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You mentioned that the Hurricane was named after a storm we seldom get also another plane named after one we also seldom get but more often very localised and short lived. A Tornado. Designers seem to like weather related names such as those and the Lightning.
SoGal you mentioned about the Aircraft carriers and the USA being leaders in Carriers. You might have the sheer weight of numbers of carriers now but the UK has the most advanced aircraft Carriers in the world now with the Elizabeth class carriers to which the UK now has 3 I believe
You smiled when the RAF lady sat on the tail of the spitfire but was taken up in the air and telling you about it and being under stated and she truly was , but that's not unusual . If I'm correct you've done a reaction to cricket and know a bit of it's terminology , but during the Korean war an American officer had British army soldiers on a section in which he was responsible for , the area was being attacked by Chinese troops so the officer thought he'd give the British a ring to find out how they were doing , he got the commanding officer on the phone and asked how things were the British officer said that they were having a " sticky wicket at the moment " ( what a stupid old fashioned reply that was to a non British officer that was ) the American officer said ok and put the phone down , after a few minutes the American officer thought it may be one of those British understatements he had heard of so sent troop reinforcements as well as tanks, lucky enough they got there in time to prevent the section getting over ran by thousands and thousands of Chinese troops !!!!!!!
It's a damn shame that the UK is lazy now. The government doesn't want to fund the armed forces, buying instead of designing and building innovative ideas like we used to.
As far as Bader is concerned, don't sweat it Sarah - you weren't to know about him and his 'little accident' as his wife used to refer to it. Up close, the sound of a Merlin engine roaring into life is something else - it's almost like the roar of a great beast that's just became angry at the pilot seated in the cockpit - it's an awesome noise to hear. In so far as this video is concerned, again, thank you Sarah for sharing with us - your humble followers!
When you hear a Lancaster bomber passing overhead at low altitude. Four Merlin engines at full pelt, but accompanied by an honour guard of Spitfires an Hurricanes, the drone as they get close is incredible. My wife used to ask me: How did the Germans not hear it coming?
There’s a synchronisation gear that doesn’t allow a round to be fired when the prop blade is in the way - it was invented during WW1. There will be some videos out there if you want to look into it, will try and find a good one
I might be mistaken, but I think the system in use during WW II was designed so that the gun was actually triggered by a cam or something on the engine shaft, ensuring synchronization between the engine (and therefore the propeller) and the gun. The pilot's control in that case wasn't the real trigger, it just enabled the engine engaging the actual trigger. Again, I could be wrong.
Raymond Baxter, the presenter, served in the RAF during WW2 and was a spitfire pilot. He then had a successful television career. He died in 2006 aged 84. A full life.
Apr 18, 2017 75 Years of the RAF - Raymond Baxter (1993) (age 71) Four years younger than the RAF its0elf He was born into a world where the SE5 biplane was the state of the art. When he died the Harrier A-V8 B wa regarded by some. as a low performer. Except of cours0e it could take off and land vertically, go backwards or hover like humming bird. 662mph, ra 350nm, thrust 105kN (SE5 138mph, ra 300mi 150 hp ) the scale pf changes, stsggering class equality progress - somewhat less impressive
Raymond Baxter flew the Spitfire, but before the Normandy landings his squadron was re-equipped with Typhoons and had a ground attack role. He later flew the Mustang and Dakota.
I met Raymond Baxter many years ago when he was a guest of honour at a formal meal at the university I was studying at. He also had his rather attractive daughter with him who became and still is, as far as I can tell, an international fencing coach. The university I attended is well known for its engineering and science, so I suspect that he was there through contacts, very possibly from his time as a Tomorrow's World presenter (and, before that, Eye on Research).
I worked at the Castle Bromwich plant for 12 years from the year 2000. There was still camouflage on the walls and roof, roundels on the guttering down pipes, some which were used as planters. We took the heritage of the site very seriously and there is still a list of all the squadrons that operated the spitfire in the reception. Lancasters were also assembled there. The spitfire sculpture that sits on the roundabout by gate one, called sentinel, is one of the best pieces of public art in the UK IMO. You need to go to an airshow, listen to the sound of the Merlin engine (not the griffon version if you can help it) and understand why this aircraft is still one of the most popular aircraft at displays. ❤
They used synchronised firing mechanisms during WW1 after they found the guns would shoot the propeller off. The hard part was getting the timing right.
I am not going to go into the Q&A as others have or will beat me to it... however that unknown plane that was designed by Spitfire, Fokker-Wulf and BF-109 pilots is called the Panavia Tornado... A aircraft over 50 years old used by UK, Italy and Germany (Germany still use them today)... if you ask any American pilot they will say it was a horrible plane (Because lots of things were not automated and it was not purely designed for dogfights)... you ask a British, Italian or German pilot... they will tell you it's an amazing plane. Side note... I am really loving your background set :)
You say we never get hurricanes we do get very strong storms once in awhile for instance the 1987 Great Storm which levelled 15 million trees and caused great structural damage across south east England
I heard that story that every German shot down in the war was shot down by a Spitfire. Douglas Barder was a hero of mine. The sound of the Merlin has a special place in the hearts of the British, the plane they were talking about was the Tornado. As for the lady hanging on to the tail of the Spitfire, and talking about it so casually, that generation were a special breed.
@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 I said i heard the story not that i believed it. Why is there always some key board warrior that wants to try and belittle commentators?
@@hughfranklin4002 To be fair Hugh your comment reads like you believe it. It doesn't say you don't believe it. And the reply you received was belittling you at all. Just pointing out your comment was wrong without being nasty.
@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 During the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes shot down more German aircraft than all other British defences combined. However, the Hurricane was already beginning to become obsolete so RAF fighter squadrons in Europe had largely re-equipped with later Marks of Spitfires by 1942.
Really enjoyed this and enjoyed your comments, particularly reference the lady who took a ride on a Spitfire via the tail. As you say definitely "understated"! But that is our way (or used to be) both my mother and father were involved in WWII. My mother was born in 1924 and during the war was in charge of of 700 machines manufacturing parts for bombs and torpedo's. she never spoke about it as serious endeavor, but always with a sense of hummer, such as, she was called to inspect an accident (her presence wasn't necessary, but the male workers wanted to test the young lady's "metal" ) She saw the severed finger on the machine, filed the report, had the mess cleaned up, sent the worker off to hospital and got the workers back to work with the comment "You know there's a war on", She then went back to her office and vomited, but I was the only one she ever told about the later part.
That "new" plane they were talking about at the end was the Panavia Tornado. It was a joint aircraft project built by the UK, West Germany and Italy. It was a multi-role aircraft that could be a fighter and a ground or sea attack aircraft. It was in RAF service from 1979 to 2019.
The Spit had remarkable development through the war There were 26 main models and the engines ranged from the 1000 hp Merlin at the start to the 2000+ horsepower Gryphon by the wars end. There was a naval variant called the Seafire. Over 20,000 were built The reason there was so many variants was because there was a constant need to upgrade performance to match similar upgrades being done by the other side
First twin engine landing on a carrier and the first jet landing on a carrier were both performed by RN test pilot Captain Eric "winkle" brown. A hugely interesting character who is stilll revered amongst the tests pilot community. Loads of documentaries about himbon YT, and well worth doing a series on.
On the Spitfire you had about 10 or 12 seconds of ammo in the guns, it went through ammo that quick. So you had to use 2 second bursts otherwise you would go through your bullets in one go.
The plane was allegedly going to be called the Supermarine Shrew, but when it was renamed the Spitfire, Mitchell supposedly said "that's just the sort of damn silly name they would call it". Agreed, we don't have hurricanes in the UK, we also don't have typhoons, tempests and whirlwinds, but that didn't stop us using those names! Btw, the plane you were asking about is the Panavia Tornado, a joint venture between Italy, Germany and the UK. just been retired from RAF service a couple of years ago.
Here's a funny thing. When Bader was shot down and in a Gerry POW camp the RAF dropped him a replacement leg for the one he left in the Spitfire when he bailed out
He got sent to Colditz, the bad boys camp for persistent escape attempts. When he was escorted outside for exercise, doctors visits, or any other reason, he'd smuggle stuff he scrounged back into the castle in his artificial leg.
Hello SoGal and Roger. I have enjoyed these three videos. Just the word "Spitfire" is iconic, as was said. You must have heard "Keep calm and carry on" that typifies that WW2 generation in UK. I remember the contrast often quoted here was with US reaction to the Orson Wells radio broadcast "War of the Worlds". Many middle aged people then had joined up in WW1 or been involved in war work in that war, when similar efforts were introduced in industrial production. There were air raids in London in that war too and Scarborough was bombarded from the sea, so they had an idea what to expect. The British generally seemed to feel WW2 just had to be fought and won as per your viewing of "Dad's Army". I have commented before that a film from WW2 I recommend, to get an appreciation of the mood, is "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp". Note that I am one of those subscribers who enjoyed "comment time" at the start to remind and further inform me. P.S. When I flew from Heathrow to US, the IRA were mortar bombing it. I had a window seat over the wing and said to my friend that I would have a good view if they took the wing off. I always assumed the chap in the aisle seat who turned grey, got up and never came back was not British.
I was leaving the farm near Borrowash Derby when I went to open the gate to the A52 and heard a Spitfire. For the next 30 minutes I watched it do a full display with every manoeuvre you could imagine, against a beautiful red evening sky. This was the Rolls Royce Spitfire, I've no idea if he was practicing his routine or just enjoying himself, But I do know it was spectacular and something I will never forget.
And let us not forget the Bristol Beaufighter, perhaps the most underrated British aeroplane of World War 2, it may not have had the glamour of the Spitfire or Mosquito, but like the Hawker Hurricane it was there when it was most needed and was a rough tough warrior much loved by those who flew it.
Hi Sarah! On a similar note to the woman riding on the spitfire tail, you might want to check out 'Taffy' Holden an RAF engineer who whilst examining a lightning jet accidently took off!! The Lightning was Britain's first supersonic jet fighter (in level flight) and was nicknamed The Frightning by the RAF
Steam Catapult /Angled Flight Deck/ Mirrored Landing System are all Royal Navy inventions. We can share the arrestor wires idea though, as we first had them strung fore and aft and fitted them with little hooks, whilst the USN changed it to the more common across the deck port to starboard with a larger hook attached to the aircraft.
Originally they had catch nets strung right across the deck, a bit like tennis nets. It's when they introduced jets, and the pilots no longer had 6ft of engine to protect them from the impact that they came up with the hook system
@@andrewclayton4181 Those catch nets are called "The Barrier" or "Barricade" and they complement the arrestor cables in an emergency. You can see in early carrier deck landings crew would race after the plane and grab leather straps on the wing trailing edge, it lead to the loss of several pioneering naval aviators.
The man with Douglas Badger is the fighter ace Robert Stanford Tuck who fought through the Battle of Britain in a Hurricane. I was given his autobiography as a child in the mid 1960's and still have it today. It covers his personal life experience during that time and the operational sorties he flew for hours on end many times and for day after day, often without hitting or seeing a German aircraft even though he was posted into the thick of the fighting. His description of shooting at aircraft shows how bloody hard it was to actually hit something and you only had about 4 x 5 second bursts of ammunition before you ran out and became Messerschmitt folder. He was the advisor for the 1968 film "The Battle of Britain".
The requisitioning of buildings came about because our production facilities were inadequate for producing the number of aircraft needed so they took over any suitable building suitable to be turned into a factory.
As other people are saying - you weren't to know about Douglas Bader having lost his legs. He had a biography written about him entitled 'Reach for the Sky', which was later used as the basis of a film with the same name, starring Kenneth More in the lead role. Incidentally, Bader's name is pronounced as if it rhymes with 'harder'.
The syncronisation gear used the fire the guns through the propeller blades was actually developed during WW1. It was indeed a mechanical device. BTW my father was a spitfire pilot during the conflict. He was one of the pilots who flew from the US Wasp to Malta. AS an aside he was shot down twice. Once during the invasion of Sicily by the Royal Navy while in a dogfight with Fokker Wulf 190s. The second time he was shot down was during the first invasion of Italy when he was the first to land on a captured German airfield by the US Army.
@ 16.08 Jeff quill (ex Spifire Chief test pilot after Mutt Summers) was talking about the Panavia Tornado, the multi role swing wing supersonic strike fighter he had on the desk in front of him, Panavia was a tri Country joint building project/collaboration between ourselves, the Germans, and the Italians from the mid sixties onwards which first flew in 1974, and was later used to such devastating effect in the first gulf war in the early 90's delivering some of the first generation laser guided smart bombs with pin point accuracy. What he was describing was how absurd it would have seemed to the people of the 1940's to have all in the same room working hand in hand, Joe Smith who was responsible as Chief designer for every different mark of Spitfire after Mitchells death (20 of them in all), and Herr Kurt Tank who was Focke Wulfs chief designer and who actually designed all the 190 variants plus Herr Willie Messerschmit owner of the company bearing his name and designer of the 109 110 etc, Jeff Quill was one of the principle directors of the Panavia project. can you imagine the reaction you would have got if you had said any of that in 1940.........they would have locked you up in a nice padded cell.
When I attended primary school in the late 1960's, one of the required reading books was Douglas Bader's biography, Reach for the Sky. Once we had completed it, Douglas Bader caused a bit of a stir when came to visit the school. I can vividly remember sitting next to him on a bench during lunch break and he allowed me to knock on his wooden legs to see if they were real!!
Basically when they pulled the trigger on planes that fired through the propeller there was a mechanism that ‘timed’ firing so it would go between the propeller blades
There is a mechanism which geared the output of the propeller to the gun, which was synced to stop the gun firing when the blades were in the way, called an interupter gear. Being mechanical, they are not perfect, but the nicks out of the blade will be all in the same place because the fault in the syncing will always be in the same place, so while the blade would be nicked, it wouldn't be smashed off
Re Douglas Bader. there is a old film about him called "Reach for the sky" The guns firing through the propeller was achieve by a mechanism call the interrupter gear which goes back to WW1.
At first but when reminded that it was either a loss of their factories by the RAF or loss of the factory by the Germans most people came around shortly
Mechanical synchronisation is probably (in some ways) easier to do than computer control today - a linkage from the prop shaft connected to a mechanism that stops the machine guns. Just make sure the prop always goes on at the same angle! Using a computer adds flexibility, but adds complexity and (when used in control systems like that) latency… In World War I, the first aeroplanes that fired machine guns through the propellor actually just had metal wedges attached to the prop blades that deflected the bullets away from the propellor - no interruption to the machine gun fire at all… ‘That plane’ that Jeffrey Quill was talking about was the Panavia Tornado, a collaboration between the UK, Germany and Italy from the 1970s onwards (my father worked on the engines for the Tornado). No connection between the two, I think Quill was just suggesting RJ Mitchell would have been interested in the design.
Synchronising machine guns with propellers was something that was pioneered in WW I, and it was all done mechanically at first, although hydraulic and, later, electrical not electronic) systems were used. By then, it was well developed, although I think it did limit fire rate. The bf-109 had a centre mounted cannon because the V12 engine was inverted, it could fire through the "V". The propeller centre isn't in-line with the crankshaft, but was off-set with a reduction gearbox. In comparison, the Merlin V-12 was more conventional with the cylinder heads at the top.
The Messerschmitt gun layout was used by many other countries and manufacturers up to the advent of jets. The American Bell P-39 Airacobra used the same cannon & machine gun layout in the nose firing through the hub and propeller as did many Russian and European fighter designs. Most fighter planes in the biplane era had fuselage mounted guns firing through the propeller as the wings were too thin and flimsy to fit guns in the wing.
"Weather features" form a family of plane names that include the Hurricane, the Tempest, Typhoon, and not to mention the Tornado, which was the aircraft model that you were asking about.
Other British fighter names related to weather are Typhoon, Tempest, Lightening, Tornado. WWII heavy bombers tended to be named after towns, Stirling, Halifax, Lancaster.
You can tell everyone around the world love spitfires including US pilots who flew spitfires serving in eagle squadron and spitfires fly with USAAF in Tunisia Italy and England. You should react to air warriors hawker hurricane.
The Messerschmitt Bf109 guns firing through the propeller arc were controlled by a mechanical interrupter gear synchronised to stop the guns firing when there was a propeller blade in the line of fire. When this failed the guns could continue firing into the blades. My Aunt worked at the Castle Bromwich plant building Spitfires during the war
I live just yards away from this history the original factory in hamble a sub district of Eastleigh, still to this day makes modern airplane parts. It does so to honor those man. Recently there was a program where brand new spitfire was reproduce.
If you want an idea of what the Battle of Britain was like I recommend watching the 1969 film 'Battle of Britain'. Unlike some war films it was made to be an accurate representation of what actually happened and according to historians does a pretty good job. It's still shown on a regular basis on British TV. Another classic film well worth watching is 'The Dam Busters' which is about Barnes Wallace's famous bouncing bomb, one of many quirky inventions Britain made during WWII.
The means of firing through the propellers goes back to WWI in point of fact: interrupter gears were used to synchronise the firing of the guns with the turning of the propellers to ensure the blades weren't hit. The Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero also used nose mounted machine guns in the engine cowling. It was not an uncommon method of mounting machine guns on fighters. Am proud to say that I attended the same High School here in NZ as Sir Keith Park, commander 11 Group during the Battle of Britain. The P51 Mustang is indeed the most iconic of the US fighters during WWII, but funnily enough, was initially designed and developed by North American in response to an RAF request for a brand new fighter as UK aircraft production was already overwhelmed with demand for existing types. I love the Spitfire dearly, but the P51-D Mustang... there's just something about it. Mind you, they're both powered by the Merlin, so... they sound equally sweet to my ears.
Apparently she considered it a great adventure. A different caliber of person in those days. R J Mitchell did pretty well for a railway locomotive engineer. They type was constantly improved throughout the war while the Hurricane was at the limits of its development when it entered service.
In terms of weather we don't get 'full-on' Hurricanes but we get the most annual tornadoes per land area per year, 0.14 per 1000 km2 (although these tornadoes are generally weak)
Regarding the synchronisation of the machine gun fire through the propellor circular range, if I remember correctly it’s highlighted in the 1942 biopic film of Mitchell and the Spitfire “THE FIRST OF THE FEW”. Worth a watch.
The two chaps talking about dog fighting and using the models to explain it are Bob Tuck and Douglas Bader. Both British aces and Bader is standing with a strange leaning forward stance as both his legs are made of tin.
There are wonderful photographs of Bob Stanford Tuck sitting in the cockpit of his Hurricane. He honestly looks like he could be one of the three musketeers. He's the one with Bader at about 5 minutes in.
Don't feel bad about laughing and not knowing about Douglas Bader had lost both legs, you weren't to know. It is a bit amusing how he got in if you don't know the backstory.
Sarah, I used to play bowls for a team which had a local legend of a player, who still played despite having his fingers burned off escaping from a burning tank in north Africa. Some of that generation did not take very well at first to the former army driver I learned the game with. He could not cope with driving down "normal" Belfast streets, to then come under fire from what looked like civilians. I was reminded of this in the last video, when they were discussing targets. In his case, as the driver, he knew he was the target, but could not fire back or even fight back as a soldier would expect to. I recently watched the film '71. You might at some point watch it on Patreon, to get an impression of that generation's military experience, but note that it does show injuries.
During WW2 my maternal grandfather worked at the factory that made Douglas Bader’s artificial legs, J.E. Hanger & Co. Ltd of Roehampton. During the Battle of Britain Lord Beaverbrook was Minister of Aircraft Production. There was a brief shot of a Spitfire (or was it actually a Seafire?) departing an aircraft carrier using the JATO method (jet assisted takeoff).
My grandfather worked in the Castle Bromwich factory in Birmingham during WW2 building the spitfire. The factory is still there but Jaguar cars are now made instead. The roundabout junction just beside the factory is called spitfire Island and has a steel sculpture of 3 spitfires rising upwards out the ground with 1 at 45° to the left and 1 45° to the right with the 3rd pointing skywards.
I recommend you look up the story of Antony Fokker for the story of the propeller synchronizer during WW1. That invention had a major impact on the war. Also recommended are videos on the Willow Run Plant in Michigan and Boeing's Wichita Plant in Kansas for a idea of how USA approached the challenge of increasing aircraft product differently than the British. It was a war winning method.
Shooting through a propeller- uses something called an interruptor gear. Basically it is geared that when the blade passes the barrel it fires then stops as the blade passes. It’s a very simple but clever piece of engineering
The British carriers had steel decks during WW2 whereas the American and Japanese decks were wooden. An American liaison officer based on a Royal navy carrier in the Pacific was amazed at how after a Kamikaze attack they could sweep the wreckage off the side, patch the dent with concrete, and be operational within hours. He knew an American carrier would be out of action for months
Every military vehicle is part of a 'family' built on the same basic frame and chassis. Over time there are modifications and upgrades made, with model numbers being added to distinguish them (for logistical and tactical reasons). The Spitfire IX was essentially the same looking aircraft (to an untrained eye) that had undergone dozens of incremental changes to its weapons, engine and manufacture process. It gets a bit confusing at times where a vehicle that is completely different has the same name with a numeral added - such as the Tiger II tank (though that's its unofficial name that's fallen into common usage - its actually called the Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, nicknamed the Koenigstiger (King Tiger) and was meant as a direct replacement of the original Tiger but ended up serving alongside it and fulfilling a slightly different battlefield role). Modern military vehicles also follow this general pattern of naming, such as the American Abrams M1A2 or the German Leopard 2A7V. Aircraft generally follow the same trend.
Raymond Baxter, the commentator in this video, was as Stehen parker has said, a Spitfire pilot. He also swept an American Army Officer off her feet during the war, being a Spitfire pilot had its advantages! They had two children. She died in 1996. he died in 2006 aged 84.
Synchronised firing, so that you could shoot between the props, was WW1 technology. It used gears to time the firing of the machine guns to the spin of the props..
That plane you were asking about near the end (where you asked if the Spitfire was the predecessor) is the Panavia Tornado (the guy talking was saying they had ex-spitfire pilots on the Tornado development programme), which you have already done a video on - he actually had a model of the Tornado in front of him on the desk.
Nice one Sarah,. Now you know the difference between the Spitfire and the hurricane it's time to watch Battle of Britain don't delay too long, you'll enjoy it, and it will give you a better idea of what happened in 1940
There was an interrupter gear fitted to allow firing through the prop (first fitted to Fokker biplanes in 1915). Unlike machine guns which fire solid rounds the cannon fires explosive rounds so can do a great deal more damage although fewer shells can be carried due to the weight and the rate-of-fire is much lower.
The first operational plane to be fitted with a synchronised gun system was the Fokker EI/EIII - which was a monoplane not a biplane. The letter "E" in the designation comes from the German word "Eindekker" which translates as single deck or single wing.
We had a hurricane in 1987 where 7000.000 trees in southern England were destroyed with devastation in the south of England in general. The BBC weather forecaster, Michael Fish said that he had received an inquiry about possible strong winds and said there was nothing to worry about. He never did live that down. Trees were down everywhere with buildings badly damaged.
In those days Sarah it was a case of needs must so the companies that owned the buildings which became Spitfire and Hurricane factories had to just put up with it. Another very enjoyable series of vids - thanks for being shocked by we Brits taking shocking things in our strides. :-
It was a Dutchman (Anton Fokker - working for the Germans) who developed the first synchronising gear in WW1 (a spur behind the propeller blade actuated a metal rod, which then blocked the gun's firing action, until the blade had passed) such equipment was common until propellers were discontinued at the dawn of the jet age. Bob got it wrong - The standard armament for the Bf 109 at the time was 2x7.92mm machine-guns above the engine (similar to British .303, but with 1000 shots each, rather than the 300 for British aircraft) and a 20mm cannon in each wing with 60 rounds. The engine-mounted 20mm was tried in Spain, but its vibrations caused the engine to misfire. The later Bf 109F used the better Mauser cannon in this position. Several sources are quoted for the origin of the Spitfire name, but History mercilessly records R. J. Mitchells reaction to it; "Just the sort of bl**dy silly name they WOULD choose !" It could be worse, though, it's rumoured that the name, "Shrew," was given serious consideration. Interestingly, the "British," machine-gun used throughout WW2 was basically the American Browning M1919, much modified, and rechambered for British .303 ammunition. The plane on Quill's desk is a Panavia Tornado - ironically a British/German/Italian collaboration.
Synchronization gear it interrupts the fire of the gun through the arc of it's propeller and was designed by the legendary Anthony Fokker in World War 1
I was at Duxford Aerodrome when I was as a teenager on a perimeter patrol and I turned around and who walked past was Douglas Bader! I had read about him as a young lad never expecting to ever see him! Let alone walk past me! That is stayed in my mind since the late seventies
The first solution to hitting the propeller was an interrupter, which stopped the gun from firing if a blade would be in the way - the eventual and very elegant solution was to have the engine fire the guns, arranged so that the guns were fired in the gaps between the blades passing. Other carrier innovations pioneered by the British include the angled flight deck and the deckside elevator for moving aircraft between the hangar and the flight deck - the earlier designs used elevators that were set into the deck, so could only be used when there was no flying activity.
The plane on the table at Panaviar is the Tornado, a (now retired) multi-role fighter/attack aircraft flown by the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Kind of a spiritual successor in that it was fast, capable, and could do pretty much anything they were assigned to. Very cool swing wing design (like it’s contemporary the F-14). They did a lot of the heavy lifting in the ground attack role during the Gulf wars.
I think u laughed genuine and clean, not at all badly. U weren't to know, and its a reaction vid. But it says a lot about you that u felt the way you did ❤️
5:26 in ww1 a guy worked out how to gear from the propellers shaft to the machine guns on the nose of the aircraft (They also used metal covering the wooden propellers with angled wedges to deflect any bullets from the rotating props, see Google for pictures ) this was high tech in WW1 and something ? was used that stopped the firing mechanism on the 109 called an interrupter mechanism but if not synchronised accurately bits gnawed off the edges of the metal propellers would occur.
I believe it was Fokker who developed (mechanical) interruptor gear during WW1 for their biplanes to allow machine guns to fire through the propellor rotation (I think they also had metal plates wrapped around the wooden prop blades in case of an 'issue' with the timing) in line with the barrel(s) of the guns For names, the Hawker company developed the Hurricane, the Typhoon and the Tempest, all of which took part in WW2.
To answer your question, the Merlin engine is the same as the Royce Rolls engine but it was manufactured in the US under a licensing agreement. in fact the famous US P-51 fighter was a severely under-performed aircraft when it first came out using an under-powered US made Wheatley engine. The P-51 was the long range fighter that was used to escort the B17 bombers onto Germany for their bombing missions & it is also the same plane you see at the end of 'Top Gun 2' movie when Tom Cruise took Jennifer Connelly for a ride . The British replaced the original engine with the Royce Rolls engine & the P-51 became one of the best fighters in WW2. It was a similar story for the Corsair which was the one of the main carrier based fighters during the Pacific War.
The early P-51s were fitted with an Allison V12. It was actually a very good engine but its supercharger was not that great which meant power dropped off above 10,000 feet. This made it unsuitable for high level dog fighting - but it was excellent at low level. The Merlin 61 had a much better supercharger system so when it was fitted to the P-51 it made an already good aeroplane a great one.
Hi S. Roger looks Very cool. Shooting through the propeller was developed in World War One. Originally a French pilot had the idea of fitting steel wedges to his (wooden) propellor, so if any bullets hit it when he fired, they were deflected away. It worked but was a primitive solution. A Dutch man called Fokker, came up with a mechanical rod mechanism that stopped the gun from firing if the propeller was in the wrong position. It was an interruptor. Obviously it reduced the rate of fire slightly, but the advantages of shooting the way the plane was flying far outweighed that. It gave the Germans, who got hold of the technology a tremendous advantage over the British and French. In WW2 planes, the machine guns were often fitted in the wings, outside of the arc of the propeller spin, which is another way of dealing with the problem.Edit
Some World War 2 fighters also fired through the propeller disc - including the 109. Another fighter that used the same technique were some versions of the Curtiss P-40.
I read somewhere it was the 12yr old daughter of one of the engineers that worked out the maths required to enable the guns to fire through the propeller,I can't remember her name or her fathers name but I'm certain I'm correct ✌️
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You mentioned that the Hurricane was named after a storm we seldom get also another plane named after one we also seldom get but more often very localised and short lived. A Tornado. Designers seem to like weather related names such as those and the Lightning.
SoGal you mentioned about the Aircraft carriers and the USA being leaders in Carriers.
You might have the sheer weight of numbers of carriers now but the UK has the most advanced aircraft Carriers in the world now with the Elizabeth class carriers to which the UK now has 3 I believe
Both griffon and merlin Engines are made by Rolls Royce
You smiled when the RAF lady sat on the tail of the spitfire but was taken up in the air and telling you about it and being under stated and she truly was , but that's not unusual .
If I'm correct you've done a reaction to cricket and know a bit of it's terminology , but during the Korean war an American officer had British army soldiers on a section in which he was responsible for , the area was being attacked by Chinese troops so the officer thought he'd give the British a ring to find out how they were doing , he got the commanding officer on the phone and asked how things were the British officer said that they were having a " sticky wicket at the moment " ( what a stupid old fashioned reply that was to a non British officer that was ) the American officer said ok and put the phone down , after a few minutes the American officer thought it may be one of those British understatements he had heard of so sent troop reinforcements as well as tanks, lucky enough they got there in time to prevent the section getting over ran by thousands and thousands of Chinese troops !!!!!!!
@@tonys1636 don't forget the typhoon (euro fighter) and proposed Tempest.
Sarah, you must remember that we are British. We do not make a fuss about such minor inconveniences!🤣🤣
Angled flight decks were British too, and the first proper carrier really, pretty much all of the carrier innovations originated with Britain
And a very large proportion of them were tested by Eric Brown.
Steam catapult too
Mirror landing sight.
It's a damn shame that the UK is lazy now. The government doesn't want to fund the armed forces, buying instead of designing and building innovative ideas like we used to.
@@andrewwaller5913 SoGal mentioned the steam catapult
As far as Bader is concerned, don't sweat it Sarah - you weren't to know about him and his 'little accident' as his wife used to refer to it.
Up close, the sound of a Merlin engine roaring into life is something else - it's almost like the roar of a great beast that's just became angry at the pilot seated in the cockpit - it's an awesome noise to hear.
In so far as this video is concerned, again, thank you Sarah for sharing with us - your humble followers!
From Mitchell first putting pen to paper to prototype to maiden flight,cost £16,000.british genius
When you hear a Lancaster bomber passing overhead at low altitude. Four Merlin engines at full pelt, but accompanied by an honour guard of Spitfires an Hurricanes, the drone as they get close is incredible. My wife used to ask me: How did the Germans not hear it coming?
There’s a synchronisation gear that doesn’t allow a round to be fired when the prop blade is in the way - it was invented during WW1. There will be some videos out there if you want to look into it, will try and find a good one
I might be mistaken, but I think the system in use during WW II was designed so that the gun was actually triggered by a cam or something on the engine shaft, ensuring synchronization between the engine (and therefore the propeller) and the gun. The pilot's control in that case wasn't the real trigger, it just enabled the engine engaging the actual trigger. Again, I could be wrong.
@@rschroev ls that what was designed by 13 year old a school girl, because she was very good at mathematics.?
In WW1 the germans had the interrupter gear first while the British put steel shoes on the wooden props where bullets would hit.
What a an absolutely fascinating invention bullets being able to be fired through a propeller moving at an incredible speed in those days WOW
The early French planes in WW1 tried putting metal deflector plates on the wooden propellor blades, & shoot through & hope!
Raymond Baxter, the presenter, served in the RAF during WW2 and was a spitfire pilot. He then had a successful television career. He died in 2006 aged 84. A full life.
Don't think I've heard of Baxter before mabe well before my time obviously
he was the presenter for many years of tomorrow's world explaining each scientific development
Apr 18, 2017
75 Years of the RAF - Raymond Baxter (1993) (age 71)
Four years younger than the RAF its0elf
He was born into a world where the SE5 biplane was the state of the art.
When he died the Harrier A-V8 B wa regarded by some. as a low performer. Except of cours0e it could take off and land vertically, go backwards or hover like humming bird. 662mph, ra 350nm, thrust 105kN
(SE5 138mph, ra 300mi 150 hp )
the scale pf changes, stsggering
class equality progress - somewhat less impressive
Raymond Baxter flew the Spitfire, but before the Normandy landings his squadron was re-equipped with Typhoons and had a ground attack role. He later flew the Mustang and Dakota.
I met Raymond Baxter many years ago when he was a guest of honour at a formal meal at the university I was studying at. He also had his rather attractive daughter with him who became and still is, as far as I can tell, an international fencing coach. The university I attended is well known for its engineering and science, so I suspect that he was there through contacts, very possibly from his time as a Tomorrow's World presenter (and, before that, Eye on Research).
That was brilliant. The elderly lady telling her Spitfire story 😱 wonderful! Douglas Bader talking tactics. So nostalgic.
I worked at the Castle Bromwich plant for 12 years from the year 2000. There was still camouflage on the walls and roof, roundels on the guttering down pipes, some which were used as planters. We took the heritage of the site very seriously and there is still a list of all the squadrons that operated the spitfire in the reception. Lancasters were also assembled there. The spitfire sculpture that sits on the roundabout by gate one, called sentinel, is one of the best pieces of public art in the UK IMO. You need to go to an airshow, listen to the sound of the Merlin engine (not the griffon version if you can help it) and understand why this aircraft is still one of the most popular aircraft at displays. ❤
They used synchronised firing mechanisms during WW1 after they found the guns would shoot the propeller off. The hard part was getting the timing right.
I am not going to go into the Q&A as others have or will beat me to it... however that unknown plane that was designed by Spitfire, Fokker-Wulf and BF-109 pilots is called the Panavia Tornado... A aircraft over 50 years old used by UK, Italy and Germany (Germany still use them today)... if you ask any American pilot they will say it was a horrible plane (Because lots of things were not automated and it was not purely designed for dogfights)... you ask a British, Italian or German pilot... they will tell you it's an amazing plane.
Side note... I am really loving your background set :)
You say we never get hurricanes we do get very strong storms once in awhile for instance the 1987 Great Storm which levelled 15 million trees and caused great structural damage across south east England
I heard that story that every German shot down in the war was shot down by a Spitfire. Douglas Barder was a hero of mine. The sound of the Merlin has a special place in the hearts of the British, the plane they were talking about was the Tornado. As for the lady hanging on to the tail of the Spitfire, and talking about it so casually, that generation were a special breed.
You are grossly underestimating what the Hurricane shot down, at least half I think.
@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 I said i heard the story not that i believed it. Why is there always some key board warrior that wants to try and belittle commentators?
@@hughfranklin4002 To be fair Hugh your comment reads like you believe it. It doesn't say you don't believe it. And the reply you received was belittling you at all. Just pointing out your comment was wrong without being nasty.
Bader
@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 During the Battle of Britain, Hurricanes shot down more German aircraft than all other British defences combined. However, the Hurricane was already beginning to become obsolete so RAF fighter squadrons in Europe had largely re-equipped with later Marks of Spitfires by 1942.
Really enjoyed this and enjoyed your comments, particularly reference the lady who took a ride on a Spitfire via the tail. As you say definitely "understated"! But that is our way (or used to be) both my mother and father were involved in WWII. My mother was born in 1924 and during the war was in charge of of 700 machines manufacturing parts for bombs and torpedo's. she never spoke about it as serious endeavor, but always with a sense of hummer, such as, she was called to inspect an accident (her presence wasn't necessary, but the male workers wanted to test the young lady's "metal" ) She saw the severed finger on the machine, filed the report, had the mess cleaned up, sent the worker off to hospital and got the workers back to work with the comment "You know there's a war on", She then went back to her office and vomited, but I was the only one she ever told about the later part.
The De Havilland Mosquito (or "Wooden Wonder") is an interesting aircraft too...
That "new" plane they were talking about at the end was the Panavia Tornado. It was a joint aircraft project built by the UK, West Germany and Italy. It was a multi-role aircraft that could be a fighter and a ground or sea attack aircraft. It was in RAF service from 1979 to 2019.
Designed & built by Italy, West Germany & Britain
The Spit had remarkable development through the war There were 26 main models and the engines ranged from the 1000 hp Merlin at the start to the 2000+ horsepower Gryphon by the wars end. There was a naval variant called the Seafire. Over 20,000 were built
The reason there was so many variants was because there was a constant need to upgrade performance to match similar upgrades being done by the other side
Griffon.
First twin engine landing on a carrier and the first jet landing on a carrier were both performed by RN test pilot Captain Eric "winkle" brown. A hugely interesting character who is stilll revered amongst the tests pilot community. Loads of documentaries about himbon YT, and well worth doing a series on.
On the Spitfire you had about 10 or 12 seconds of ammo in the guns, it went through ammo that quick. So you had to use 2 second bursts otherwise you would go through your bullets in one go.
Check out the ATA in WW2 Air Transport auxiliary. There was one woman that flew over 100 different types of aircraft to various bases across the UK
The plane was allegedly going to be called the Supermarine Shrew, but when it was renamed the Spitfire, Mitchell supposedly said "that's just the sort of damn silly name they would call it". Agreed, we don't have hurricanes in the UK, we also don't have typhoons, tempests and whirlwinds, but that didn't stop us using those names! Btw, the plane you were asking about is the Panavia Tornado, a joint venture between Italy, Germany and the UK. just been retired from RAF service a couple of years ago.
I think the names like ‘Hurricane’ and ‘Typhoon’ etc. have a bit more style than say ‘Moderately Inclement Weather’😂
Here's a funny thing. When Bader was shot down and in a Gerry POW camp the RAF dropped him a replacement leg for the one he left in the Spitfire when he bailed out
He got sent to Colditz, the bad boys camp for persistent escape attempts. When he was escorted outside for exercise, doctors visits, or any other reason, he'd smuggle stuff he scrounged back into the castle in his artificial leg.
Hello SoGal and Roger. I have enjoyed these three videos. Just the word "Spitfire" is iconic, as was said.
You must have heard "Keep calm and carry on" that typifies that WW2 generation in UK. I remember the contrast often quoted here was with US reaction to the Orson Wells radio broadcast "War of the Worlds".
Many middle aged people then had joined up in WW1 or been involved in war work in that war, when similar efforts were introduced in industrial production. There were air raids in London in that war too and Scarborough was bombarded from the sea, so they had an idea what to expect.
The British generally seemed to feel WW2 just had to be fought and won as per your viewing of "Dad's Army". I have commented before that a film from WW2 I recommend, to get an appreciation of the mood, is "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp".
Note that I am one of those subscribers who enjoyed "comment time" at the start to remind and further inform me.
P.S. When I flew from Heathrow to US, the IRA were mortar bombing it. I had a window seat over the wing and said to my friend that I would have a good view if they took the wing off. I always assumed the chap in the aisle seat who turned grey, got up and never came back was not British.
I was leaving the farm near Borrowash Derby when I went to open the gate to the A52 and heard a Spitfire. For the next 30 minutes I watched it do a full display with every manoeuvre you could imagine, against a beautiful red evening sky. This was the Rolls Royce Spitfire, I've no idea if he was practicing his routine or just enjoying himself, But I do know it was spectacular and something I will never forget.
The Spitfire was a bit of an odd one out, we had Hurricane, Tempest, Typhoon, Whirlwind and a Tornado I believe.
Hurricane, Tempest, Typhoon and Tornado were all Hawker aircraft. They had a run on using storm names.
The Whirlwind was by Westland.
And let us not forget the Bristol Beaufighter, perhaps the most underrated British aeroplane of World War 2, it may not have had the glamour of the Spitfire or Mosquito, but like the Hawker Hurricane it was there when it was most needed and was a rough tough warrior much loved by those who flew it.
@@tonym480 Not a name based on a wind though.
The Tornado was only a prototype as it used the Vulture engine.
@@waynec3563 before that it was deer, the Audax and one called Hector. And Hendon.
Hi Sarah! On a similar note to the woman riding on the spitfire tail, you might want to check out 'Taffy' Holden an RAF engineer who whilst examining a lightning jet accidently took off!! The Lightning was Britain's first supersonic jet fighter (in level flight) and was nicknamed The Frightning by the RAF
My uncle, who was a medic, once inadvertently started a Vulcan.
Steam Catapult /Angled Flight Deck/ Mirrored Landing System are all Royal Navy inventions.
We can share the arrestor wires idea though, as we first had them strung fore and aft and fitted them with little hooks, whilst the USN changed it to the more common across the deck port to starboard with a larger hook attached to the aircraft.
Originally they had catch nets strung right across the deck, a bit like tennis nets. It's when they introduced jets, and the pilots no longer had 6ft of engine to protect them from the impact that they came up with the hook system
@@andrewclayton4181 Those catch nets are called "The Barrier" or "Barricade" and they complement the arrestor cables in an emergency. You can see in early carrier deck landings crew would race after the plane and grab leather straps on the wing trailing edge, it lead to the loss of several pioneering naval aviators.
The man with Douglas Badger is the fighter ace Robert Stanford Tuck who fought through the Battle of Britain in a Hurricane.
I was given his autobiography as a child in the mid 1960's and still have it today. It covers his personal life experience during that time and the operational sorties he flew for hours on end many times and for day after day, often without hitting or seeing a German aircraft even though he was posted into the thick of the fighting. His description of shooting at aircraft shows how bloody hard it was to actually hit something and you only had about 4 x 5 second bursts of ammunition before you ran out and became Messerschmitt folder.
He was the advisor for the 1968 film "The Battle of Britain".
The requisitioning of buildings came about because our production facilities were inadequate for producing the number of aircraft needed so they took over any suitable building suitable to be turned into a factory.
As other people are saying - you weren't to know about Douglas Bader having lost his legs. He had a biography written about him entitled 'Reach for the Sky', which was later used as the basis of a film with the same name, starring Kenneth More in the lead role. Incidentally, Bader's name is pronounced as if it rhymes with 'harder'.
The syncronisation gear used the fire the guns through the propeller blades was actually developed during WW1. It was indeed a mechanical device. BTW my father was a spitfire pilot during the conflict. He was one of the pilots who flew from the US Wasp to Malta. AS an aside he was shot down twice. Once during the invasion of Sicily by the Royal Navy while in a dogfight with Fokker Wulf 190s. The second time he was shot down was during the first invasion of Italy when he was the first to land on a captured German airfield by the US Army.
Hi, Sarah, very interesting. I've checked and the original programme was made in 1976, 47 years ago and still good.
@ 16.08 Jeff quill (ex Spifire Chief test pilot after Mutt Summers) was talking about the Panavia Tornado, the multi role swing wing supersonic strike fighter he had on the desk in front of him,
Panavia was a tri Country joint building project/collaboration between ourselves, the Germans, and the Italians from the mid sixties onwards which first flew in 1974, and was later used to such devastating effect in the first gulf war in the early 90's delivering some of the first generation laser guided smart bombs with pin point accuracy.
What he was describing was how absurd it would have seemed to the people of the 1940's to have all in the same room working hand in hand, Joe Smith who was responsible as Chief designer for every different mark of Spitfire after Mitchells death (20 of them in all), and Herr Kurt Tank who was Focke Wulfs chief designer and who actually designed all the 190 variants plus Herr Willie Messerschmit owner of the company bearing his name and designer of the 109 110 etc,
Jeff Quill was one of the principle directors of the Panavia project. can you imagine the reaction you would have got if you had said any of that in 1940.........they would have locked you up in a nice padded cell.
When I attended primary school in the late 1960's, one of the required reading books was Douglas Bader's biography, Reach for the Sky. Once we had completed it, Douglas Bader caused a bit of a stir when came to visit the school. I can vividly remember sitting next to him on a bench during lunch break and he allowed me to knock on his wooden legs to see if they were real!!
Basically when they pulled the trigger on planes that fired through the propeller there was a mechanism that ‘timed’ firing so it would go between the propeller blades
The mirror landing sight. Our Fleet Air Arm was also where the US navy found out how to safely land the F4 Corsair on carriers.
There is a mechanism which geared the output of the propeller to the gun, which was synced to stop the gun firing when the blades were in the way, called an interupter gear. Being mechanical, they are not perfect, but the nicks out of the blade will be all in the same place because the fault in the syncing will always be in the same place, so while the blade would be nicked, it wouldn't be smashed off
The sound from the spitfire engine makes my hairs stand on end.
The Merlin engine was fitted to the American P51. It turned a rather average fighter into probably the best fighter used by the allies.
Re Douglas Bader. there is a old film about him called "Reach for the sky" The guns firing through the propeller was achieve by a mechanism call the interrupter gear which goes back to WW1.
At first but when reminded that it was either a loss of their factories by the RAF or loss of the factory by the Germans most people came around shortly
Mechanical synchronisation is probably (in some ways) easier to do than computer control today - a linkage from the prop shaft connected to a mechanism that stops the machine guns. Just make sure the prop always goes on at the same angle! Using a computer adds flexibility, but adds complexity and (when used in control systems like that) latency…
In World War I, the first aeroplanes that fired machine guns through the propellor actually just had metal wedges attached to the prop blades that deflected the bullets away from the propellor - no interruption to the machine gun fire at all…
‘That plane’ that Jeffrey Quill was talking about was the Panavia Tornado, a collaboration between the UK, Germany and Italy from the 1970s onwards (my father worked on the engines for the Tornado). No connection between the two, I think Quill was just suggesting RJ Mitchell would have been interested in the design.
Synchronising machine guns with propellers was something that was pioneered in WW I, and it was all done mechanically at first, although hydraulic and, later, electrical not electronic) systems were used. By then, it was well developed, although I think it did limit fire rate.
The bf-109 had a centre mounted cannon because the V12 engine was inverted, it could fire through the "V". The propeller centre isn't in-line with the crankshaft, but was off-set with a reduction gearbox. In comparison, the Merlin V-12 was more conventional with the cylinder heads at the top.
The problem of synchronizing guns with propellers was solved in WWI. A cog in the trigger system interrupted the guns when the prop was in the way.
The Messerschmitt gun layout was used by many other countries and manufacturers up to the advent of jets. The American Bell P-39 Airacobra used the same cannon & machine gun layout in the nose firing through the hub and propeller as did many Russian and European fighter designs. Most fighter planes in the biplane era had fuselage mounted guns firing through the propeller as the wings were too thin and flimsy to fit guns in the wing.
"Weather features" form a family of plane names that include the Hurricane, the Tempest, Typhoon, and not to mention the Tornado, which was the aircraft model that you were asking about.
We do get hurricane weather sometimes. The last one I remember was the Great Storm of 1987.
Other British fighter names related to weather are Typhoon, Tempest, Lightening, Tornado. WWII heavy bombers tended to be named after towns, Stirling, Halifax, Lancaster.
The British flegmatic approach to keep it calm even when situation is desperate will always amaze other people...
There's a film set in WWI called Ships with wings about early aircraft carriers.
The concept of the Air Craft carrier was HMS Argus in 1918
You can tell everyone around the world love spitfires including US pilots who flew spitfires serving in eagle squadron and spitfires fly with USAAF in Tunisia Italy and England. You should react to air warriors hawker hurricane.
Shooting between the propeller blades was a WW1 invention.
The Messerschmitt Bf109 guns firing through the propeller arc were controlled by a mechanical interrupter gear synchronised to stop the guns firing when there was a propeller blade in the line of fire.
When this failed the guns could continue firing into the blades.
My Aunt worked at the Castle Bromwich plant building Spitfires during the war
I live just yards away from this history the original factory in hamble a sub district of Eastleigh, still to this day makes modern airplane parts. It does so to honor those man. Recently there was a program where brand new spitfire was reproduce.
Another interesting clip in the series on the Spitfire. Thanks for airing these and your insights.
The angled deck on a carrier for landing was a British idea too.
If you want an idea of what the Battle of Britain was like I recommend watching the 1969 film 'Battle of Britain'. Unlike some war films it was made to be an accurate representation of what actually happened and according to historians does a pretty good job.
It's still shown on a regular basis on British TV.
Another classic film well worth watching is 'The Dam Busters' which is about Barnes Wallace's famous bouncing bomb, one of many quirky inventions Britain made during WWII.
"The thirteen hours that saved Britain" is probably a far better watch. Though it's possible she's already seen it.
Barnes Wallis.
The means of firing through the propellers goes back to WWI in point of fact: interrupter gears were used to synchronise the firing of the guns with the turning of the propellers to ensure the blades weren't hit. The Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero also used nose mounted machine guns in the engine cowling. It was not an uncommon method of mounting machine guns on fighters.
Am proud to say that I attended the same High School here in NZ as Sir Keith Park, commander 11 Group during the Battle of Britain.
The P51 Mustang is indeed the most iconic of the US fighters during WWII, but funnily enough, was initially designed and developed by North American in response to an RAF request for a brand new fighter as UK aircraft production was already overwhelmed with demand for existing types. I love the Spitfire dearly, but the P51-D Mustang... there's just something about it. Mind you, they're both powered by the Merlin, so... they sound equally sweet to my ears.
The plane you saw on Quill's desk was the Tornado, which you reacted to a few months back.
Apparently she considered it a great adventure. A different caliber of person in those days. R J Mitchell did pretty well for a railway locomotive engineer. They type was constantly improved throughout the war while the Hurricane was at the limits of its development when it entered service.
Margaret Horton's story (and her interview) made my day! 😄
In terms of weather we don't get 'full-on' Hurricanes but we get the most annual tornadoes per land area per year, 0.14 per 1000 km2 (although these tornadoes are generally weak)
Regarding the synchronisation of the machine gun fire through the propellor circular range, if I remember correctly it’s highlighted in the 1942 biopic film of Mitchell and the Spitfire “THE FIRST OF THE FEW”. Worth a watch.
The two chaps talking about dog fighting and using the models to explain it are Bob Tuck and Douglas Bader. Both British aces and Bader is standing with a strange leaning forward stance as both his legs are made of tin.
There are wonderful photographs of Bob Stanford Tuck sitting in the cockpit of his Hurricane. He honestly looks like he could be one of the three musketeers. He's the one with Bader at about 5 minutes in.
Don't feel bad about laughing and not knowing about Douglas Bader had lost both legs, you weren't to know. It is a bit amusing how he got in if you don't know the backstory.
The Battle of Britain Flight still flies regularly today. It will be interesting to see if it plays a part in the King's coronation events.
Sarah, I used to play bowls for a team which had a local legend of a player, who still played despite having his fingers burned off escaping from a burning tank in north Africa. Some of that generation did not take very well at first to the former army driver I learned the game with. He could not cope with driving down "normal" Belfast streets, to then come under fire from what looked like civilians. I was reminded of this in the last video, when they were discussing targets. In his case, as the driver, he knew he was the target, but could not fire back or even fight back as a soldier would expect to. I recently watched the film '71. You might at some point watch it on Patreon, to get an impression of that generation's military experience, but note that it does show injuries.
During WW2 my maternal grandfather worked at the factory that made Douglas Bader’s artificial legs, J.E. Hanger & Co. Ltd of Roehampton.
During the Battle of Britain Lord Beaverbrook was Minister of Aircraft Production.
There was a brief shot of a Spitfire (or was it actually a Seafire?) departing an aircraft carrier using the JATO method (jet assisted takeoff).
My grandfather worked in the Castle Bromwich factory in Birmingham during WW2 building the spitfire. The factory is still there but Jaguar cars are now made instead. The roundabout junction just beside the factory is called spitfire Island and has a steel sculpture of 3 spitfires rising upwards out the ground with 1 at 45° to the left and 1 45° to the right with the 3rd pointing skywards.
I recommend you look up the story of Antony Fokker for the story of the propeller synchronizer during WW1. That invention had a major impact on the war.
Also recommended are videos on the Willow Run Plant in Michigan and Boeing's Wichita Plant in Kansas for a idea of how USA approached the challenge of increasing aircraft product differently than the British. It was a war winning method.
There were several working on it concurrently with Fokker, although he was first to get it into a plane.
Shooting through a propeller- uses something called an interruptor gear. Basically it is geared that when the blade passes the barrel it fires then stops as the blade passes. It’s a very simple but clever piece of engineering
The British carriers had steel decks during WW2 whereas the American and Japanese decks were wooden. An American liaison officer based on a Royal navy carrier in the Pacific was amazed at how after a Kamikaze attack they could sweep the wreckage off the side, patch the dent with concrete, and be operational within hours.
He knew an American carrier would be out of action for months
Every military vehicle is part of a 'family' built on the same basic frame and chassis. Over time there are modifications and upgrades made, with model numbers being added to distinguish them (for logistical and tactical reasons). The Spitfire IX was essentially the same looking aircraft (to an untrained eye) that had undergone dozens of incremental changes to its weapons, engine and manufacture process.
It gets a bit confusing at times where a vehicle that is completely different has the same name with a numeral added - such as the Tiger II tank (though that's its unofficial name that's fallen into common usage - its actually called the Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. B, nicknamed the Koenigstiger (King Tiger) and was meant as a direct replacement of the original Tiger but ended up serving alongside it and fulfilling a slightly different battlefield role).
Modern military vehicles also follow this general pattern of naming, such as the American Abrams M1A2 or the German Leopard 2A7V. Aircraft generally follow the same trend.
I’m from Stoke on Trent, we have one in our local museum. I even went to Mitchell high school named after Reginald Mitchell
Its like, 'Hey, you know there's a war on? Well, give us your factory/manor house /workforce or we're all dead. By order of the King.'
Raymond Baxter, the commentator in this video, was as Stehen parker has said, a Spitfire pilot. He also swept an American Army Officer off her feet during the war, being a Spitfire pilot had its advantages! They had two children. She died in 1996. he died in 2006 aged 84.
The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire was produced across 24 marks,
with total production thought to be between 20,300 and 20,400 aircraft.
Synchronised firing, so that you could shoot between the props, was WW1 technology. It used gears to time the firing of the machine guns to the spin of the props..
That plane you were asking about near the end (where you asked if the Spitfire was the predecessor) is the Panavia Tornado (the guy talking was saying they had ex-spitfire pilots on the Tornado development programme), which you have already done a video on - he actually had a model of the Tornado in front of him on the desk.
Nice one Sarah,. Now you know the difference between the Spitfire and the hurricane it's time to watch Battle of Britain don't delay too long, you'll enjoy it, and it will give you a better idea of what happened in 1940
There was an interrupter gear fitted to allow firing through the prop (first fitted to Fokker biplanes in 1915). Unlike machine guns which fire solid rounds the cannon fires explosive rounds so can do a great deal more damage although fewer shells can be carried due to the weight and the rate-of-fire is much lower.
The first operational plane to be fitted with a synchronised gun system was the Fokker EI/EIII - which was a monoplane not a biplane. The letter "E" in the designation comes from the German word "Eindekker" which translates as single deck or single wing.
We had a hurricane in 1987 where 7000.000 trees in southern England were destroyed with devastation in the south of England in general. The BBC weather forecaster, Michael Fish said that he had received an inquiry about possible strong winds and said there was nothing to worry about. He never did live that down. Trees were down everywhere with buildings badly damaged.
In those days Sarah it was a case of needs must so the companies that owned the buildings which became Spitfire and Hurricane factories had to just put up with it. Another very enjoyable series of vids - thanks for being shocked by we Brits taking shocking things in our strides. :-
There would have been zero market for what they were making before the war & they certainly would have got any raw materials..
It was a Dutchman (Anton Fokker - working for the Germans) who developed the first synchronising gear in WW1 (a spur behind the propeller blade actuated a metal rod, which then blocked the gun's firing action, until the blade had passed) such equipment was common until propellers were discontinued at the dawn of the jet age.
Bob got it wrong - The standard armament for the Bf 109 at the time was 2x7.92mm machine-guns above the engine (similar to British .303, but with 1000 shots each, rather than the 300 for British aircraft) and a 20mm cannon in each wing with 60 rounds. The engine-mounted 20mm was tried in Spain, but its vibrations caused the engine to misfire. The later Bf 109F used the better Mauser cannon in this position.
Several sources are quoted for the origin of the Spitfire name, but History mercilessly records R. J. Mitchells reaction to it; "Just the sort of bl**dy silly name they WOULD choose !" It could be worse, though, it's rumoured that the name, "Shrew," was given serious consideration.
Interestingly, the "British," machine-gun used throughout WW2 was basically the American Browning M1919, much modified, and rechambered for British .303 ammunition.
The plane on Quill's desk is a Panavia Tornado - ironically a British/German/Italian collaboration.
I think there were more versions of the spitfire produced than any other plane in history.
Synchronization gear it interrupts the fire of the gun through the arc of it's propeller and was designed by the legendary Anthony Fokker in World War 1
I was at Duxford Aerodrome when I was as a teenager on a perimeter patrol and I turned around and who walked past was Douglas Bader! I had read about him as a young lad never expecting to ever see him! Let alone walk past me! That is stayed in my mind since the late seventies
The first solution to hitting the propeller was an interrupter, which stopped the gun from firing if a blade would be in the way - the eventual and very elegant solution was to have the engine fire the guns, arranged so that the guns were fired in the gaps between the blades passing.
Other carrier innovations pioneered by the British include the angled flight deck and the deckside elevator for moving aircraft between the hangar and the flight deck - the earlier designs used elevators that were set into the deck, so could only be used when there was no flying activity.
You can almost taste the British sense of understatement here.
The plane on the table at Panaviar is the Tornado, a (now retired) multi-role fighter/attack aircraft flown by the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Kind of a spiritual successor in that it was fast, capable, and could do pretty much anything they were assigned to. Very cool swing wing design (like it’s contemporary the F-14). They did a lot of the heavy lifting in the ground attack role during the Gulf wars.
I think u laughed genuine and clean, not at all badly. U weren't to know, and its a reaction vid. But it says a lot about you that u felt the way you did ❤️
5:26 in ww1 a guy worked out how to gear from the propellers shaft to the machine guns on the nose of the aircraft (They also used metal covering the wooden propellers with angled wedges to deflect any bullets from the rotating props, see Google for pictures ) this was high tech in WW1 and something ? was used that stopped the firing mechanism on the 109 called an interrupter mechanism but if not synchronised accurately bits gnawed off the edges of the metal propellers would occur.
What blows my mind is going from powered flight at Kittyhawk in 1903 to dogfights in WWI eleven years later. With synchronization gears no less.
I believe it was Fokker who developed (mechanical) interruptor gear during WW1 for their biplanes to allow machine guns to fire through the propellor rotation (I think they also had metal plates wrapped around the wooden prop blades in case of an 'issue' with the timing) in line with the barrel(s) of the guns
For names, the Hawker company developed the Hurricane, the Typhoon and the Tempest, all of which took part in WW2.
To answer your question, the Merlin engine is the same as the Royce Rolls engine but it was manufactured in the US under a licensing agreement. in fact the famous US P-51 fighter was a severely under-performed aircraft when it first came out using an under-powered US made Wheatley engine. The P-51 was the long range fighter that was used to escort the B17 bombers onto Germany for their bombing missions & it is also the same plane you see at the end of 'Top Gun 2' movie when Tom Cruise took Jennifer Connelly for a ride . The British replaced the original engine with the Royce Rolls engine & the P-51 became one of the best fighters in WW2. It was a similar story for the Corsair which was the one of the main carrier based fighters during the Pacific War.
The early P-51s were fitted with an Allison V12. It was actually a very good engine but its supercharger was not that great which meant power dropped off above 10,000 feet. This made it unsuitable for high level dog fighting - but it was excellent at low level. The Merlin 61 had a much better supercharger system so when it was fitted to the P-51 it made an already good aeroplane a great one.
8:28 There were more than 20 different version of the Spitfire through the war. It was constantly being improved.
Very interesting and informative. I really like your commentary.
Hi S. Roger looks Very cool.
Shooting through the propeller was developed in World War One. Originally a French pilot had the idea of fitting steel wedges to his (wooden) propellor, so if any bullets hit it when he fired, they were deflected away. It worked but was a primitive solution. A Dutch man called Fokker, came up with a mechanical rod mechanism that stopped the gun from firing if the propeller was in the wrong position. It was an interruptor. Obviously it reduced the rate of fire slightly, but the advantages of shooting the way the plane was flying far outweighed that. It gave the Germans, who got hold of the technology a tremendous advantage over the British and French.
In WW2 planes, the machine guns were often fitted in the wings, outside of the arc of the propeller spin, which is another way of dealing with the problem.Edit
Some World War 2 fighters also fired through the propeller disc - including the 109. Another fighter that used the same technique were some versions of the Curtiss P-40.
I read somewhere it was the 12yr old daughter of one of the engineers that worked out the maths required to enable the guns to fire through the propeller,I can't remember her name or her fathers name but I'm certain I'm correct ✌️
Really like the way you present what you do Sarah🙂
@4:58 You might wanna lookup another video on how they engineered the central Cannon on the 109. Very good engineering ;)