado in the Gulf and was shot down – though the book is a superb piece about the late WW2 bomber campaign.

“Pegasus Bridge” Stephen Ambrose

Moggy

“Terror in the Starboard Seat” was written by Dave Macintosh if memory serves. A classic about flying 418 Squadron Mossies.

“Wing Leader” by Johnnie Johnson is one of the best.

“Nanette” by Edwards Park about flying P39s with the 41st FS, 35th FG 5th AF is probably my favorte of all time fighter pilot book however.

Similar to the Mossie book in the reflections of an average pilot caught up in events he had no control over, who was terrified most of the time but got the job done.

Dan

Well, it’s a lot more accurate about a lot of real events than a lot of hero biogs are. Just take the replication of the Battle of Barking Creek in the book and TV series, and what actually happened.

If I recall correctly, Derek Robinson was accused by some pilots of the period of making it all up. To their chagrin, he was able to show that just about every event (except the Sqn Leader’s abandonment by his Sqn) had actually happened, in similar ways at about that time. A lot of war is a waste, a mess and people acting with the worst of motives, as well as the amazing bravery and heroism that we do get told about. You need shadows to see the true shine.

Seems to me it must have been a bit close to home of Paul Richey was claiming that it was nothing more then a fictionalized version of his “Fighter Pilot” book about his Hurri flying in France. And based on the similarities in character names from “Fighter Pilot” to PoC, it wasn’t hard to see where he might think that 🙂

The original Spitfire to carry that scheme was a Spitfire 21 connected to 41 Squadron post war.

The two restored Spits that have carried those colors are reflecting that aircraft.

Dan

The gods are shining a little bit anyway. Bet this is his bird from 1940. Caption in Nowarra’s book on the 109 says it’s JG2. It’s a start anyway.

Now if only we could see the rest of it 🙂

Dan

Welcome back Dan. Glad to see you here mate.

Thank you sir. Doing the best I can under the circumstances. Kinda hard to describe how the world feels right now. Hiding in the history stuff is a good distraction

Dan

Any chance they are the 5 Portuguese Hurri IIs used in Angels One Five? Seems like I read somewhere they had the wrong roundels to begin with and were changed halfway through filming. They looked pretty beat up and didn’t have cannons.

Dan