Spitfire engine

Odds said:
It's the sound of that engine which always gets me - and i don't know why. I mean, the war was over 20 years before i was born but there's something about the sound that just makes you look up whenever one of those planes flies by. It's such a beautifully designed aircraft, like one of those 1920s sports cars, finished with wood interior and a hood ornament that glints in the sun.
Over forty aircraft were fitted with the Merlin but only one commands an iconic status like a Spitfire.
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I agree. I live near an RAF airport. From time to time, they will have the pilots in a hurricane and spitfire doing mock dog fights. When I hear the roar of the Merlin engine, I will run into the garden. I don't give a toss about machines designed to kill people, but there is something strangely iconic about the spitfire.

I become Christian Bale in the Empire of the Sun.
 
Odds said:
In what way d'you think so?
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The rest of the film, seemed to be full of realism - then suddenly, the ending was so obviously staged. It seemed to me, Spielberg lost his way at the end, and didn't quite know how to end it. The first time I watched it, I wasn't giving it my full attention, then near the end I glanced up, and wondered if I was still watching the same film.
 
There was some fella from some historical aeroplane group who restore old plane / engines
Who was at Santa pod drag strip he had two spitfire engines on rigs one of which he would start up and run

Both engines came from spitfires that were acquired from the Spanish Air Force
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
The rest of the film, seemed to be full of realism - then suddenly, the ending was so obviously staged. It seemed to me, Spielberg lost his way at the end, and didn't quite know how to end it. The first time I watched it, I wasn't giving it my full attention, then near the end I glanced up, and wondered if I was still watching the same film.
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It could've seemed contrived, although the memories of a young boy can become clouded by age, since J.G Ballard was writing about his experiences of the war in a POW camp as an older man and Spielberg selected passages of the book then adapted them for the screen, so some scenes would jump from one to the next without a narrative to connect them. I enjoyed the movie, mostly on the presence of John Malkovich as the American pilot who helps him in the camp - i haven't seen a bad movie with Malkovich playing a part in it.
I thought the 2019 version of Dunkirk had a contrived ending: the burning Spitfire on the beach looked oddly out of place - until i realised it was a tribute to the men who flew across the battlefield in 1940: the strength of the Luftwaffe made it a very dangerous job and your chances of getting back to Blighty for bacon and eggs were slim.
 
Odds said:
I thought the 2019 version of Dunkirk had a contrived ending: the burning Spitfire on the beach looked oddly out of place - until i realised it was a tribute to the men who flew across the battlefield in 1940: the strength of the Luftwaffe made it a very dangerous job and your chances of getting back to Blighty for bacon and eggs were slim.
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I tried to watch that, but gave up on it - I wasn't impressed. The CGI was poor and too overdone, for me. I would rather watch the older version films, covering that period.
 
Harry Bloomfield said:
I tried to watch that, but gave up on it - I wasn't impressed. The CGI was poor and too overdone, for me. I would rather watch the older version films, covering that period.
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A slight digression, but does anyone remember the book and mini-series "A piece of cake"?
The series was from back in 1988, and it made a big impression at the time - but as I was sill quite young, I can't really remember it.
My Dad had the novel, and it seemed enormous!

As with most things now, episodes available on YouTube...

 
RandomGrinch said:
A slight digression, but does anyone remember the book and mini-series "A piece of cake"?
The series was from back in 1988, and it made a big impression at the time - but as I was sill quite young, I can't really remember it.
My Dad had the novel, and it seemed enormous!

As with most things now, episodes available on YouTube...

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOu1rrR1A5-rH77VFSR3fXmNf52bL8747&feature=shared
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Like many things on TV, I'd never heard of it, thanks I'll give it a looking at later..
 
Odds said:
It's the sound of that engine which always gets me - and i don't know why. I mean, the war was over 20 years before i was born but there's something about the sound that just makes you look up whenever one of those planes flies by.
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I'm similar age, but same reaction to that iconic sound. I live not far from Filton aircraft works/airfield, Bristol which was involved with spitfires and later Concorde. Until they built houses on the runway, quite often they would have a spitfire flying over my house. The sound made you stop what you were doing, look skywards, and remember the engineers and brave men who flew them.
 
Looking for a picture with numbers i found this...

1868478-large.jpg


In Memoriam: Sqn Ldr Mark Long.
 
years ago we worked for a spitfire pilot who served in WW2 (rip) he used to get letters from all over the world from people interested in his service

A few years Ago At Santa pod drag race circuit they had some people from some sort of historic aero engine club (?) they had a couple of spit fire engines on rigs that they would start up and run during the week end

Apparently the engines were acquired from the Spanish Air Force
 
At the good wood revival they had working spit fires and hurricanes giving fly by demos
Also a Japanese ww2 zero and German meshersmit fighter planes giving demos

Had similar at the festival of speed also the red arrows are always there and they had a Vulcan bomber flying around
 
transam said:
Vulcan bomber flying around
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I put a tiny pumping station in, at the end of the runway at Doncaster airport, when it was an RAF station for Vulcan's. I was working away, in the tiny brick building, when my entire world began shaking, as a Vulcan took off. None flying now, but I was overtaken by the last one, on it's final flight, when I was driving up the east coast. It was flying very low, and very slow.
 
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