I will say something sacrilegious … the flying scenes were realistic but lacked the cinematic drama .. err.. umm.. like the one in “Pearl Harbor” :p

I do have some nitpicks with the aircraft (SPOILERS ALERT)
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1. The Spit appears to have unlimited ammo – I need to watch it again, but surely the firing duration went beyond 20seconds if you add it all up
2. Wouldnt a spit that ditched go nose down fast? appeared to float pretty nicely – with that heavy merlin upfront
3. whats the recommended way to FL on a beach ? wheels up? wheels down? isnt the danger of wheels down landing make you go tail over head if something went wrong?

That said, I have to go and watch it again, this time more closely to see the timelines sync up… and I did find it funny that Tom Hardy had to hide his face once again behind a mask of some sorts…

Duh!… I should have noticed that – yes different prang for the same aircraft.

K1289 seemed to have lived a battered life!

Thanks for kind words on the book.

[QUOTE=Kestrel Vet;2281055]Jack Ruskin,
I followed the recommendation provided in your PM and left a voice message. That was nearly 2 weeks ago, but there has been no response. Could I perhaps trouble you for the email address?
Thanks, Brian

Brian,

Bob hasn’t logged in here since 2009 but i do have some contact details. PM sent, check your in

On sale in Connecticutt, USA
https://hartford.craigslist.org/for/6099044701.html

By the way I’ve been conducting a lot of research on the Wapiti and Wallace and I’m firmly of the opinion that the Wapiti V’s in the batch J9708 to J9759 and those from J9725 annotated as Mk V’s were simply all short fuselage IIa’s which had been differently equipped as Army Cooperation machines (hence the Mk number change).

The only long fuselage so called Mk.V was the makers own aircraft G-AAWA which had been used for development trials including that of the message hook fit which was later given the serial J9728 when it was handed over to the RAF engine testing establishments fitted with the Bristol Draco.

IMO it has been wrongly called the prototype MkV because it introduced and tested the Army Co-op equipment on the Wapiti. The only series production long fuselage Wapiti variant was the Wallace.

Thanks John. I am in agreement with you. It is amusing that this aspect got overlooked for nearly 80 years and it took a conversation on this forum and on email elsewhere to unearth the discrepancy.

Also thanks for clarifying that the information on the aircraft on this thread may make it back to the Clipped Wings book. It would have been a tad disappointing to NOT find the info in there after all the hard work that went here.

Not the first to be rebuilt but certainly the first to be built from the very humblest of beginnings, the vestiges of a battered South African firewall with a firewall plate and a stencilled RAF serial.

Was curious.. looked around and found this

Can I suggest another approach?

We know it a TB Serial machine which is only 899 possibilities without black outt blocks and any non Spitfire aircraft in this range

Can we work out what mark it is and eliminate any that say went to USSR as did a number of mk IX) or anywhere else outside the uk and also “lasted post 1945” and were in some sort of fighter command training capacity and were written off in this timeframe ? How many “candidates” would that leave?

Then using Andrew Pentland’s production list…

665 actually (eliminate blackout blocks and non-spittys)

Removed All USSR and all Mk IX Left with 293 TB serialled Spit XVIs

Removed all “Shot Down”, “Killed”, transferred to RHAF.. I am left with 258

Removed all SOC 1945 – still ended up with 163..

:0)

Apparently “Nederlandse Luchtvaart” is a rather expensive hobby paid by one single individual, but according to
http://www.nederlandseluchtvaart.nl/forums/showthread.php?t=39803&page=3
something is being worked out at the moment to try and reduce (hosting) costs.

Perhaps the website/forum will get another name.

If it doenst work out with them, I can try to help “take it” . Got some experience in this sort of thing (And a license for VBulletin to boot…)

-Jagan