Americans React: Fly With RAF's Quick Reaction Alert Crews | Incredible!

[@Stan-d5g]

Now you know about the RAF, you can now react to "the thirteen hours that saved Britain", it's the true story of the battle of Britain when Hitler was intent on invading Britain BUT he had underestimated the British spirit and had most definitely underestimated the RAF, incidentally I've seen the typhoon in flight at Sunderland air show several times and I've never heard such a noise coming from the engines, the ground literally shook, kids were supplied with ear defenders, what a fecking machine the typhoon actually is, these guys have the best job in the world defending the UK from as one pilot put it "vlady the baddy" 😂

[@laurenC91.]

If you're impressed by the typhoon you need to watch a video on "The Tempest", the UK's 6th generation fighter jet, due to take over from the typhoon and enter service from 2035 but the current government is thinking of scrapping it which I don't think would be a good idea considering the current situation with Russia 🙈

[@Stan-d5g]

@laurenC91. Thank you for the recommendation but I'm impressed by the Typhoon because I've actually seen it flying as I mentioned in my previous comment, I'm not kidding about the noise that the Typhoon makes, I've NEVER heard anything so loud especially when the plane went straight up, it's afterburners kicked in AND wow I could feel it in my chest

[@laurenC91.]

@@Stan-d5g oh, my bad 😅 I'm used to the noise cause I lived on camp most of my childhood so heard them all the time. My dad fixed tornados and if I was off sick but my mam needed to work my dad took me into work a couple times so i got to walk around the hangers with him and once got to sit in a cockpit of a tornado. Being in a hanger while a fighter jet fired up it's engines just outside to do checks before moving over a smidge to the runway and taking off was REALLY loud 😅

[@mathiasosiriswoodhal]

yeah got to do that

[@paulzon]

To be fair, there were almost 600 foreign pilots in the RAF during the Battle of Britain too, most notably, Poles, Canadians, New Zealanders and Czechs who made up nearly all of that figure.

[@roberthartley6629]

It is the air intake for the engine. You will notice the plane doesn't have a small back wing and elevator. It has a small Canard wing at the front for rapid direction change.

[@alanelesstravelled8218]

The air intakes also form an "S" shape to the jet engines so that heat generated by the engines cannot be detected from the front.

[@tonym480]

@@alanelesstravelled8218 It also shields the engine fan blades reducing the head on radar signature. Although the Typhoon is not a true 'stealth' aeroplane like the F-35, it has a smaller radar cross section than people realise, especially head on. It was designed to engage targets over 120 Kms away using missiles such as Meteor before they see it coming.

[@Iamlurking504]

It also looks cool

[@carolineskipper6976]

The jets from RAF Conningsby are scrambled surprisingly often for real problems over the skies of Britain. It happens if communication with a plane in or nearing UK airspace is lost inexplicably, or if the pilots of the plane send out a 'distress' call. There have been a few in recent years where they are called to escort a commercial passenger jet that has reported a problem with a passenger seriously kicking off to land quickly at the nearest designated airport. We occasionally hear a loud sonic boom over the eastern side of England as they break the sound barrier -it sounds as if it's a large explosion nearby - like a gas explosion - but can be heard over the whole region.

[@zerocool278]

And the Russians do like to stir us up as well probing our defences which sends up the boys from Conningsby, Heard it near not so Great Yarmouth for that passenger jet, which was reported as a bomb threat to begin with. I always check Flight radar or ADSB which is normally better for tracking the fast jets when I hear them near the coast overhead.

[@Jimmy_Jones]

"Worl War II: 13 hours that saved Britain" a great documentary that interviews people who were young at the time and experienced it.

[@MandyHarris-y6x]

THE TWO WARS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BRITAIN EUROPE LOVED WW1 SO MUCH THEY ALLOWED GARMANY TO MASS ARMS FOR WW2 ALL EUROPE GIVE BRITAIN IS ILLEGALS MIGRANT CRIMINALS & FREELOADERS GERMANY WAS NEVER GOING TO INVADE BRITAIN

[@peckelhaze6934]

We, UK, are frequently visited by Russian aircraft so we have to be on our toes. The one time we don't could be an attack by Russia or terrorist. Sometimes the aircraft are travelling so fast there is a sonic boom. With the WWII aircraft there was no ejection seat it was just the pilot. In most cases the pilot would open the canopy, turn the plane upside down and drop out.

[@Snarnler]

And ships....

[@swordfish211]

Confirmed. Quite a few years ago, one of the aircraft from Coningsby was given permission to go supersonic somewhere in the skies near our home. I checked every window in the house afterwards. It caused one hell of a shock wave.

[@grampstin9375]

My uncle was a Spitfire pilot, he got 10 hours of training & then got the rest of his training by flying his Spitfire to Burma (Myanmar), so many people forget that at the same time as fighting Hitler & Germany we were also fighting the Japanese in the air, land & sea, our fighter pilots were not expected to live long but they fought savagely & beat the odds.

[@TanyaRando]

My uncle was in Chang I prison, and was part of the forced labour that worked on the Burma railway, after being captured by The Japanese. You don't hear too much of that side of WW2

[@MandyHarris-y6x]

THE TWO WARS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH BRITAIN EUROPE LOVED WW1 SO MUCH THEY ALLOWED GARMANY TO MASS ARMS FOR WW2 ALL EUROPE GIVE BRITAIN IS ILLEGALS MIGRANT CRIMINALS & FREELOADERS GERMANY WAS NEVER GOING TO INVADE BRITAIN

[@Kaiber_Phoenix]

Americans really dont seem to know how mich britain contributed to a large part of the war either it be in the pacific theatre or in acrica and italy.

[@tonysmith6940]

If you like this you would love the 13 hour that saved Britain it's all about our R.A.F it's a must watch

[@rossnolan2883]

Respect the RAF AND USAF 🇺🇸🇬🇧

[@PLuMUK54]

Monday and Tuesday this week, I was in hospital. One of the other patients was about 98. He would have been 18 at the end of the SWW. He was suffering dementia, so he communicated very little. However, in the night, he had a bad dream in which he relived a plane crash. He was very verbal, and just listening to him was very scary. As far as I could make out, it appears that he was a member of the crew of a bomber. When he woke, he was very unsettled and frightened. The nurses tried to calm him, but he turned on them aggressively. It appeared that he thought they were Germans, so I wonder what happened to him. Dementia is such a cruel condition. Instead of enjoying his final years, the poor man is forced into reliving a traumatic time in his life. Men like him were heroes, and whatever many think of today's young people, we are still producing heroes such as those in the video.

[@CollieDog24]

My relative was KIA 14/02/1945 over Chemnitz in Germany and I've been over to see his grave and his crew.He joined the sqdn 6th feb 45 and killed on his first op.,a flt engineer.

[@LoneRanger100]

Bless his heart.

[@jillosler9353]

My late father-in-law was a Japanese prisoner of war during WW2 and suffered greatly from hunger and cruel punishments - but survived to lead a happy life with wife, children and grandchildren. But in his later life he developed dementia and would sometimes relive those horrid days - and actually choked to death as he crammed his dinner into his mouth while thinking he was back as a starving prisoner of war 😢.

[@Snarnler]

That is so sad.

[@medic1627]

I think 'How Britain nuked America twice' should be your next foray into the military. The Typhoon you saw take off, took off in real time, you need a jet that can get airborne quickly and not have to spend precious time using most of the runway to do so. RAF Lossiemouth is not far from me, watching the planes is exciting. Like you Steve, I would readily be a passenger in one. Finally got around to joining you guys, so i'm officially a new member 😁

[@garyowens3698]

yep the Vulcan was way ahead of it's time

[@medic1627]

@@garyowens3698 In my view it should still be flying! I have my name added to the section where the bomb bay doors are, it will be there forever.

[@garyowens3698]

@@medic1627 I followed her (XH558) on her last voyage around the North of England, took my young kids to the Great Yorkshire Airshow in 2015 and told them when she goes over the ground will shake, next thing my to lads are tightly holding my legs shouting WOW 😂

[@medic1627]

@@garyowens3698 wish I could have seen her fly, the only chance to see her move is when she tests her engines. That is something they will remember forever.

[@garyowens3698]

@@medic1627 if you don't mind me asking what part of the UK are you from

[@Gwill22567]

There weren't ejection seats in Spitfires. You had to unplug your radio, unplug your oxygen supply, undo you seatbelt, open the canopy then roll the plan inverted and drop out. Then you just had to hope the tailplan didn't cut you in half on the way out.

[@kraken_4247]

You always had the option of walking along the wing.😁😁

[@angeladormer6659]

One pilot pointed out that the Spitfire had blind spots and the canopies could be difficult to open in a ditch situation.

[@SOPARA862k]

Amazing that the RAF have been ready to be in the air within minutes non stop for the last 75 years.

[@Ross-df6ge]

Yes and I believe that was in real time, as they said in the video the jet powers up while they get in.

[@tonys1636]

The Vulcan Nuclear bombers were on the runway, engines running and pilots aboard and under two minutes notice to take off, just time for final flight checks. Engines running as jets took longer to start up then needing external starting assistance. They never dropped a bomb in anger until the Falklands and about to be withdrawn from service. Still the same two minutes to take off now. Just been made public that a Russian Spy Ship was intercepted in the Irish Sea this week mapping underwater cables and pipes and having ignored RN Warships earlier in the English Channel a Submarine that had been following surfaced alongside and verbally told the Captain of it to eff off from UK waters or risk being Torpedoed, it complied. The first time that underwater surveillance of so called by Russia, 'Russian Survey' vessels has been revealed. Underwater cables in the Baltic have recently been cut by a so called Russian 'Merchant' Ship dragging its anchor over the underwater cables.

[@colinbirks5403]

No ejector seats in WW2. And no Lyndsay, they were not open cockpits.

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

As a former para, I spent much of my home time at RAF Conningsby with the RAF lads there. We had Harriers: AV8-C and Euros: FGR-4. The RAF don't chuff around when they scramble.

[@jamielee9350]

Was you stationed there ?

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

@jamielee9350 No, but I had mates in the RAF there so I spent some time up there.

[@SteveDonaldson-r5k]

When I was stationed at Coningsby we had a permanent army presence; 58 engineers battle damage repair ( forgive me if I get the exact name wrong; I was in the RAF, not the army), but yeah there was a permanent army presence at all RAF units that flew missions, so it wasn't unusual to see various brown jobs on unit. Bear in mind that the RAF still instructs the parachute regiment in how to actually parachute; inter service operability is still very much a thing. You may think a para would know nothing about air operations (and you would usually be correct), but there's a good deal of cooperation, even in my day - left in 96.

[@Bob10009]

The AV8B is the US Harrier, RAF ones were GR versions - GR1, GR3, GR5, GR7, GR9. 😉

[@GreasyGrecian-p3b]

@jamielee9350 It's "were". Even a child knows this.

[@BFPO1]

they slide the spitfire canopy forward before take off lol

[@pulseorako7067]

In live in Leicestershire in the East Midlands and round the corner from me is a place called Beamanor Hall in Woodhouse eves, it was used as a decoding station and information gathering during world war 2. They also have a bomb shelter where they put on a realistic display with an original wind up bomb alarm that was used to make the public aware so they could get to shelter. It's a fantastic day out 🫡

[@uppyraptor49]

Ive sat in a typhoon and its a tight space with so many controls, as i lived next door to coningsby i got the chance with my daughter, they used to do all their tricks above us at our bungalow! AMAZING!

[@jakedauris1842]

3:45 its a air intake

[@AndyPipkinOfficial]

defo air intake for the 2 jet engines

[@markdevonshire6052]

18:16 Dover Castle in Kent has a fantastic ww2 display. The 2 tunnels you can visit were used as a medical facility and control centre for the Dunkirk evacuation amongst other things, is well worth checking out. Both my boys loved it

[@reactingtomyroots]

That's sounds right up my alley, I'll add it to the list. :)

[@Blind-Dave]

I was on 111(F) in the 80’’s and 90’s manning QRA as part of a rota. We as groundcrew did 7 days on sleeping near the aircraft. Fjr me it was Cold War initially then less intrusions. It was a huge Adrenalin rush when the blazons went with 4 mins to get the jet up and running and out to the runway.

[@IanDarley]

The canopy closes on the old war birds.

[@Zaephrax]

The RAF QRA Crews have been on standby every second of every day since the Battle of Britain

[@Markus117d]

The holes in the front are air intakes for the engines. The ones at the back are the engine exhausts & it's that exhaust which propels the aircraft forward..

[@Russ442100]

He he lol .. I see what you did there.

[@DGLUK1]

The cockpits weren't open to the elements. Before takeoff, they would pull the glass doors and roof shut.

[@TheJaxxT]

Back in 2013, myself and my son were lucky enough to have a spitfire fly over us. We were at the Download festival and Iron Maiden were closing the weekend, and just before they came out on stage, and cos the festival is right next to an airport, they organised for the spitfire to fly over us, circling the festival a couple of times to introduce the band on stage. It was incredible. The sound of that thing was insane! Edit: my mistake.. maiden were on the Saturday. It was Rammstein who closed the weekend on the Sunday. I remember the Saturday was my birthday. So it was a birthday treat when the spitfire flew over!

[@johnbowman7389]

Yes it's next to East Midlands airport at Donnington motor racing circuit. I live only a few miles away from there.

[@TheJaxxT]

@ that’s correct. Some times tho, you can be asleep in your tent and have a massive passenger jet fly over you and wake you up with a huge jump… speaking from experience. Scared the shit out of me! 🤣. With you living so close to the festival, do you ever hear the music at all?

[@johnbowman7389]

@@TheJaxxT no just far enough away thankfully 😁. The local supermarkets are full of people stocking up with their supplies tho😁. East Midlands airport is allowed night flights and has a huge cargo operation 2nd only to Heathrow. Huge jets taking off world be a shock to the system if you weren't used to it as you slept in your tent .😁😁

[@TheJaxxT]

@ yeah it was bloody frightening I’ll tell you that. Just went for an afternoon nap one day as I didn’t sleep much the night before, and it sounded like an enormous explosion. My entire body shook for a good half hour afterwards!!

[@Ade2bee]

It only takes two switches to start and it's kicking in, they literally are up in tens of seconds

[@reactingtomyroots]

That's awesome! This makes me want to learn about planes in general.

[@nettygallagher2724]

My brother was in the air force and he was a pilot and did this . He is no longer a in the air force but he keeps his pilots licensence up he takes his 2kids up they love it. Love from uk. Xx

[@johnsmith8410]

A mate of mine who is an airline pilot got intercepted after a loss of comms, this wasn't that long after 9 11 and he told me the first thing that made him aware they were being intercepted was he could hear the passengers screaming, then he saw fighter draw up alongside his cockpit and thanks to some hand signals and finally regaining comms was able to continue the flight to destination without any issues. Just to add in the world war 2 fighters they did wear parachutes and the seats were designed to accommodate that parachute, bomber crews on the other hand for the most part had parachutes but they didn't wear them, they had to try and put them on and then bale out, ejector seats didn't really become common place until the 1950's and even then were very limited in their operating window.

[@shedend3066]

Good video my dad was an RAF air traffic controller for 30 years - a very stressful job but he loved it

[@shedend3066]

Rock apes as they are known in the trade 😂 they do a great job

[@Chestnut3]

Living on the Lindolnshire coast see & hear the RAF planes practising a lot. My eldest grandson who is 19 has been in the RAF Regiment for 2 years (RAF’s army). As ex army myself and so was his grandad immensely proud of him

[@101steel4]

The open cockpits on those unsafe spitfires 🙄

[@Stan-d5g]

On a lighter note a bit of British comedy to watch is Russell Howard "UK news v American news reaction to the ebola virus outbreak" or his "kid dying of cancer invites Russell to his upcoming funeral", the latter sounds grim BUT you'll love it and it's not as grim as it sounds, it's actually very funny

[@whitecompany18]

Watch some "mach loop" videos and watch American and British pilot's practicing low flying in wales, the planes fly below you through the valleys ,its a great camping spot👌

[@Cader-ce6bv]

I am fortunate to live not far from the Mach loop, Not only do they fly through the Mac loop but they fly across the seafront at fairbourne and head through the Mawddach estuary back through the Mach loop again. There is no schedule but they do fly between Monday and Fridays 🤪

[@zeroone5097]

Hi Guys this place is literally 12 miles from my house as we live in a nearby town , we get jets coming over a lot , great to see these fantastic crews keeping us safe i applaud them a lot , my dad used to be in the RAF and i am proud of that . We also have the Battle of Britain flight there , and the only flying Lancaster and Spitfires and Hurricanes , i think the Canadian unit is still flying .

[@alanbatt]

I recommend watching documentary about Douglas Bader a national treasure he was a fighter pilot who had lost both legs but he fought back and had his own squadron amazing man

[@Snarnler]

A bit of a tartar but was a childhood hero of mine. Doing all he did with the standard of Prosthetic legs back then is absolutely amazing.

[@mariannesyrett7759]

Bletchley park is definitely worth visiting and Churchill's war rooms in London

[@grrfy]

shame Bletchley is ridiculously overpriced though, and then want even more to actually see the computer rooms. Rip Off.

[@mariannesyrett7759]

Didn't realise they had put.prices up so much used to be a good day out

[@grrfy]

@@mariannesyrett7759 2 years ago was 6 quid for a dry sausage roll! 25 to get in and another 12 quid to get into the bit of the museum that had any computersd in it.

[@mariannesyrett7759]

I won't be going back any time soon then🙁 knew it was approx £20 entrance but thought that was for everywhere

[@StewedFishProductions]

It was my birthday TODAY (22nd January) and we are going to Bletchley Park tomorrow morning... The 'ticket' price allows for 'unlimited use for a year' and we are taking a 'picnic' to avoid the ridiculous food and drink prices!

[@isaacmatthews8876]

When you come over to the uk you need to go to duxford air museum. It is incredible

[@kewajodo]

Churchill War Rooms in Westminster are a superb visit. The main underground command centre for the defence of Britain.

[@reactingtomyroots]

Definitely adding that to our list of places to visit.

[@mathiasosiriswoodhal]

i used to live in the next village and used to go to coningsby all time (pet shops there ) seen a few of them guys in the village too its a very RAF village see the RAF people all the time and you see the planes going over all the time definatly when its the 40s weekend evry year and they do fly bys in the ww2 planes looks amazing

[@christopherfox735]

The RAF also protect Irish airspace as well. We have an agreement with Ireland as they don’t have any fast jets.

[@johnwatts9932]

That's interesting, I was on a flight back to London from New York and we were flying over Ireland and we saw two RAF jets pass us close on there way to intercept another aircraft. Rather intimidating.

[@dougsipple1228]

👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 it was me via Ko-fi! thanks so much for doing it, this is a great reaction video!! You guys are the best 🎉

[@irenepaulton3392]

Also, Geoffrey Welham was the youngest pilot on the front line in the Battle of Britain, aged just 19. His story has been told in the film First Light, with the role of Welham taken on by Sam Heughan, who is now famous for his role as Jamie Fraser in Outlander. It was released in 2011.

[@missmoneypenny73]

The ejector seat was invented in 1945 by Sir James Martin, who was born at Crossgar, Co Down Northern Ireland, in 1893. A brilliant engineer, in 1924, aged only 29, he set up the Martin Baker Aircraft Company in England along with his friend, Captain Valentine Baker.

[@Cav-z1y]

Still used in the latest jets, eg f35

[@stevemcmaster4347]

I worked for the company that flew the “enemy “ aircraft in the video for 30 years. Great to see it on here

[@kaydavis2310]

I live in a triangle (as such) in the middle of RAF Scampton, Coningsby and Waddington. Bomber Command County. Its always amazing to see any of the aircraft up. We see the Red Arrows on a weekly basis. We are very proud of our RAF in the UK

[@lizsherwood3351]

Me too 😂 free air shows but QRA when they go Mac bonkers makes the windows rattle and me jump 😊

[@lloydcollins6337]

3:53 yes those are air to air interception missiles

[@dunkeldjake]

"I'm not sure if I'm confused or not..." brilliant 😂 keep up what you do guys I love it!

[@ianoo23]

You need to watch the 13 hours that saved Britain- it’s very very informative and does well to recreate the tense and anxious situation with real accounts of the time and events ❤

[@johnritter6864]

When I was based at Coningsby I was told a story about the 29 squadron number. Its written as XXX, which is incorrect but the story goes that when the sign was being painted they told the guy to paint 2 X's and 1 X (IX), so instead of painting XXIX he accidently painted XXX and it was left at that. Used to see the typhoons blasting around quite a bit. The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was also there, with its Lancaster, Spitfires and Hurricanes.

[@ffotograffydd]

Nice story, but apocryphal. The squadron used to have four Xs either side of the roundel, but when the squadron switched to the smaller Siskin aircraft there wasn’t enough space so the switched to three Xs. It was always just a geometric shape, not Roman numerals. The Squadron badge has the number 29 in Arabic numerals rather than Roman numerals.

[@johnritter6864]

@@ffotograffydd Oh well, its just what I was told when based there

[@mikecaine3643]

The Spitfire and Hurricane fighters did have parachutes - though the ejection seat wasn't invented till the jet aircraft - the name Martin-Baker seems to ring a bell in ejection seats technology .

[@nicksykes4575]

Most modern ejector seats are built by Martin-Baker, they are the bench-mark for the seats. Originally manufacturers of complete airframes, their MB5 looked like a cross between a Spitfire and Mustang and supposedly faster than both, development of it was discontinued because of the coming jet age Either Martin or Baker was killed in the crash of a prototype that he couldn't get out of, which prompted the other to invent the ejector seat, and switch the firm to production of them.

[@gdj6298]

Try to find a book called "The Man in the Hot Seat" by Doddy Hay - he was the guy that did all the testing for Martin-Baker.

[@KEITH-jc6gs]

People always forget to mention those brave Polish men who were in the Battle of Britain. (I'm a proud Englishman, and held a Queen's Commission). As I kid I lived opposite one such hero, he wouldn't talk about it, but the neighbours knew. Lovely, unassuming polite man.

[@troygaskett5056]

Keith your wrong when talking about the battle of Britain alot of nations are left out new Zealand canada Australia sth Africa and more no one is forgetting the polish pilots

[@jillosler9353]

They are not forgotten and we know they fought with us on land, sea and air to fight the common enemy. But Britain was the last country still standing that hadn't been conquered by Hitler so it was the RAF that all those pilots - Polish, Australian, New Zealanders, Americans, Canadians, British, etc - fought collectively under and from the UK.

[@ffotograffydd]

The Royal Air Force hasn’t forgotten any of the pilots who served during WWII, we are taught about all the nations who served during basic training. What civvies do or don’t remember is a different issue, but try not to use it as a point scoring exercise in the comment section, it’s rather crass.

[@KEITH-jc6gs]

@@ffotograffydd Was not intended to point scoring and I get what you say about the RAF remembering. Apologies if it came across the wrong way.

[@ffotograffydd]

@ It just gets tedious when people in comment sections argue over who contributed more. It was a joint effort and there are many memorials to those who lost their lives. Nobody’s contribution has been ignored.

[@lindakirk698]

RAF Coningsby is just a short distance from me. I sleep safe knowing that they are doing their job. We hear the jets often launching. My hubby was a military man in The Royal Navy. Doing tge same here but with ships/ subs in tge oceans. Sometimes exercises combine not just RAF but Royal Navy and the British Army.

[@ashleywetherall]

I live a couple of miles away from The RAF Uxbridge bunker. RAF Northolt is just up the road. It was the base of the legendary 303 Polish squadron who shot down more planes during the Battle of Brittan than any other.. Spitfires still occasionally take off from Northolt, for special events. But the best place to see WW2 aircraft id RAF Duxford about 40 miles outside London.. My grandfather on my mums side was a Warrant officer in the RAF. He basically ran a team that spent most of there time repairing damaged spitfires and hurricanes during the battle of Britain.

[@karenstock319]

I was born in High Wycombe. It was an American air base then though. Didn't realise the RAF were there too? I've learnt something today. Thank you. 😁

[@debbee0867]

If it is where I think it is, I'm pretty sure it is now a housing estate. The one I know is the road that takes you from High Wycombe to that large John Lewis store. That was a US air base.

[@jimcook1161]

'What was that on his jacket?' That would have been the Pilot's life jacket also known as the'Mae West' after the actress for obvious reasons!🤭 The flares that the Typhoon fired are normally used the decoy heat seeking missiles.

[@venessahowes9193]

The jets from RAF Valley regularly fly by my house, makes my heart swell every time I see them

[@enemde3025]

Heathrow airport has around 650 departures every day. Gatwick has between 300 and 450 a day. There are 144 commercial airports, large and small, in the UK.

[@kevinmurray2643]

There is a company in England that have some two seater spitfires. One canopy is behind the other so you have a duplicate set of controls and instruments in front of you. I have had the privilege of flying in one of those spitfires. We took off from RAF headcorn in Kent, flew over the battle of Britain memorial then along the white cliffs of Dover before retracing our route. Being in the same sky, in the same aircraft as those young men all those years ago was a truly humbling and emotional experience. I could not imagine trying to kill someone who was trying to do exactly the same to you. I got to control the aircraft for about five minutes and was amazed by how responsive it was. And yes we did do a barrel roll and a loop. It was something i will never forget.

[@medic1627]

@@kevinmurray2643 that is something I would love to do.

[@kevinmurray2643]

@medic1627 The company I used is called Aero Legends. Not cheap but worth every penny in my opinion.

[@medic1627]

@@kevinmurray2643 will look them up, thanks.

[@medic1627]

Will have a look, thanks.

[@kapa7436]

when i go visit my dad in Lincolnshire i will sit outside all day. He lives between 3 RAF air bases and you would see all kinds of aircraft flying over the house. some would be flying low enough you can see the pilots as they go over and its always amazing seeing them out in action

[@johnavery3941]

They RAF showed it to let the Russians know how quickly and easily their planes can be taken care of if required, same in the sea a Russian Spy ship came through the English Channel (legally) the other day but an Royal Navy Boat helped it on its way.

[@jaynefrost3949]

I'm an RAF helio pilot, QRF is quite frightening as we don't know what's what until an air-brief, the fastjets [which I failed on my arse] have it worse a they have less time to configure. Love that you focussed on RAF, we - The Few - don't feature so much x

[@eddhardy1054]

16:09... Sorry Lindsay but what makes you think Spitfires are unsafe. The first prototype flew in 1936 and there are still about 60 airworthy specimens in existence almost 90 years later.

[@marlecmarine5393]

The UK had the world's first Radar based Air Defence System using a string of radar stations all along the east coast of England and Scotland looking out about 200 miles towards Nazi controlled Europe during WW2. Without this system GB could not have won the 'Battle of Britain'. My Grandad was was an RAF Radar engineer sent to repair these stations after they were bombed by the Nazi's trying to put them out of action. He also installed the first radars in RAF 'night fighters' that would hunt for German night bombers on their raids.

[@Ruthy-F]

Coningsby is about an hour from me. I often go down there and watch the typhoons training. They train Monday - Friday and it's bloody brilliant to see!! The sound never gets boring ❤

[@reactingtomyroots]

I can imagine that would be epic to see in person.

[@richardcook9794]

They don’t want us to broadcast their names but when you become the leader of the Royal Air Force Acrobatic Display Team “the Red Arrows “ aka Red One it’s everywhere , right Squadron Leader Jon Bond

[@donrobbie1461]

Hi both - just to let you know that during the 2012 London Olympics there were Typhoon fighter up in the air over London supported by a Airbus A323 tanker so the typhoons could be refuelled mid air and stay on station for up to 4 hours at a time!

[@kennethknight-e2l]

The spitfires and hurricanes had plexiglass cockpit covers that slid back and you pulled them forwards to enclose the cockpit when you got yourself seated.

[@matthewmarshall-watson6569]

Great reaction. I've never seen this and I found it fascinating. Would love more like this

[@mrsiborg]

Those are air ducts underneath, it's the air intakes for the 2x EJ200 engines that can produce up to 20,000 lbs of thrust each.

[@roberthartley6629]

Aircraft transmit a signal (Transponder) that is monitored and gives their ID and other info. If a plane doesn't transmit then these guys scramble to get them. I'm not far from Lossiemouth (the RAF norther base) and I can see them go for it some days and you know it is a Russian getting a bit close (happens a lot)

[@jerrygolding6011]

They were normal strap on chutes , pilots of the time sat on them as there was no other room , the easiest way out was to tip the ai rcraft upside down

[@margaretstein7555]

Absolutely great video thanks for showing this love from Scotland ❤

[@D1331D]

That's a Typhoon they are amazing! I live about 30 miles from Coningsby. It's always a treat when the RAF come over.

[@chrisaskin6144]

Being on duty for 24hrs will in all likelihood be a 'sleeping duty.' In other words there will be a dormitory/bedrooms for both aircrew and ground crew within the QRA building. But they will of course be expected to go from 'counting sheep' to starting aircraft engines inside a few minutes, the moment the alarm is sounded. Years ago I was in the RAF and on occasions did QRA when I was in West Germany. The raison d'etre for QRA in Germany was different to the UK, but the way it impacted 'at the coalface' for both air and ground crew was the same. It was a 24hr shift beginning at 9am and finishing at 9am the following morning. You then had 24hrs off (free time) before being back on shift at 9am the morning after. This went on for two weeks, basically doing seven days 'on' and seven days 'off,' then you would be replaced by a completely new crew. It was a sleeping duty, but you were still expected to react if the siren sounded. And in my time there, I once had to get up at 1.30/2am to respond to an alert.

[@PedroConejo1939]

Just a couple of observations about the Spitfire (also applied to the Hurricane and most other aircraft on both sides): The pilots were not 'open to the elements'; the canopy is only open for take-off and landing - this is to prevent being trapped should the machine flip onto its back. The Spitfire also has a small door that hinges down to allow easier ingress and egress, which can be seen open in the video clips. They did not have ejector seats and bailing out was a matter of sliding the canopy back, unbuckling the seat harness, and hoping you could clamber/jump/fall out. If you ever get to the UK, I recommend a trip to Duxford, where many of these historical machines are based or display. Most days have them flying during good weather, but more so either side of or during air shows.

[@brionrjames]

The Martin Baker ejector seat was designed in Britain, and they had a canopy, Duxford is a good place to visit to see a lot of British history, and aircraft, including some American planes.

[@wanderingfool6312]

Just some notes. Spitfires have canopies you manually close before takeoff. To bailout of a spitfire you literally pull back the canopy and jump, you’ll be wearing your parachute all the time. As for QRA’s, a Russian military aircraft was escorted away just in November last year.

[@lavaking-5g_8l]

The big holes at the front underneath the cockpit is for air compression for the engines, air is sucked into those holes and are mixed with the fuel from the aircraft with about 20% of the fuel actually used but 5-10% of it is reused. But the 10-15% is burned within the combustion phase and make sure all of the burned is thrown out the thrusters.

[@sarahsumner-p2h]

The RAF aircraft regularly fly over my home in Wales -- I love hearing them.

[@mattbentley9270]

They are BAD ASS ! great vid

[@reactingtomyroots]

In agree, this makes me want to learn more about jets.

[@John-Incatrekker]

It's worth mentioning that during the Battle of Britain new Spitfire & Hurricane planes were flown from their place of manufacture to the bases in the combat areas - by women. The aircraft would literally be pushed out of the production facility onto a makeshift runway and flown directly to the required airfield. One such operation was at the now defunct Longbridge car factory near Birmingham. The 'flight shed' as it was known, was where aircraft were assembled, then women flew them straight off the assembly line to the required airfields. Without these amazing women, we wouldn't have had combat aircraft where we needed them.

[@williamevans9426]

There was a sliding canopy in these WWII aircraft. The pilots also had a parachute but this was very basic and required the pilot to jump out of the plane; there were no ejection seats in those days! The bunker with the large tabletop map is WWII vintage - it's no longer active but is preserved as an historic site!

[@rb2312]

the bright stuff out of the back of the jets is a countermeasure to help throw of incoming missiles

[@northnsouth6813]

During the Battle of Britain: The average age of a pilot in the Battle of Britain was 20 years old. Pilots were often young and inexperienced, with some receiving only a couple of weeks of training. The average age of death for a Bomber Command pilot was only 23.

[@vaudevillian7]

That’s a bit of a myth, they all received way more training that that throughout the war. The minimum would be 6 months, the short time frame you’re referring to is likely going to a frontline squadron rather than a reserve squadron to continue to build on their training.

[@skyzrblxz]

The 2 “holes” are actually called air intakes, the take in the air and send it through to the engines mounted in the rear of the aircraft it’s the same as how other fighter aircraft may have a long stick on the front or a commercial airliner may have a fan. It takes the air and mixes it with fuel to accelerate it and pushes it out the back to create thrust! Hope that helped 😅

[@Someloke8895]

I'd recommend the Western Approaches museum - in Liverpool. It's not RAF, but Navy and was responsible for the equivalent of the RAF in regard to Convoys and U-Boats. It is an insanely detailed and mind boggling display of just how much information was being retrieved and acted upon.

[@vaudevillian7]

Seconded!

[@vaudevillian7]

I live not too far from Coningsby and it’s not unusual to see them up

[@kevinjohnson147]

Living in the southeast of England in the summer I get to see spitfires fly over often as I think that there are small airfields nearby. The sound of the engine is unique, and the rounded tips of the wings, and you can see it's a spitfire by the markings and its flying so low you can clearly see it . A bonus of living in the southeast. Keep up the good casts 😊

[@neilangus1811]

They used to ne based at RAF Leuchars in Scotland. where as a chef in the RAF, I used to take my turn to travel to the airfield point to look after them as they dont leave their post

[@vaudevillian7]

It’s not so much additional jets for backup but in case they’re needed at another incident

[@stevecummings2703]

Great video. I was lucky enough to spend 7 years flying for the company involved in the practice intercept at the end. We flew converted Falcon 20 business jets as targets and also for Electronic Warfare training. The controllers on the ground don’t generally know whether it’s an exercise or not. For safety the master controller and commanding officer on the ground will know. On very serious exercises we also had an RAF liaison officer on board. The Typhoon pilots, flying fully armed aircraft, don’t know either until they get alongside us and realise that they’ve seen us before. Other than actually flying the Interceptor, it’s the best job in the world 😃

[@MrShadeUK]

There was no ejection seats back in the War, you ejected by opening the canopy, turning the aircraft up-side-down, unclipping yourself, and falling out.

[@patricialaing1479]

My brother was an engineer for the RAF. He did QRA at Leuchars in Fife.

[@robbieevans5236]

Hi Steve hi Lindsay ... love all ya videos . ... I think your watchability comes down to your love for our country .. but secondly , the respect you show to your wife. Can tell you guys are best buds xxx

[@knowledge-seeker-x7u]

I think that scramble WAS in real time.

[@Captain_LMR]

the thing that came out of the plane was a flare it is to stop heat seeking missiles

[@jillwilliamson4825]

My mum was in the women's royal air force in ww2 also her 2 brothers. My dad was a tank commander he fought in italy & north africa i still have the poster of hitler he ripped down and also the letters he wrote home to his mum. his brother was also in north africa at the same time. He lost his uncle in ww1 he was kia body never found he was 19 years old. My town was bombed the nazis were trying to hit our shipyard . We build the nuclear submarines here in my town. I pray we never have another war. Thanks guys from the uk.

[@nicksykes4575]

Hi Steve & Lynsey, to answer some of your questions, the two big rectangles below the nose of the Typhoon are the air in-takes for the massive amounts of air a jet engine uses. The Spitfire is not open to the elements, the small rectangular door below the cockpit (completely missing on later versions) hinges up and locks, this was usually done before the plane started moving. The perspex canopy slides backwards and forwards, this is it in the rearmost position. Pilots would taxi with the canopy open, with a big lump of engine in front of them, they had to lean out left and right to make sure they didn't run into stuff. Once air-borne they would slide the canopy forward and lock it in-place.

[@StewedFishProductions]

FYI: Just 'Heathrow Airport' in London _(being one of the busiest 'two-runway' airports in the world),_ has about 1,300 combined take-offs and landings a day...

[@reactingtomyroots]

Wow, that's an insane amount of air traffic!

[@Andy_U]

Hiya. What you were watching is almost in 'real time' (a bit of editing there), but the time taken from QRA Scramble to take-off IS literally just minutes. Stay safe. All the best to you.