Spitfire Fun
On a recent trip to the UK we headed out to a little grass (ex-wartime) airfield in Kent called Headcorn. The objective to fly, be instructed and do aerobatics in a Mark IX Spitfire. What is even more interesting is that this was the same area where the Battle of Britain was fought above the skies of Britain, between the RAF and the German Luftwaffe. Had British and Allied aircrew did not defeated the Luftwaffe, it is likely that Germany would have invaded Britain. Headcorn airfield is popular with visitors to picnic, especially on the fine summers day we had for flying. It is also an airfield for aviation enthusiasts, especially for old aircraft and the amazing Spitfire.
The briefing before our one-hour flight involved emergency escape procedures and use of the parachutes we had to wear. Evacuating from the Spitfire cockpit is not easy, and if it is spinning, well, almost impossible. But anyway, we handled the drill and were excited to get on our way. Robyn had the first flight.
Flying out over Kent to the coast and diving below the White Cliffs at 300mph+ was sensational, and then doing aero manoeuvres before returning to the airfield was a great experience. The cockpit panel layout is very different to modern aircraft so familiarising with this technology took a little time. The Spit was very agile and with all that power, aerobatics are made that so much easier.
The short video clip (below) shows the view from the cockpit.
