Daily Inspection of a Spitfire | (1940) Instructional film

The daily "chores" of Royal Air Force Ground Crews, Flight Riggers, Flight Mechanics and Wireless Electricians needed to keep Supermarine Spitfires operational are detailed in this 1940 instructional film. It features close-up footage of aircraft and crew from 609 Squadron at RAF Northolt undertaking the maintenance schedule required for a Spitfire Mk I's Periodical Inspection Certificate.

[@JesusSaves-007]

My grandfather was responsible for destroying 43 enemy aircraft during the second world war. The Luftwaffe said that he was the worst mechanic ever.

[@garymoore2535]

Outstanding ! 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣

[@JoeC88]

🤣🤣

[@robertlyon8876]

My cousin while doing post maintenance test flights crashed two spitfires in one day . Belly landing because the gear wouldn’t extend and in the afternoon had a engine failed and seizure. He and his brother both survived the war . Both were on ops. Both of them are gone now . Crazy times they lived through

[@Milkmans_Son]

Have any internet-age family members ever done any research on what happened to the two airplanes?

[@robertlyon8876]

@@Milkmans_Son Good question , I think in those days they probably repaired the one that was belly landed , but probably wrote off the other one . Pretty sure those kind of things happened almost on a daily bases . The British were producing a lot of aircraft very quickly in those days . Replacements were readily available.

[@DavidJohnson-rj8zu]

All of them are "Lords of the Air" they certainly saved our bacon, Churchill was right "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" and not just the battle of Britain but in Air Combat throughout the 2nd, World War..

[@TheLongislandlimey]

My Uncle was a Spitfire mechanic during WW2. Whenever he changed the spark plugs on the Merlin he would chisel the Platinum tips off of the spark plugs and save them. At the end of the war he had a small suitcase full of Platinum to set him up for civilian life.

[@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer]

Nice.

[@trevorpepper1996]

Nice to be lining your pockets whilst others were overseas fighting

[@TheLongislandlimey]

@trevorpepper1996 how many years active service in an active war zone have you served? smart ass

[@Milkmans_Son]

@@andrewbrown2249 ​ @trevorpepper1996 Settle down. It's just an old family story that has drifted away from reality as it was passed down over the years, but we can't have that now, can we? No sir, not while you two are riding around on your high horses anyway. The fact is the going rate was $35 an ounce in the US at the time, so probably less in the UK. This amount would require something like 400 plugs and a ton of not very pleasant labor to extract... mostly because the plugs didn't and still don't have a platinum tip just sitting there waiting to be snipped off--it's a thin wire encased in steel that has to first be removed from the plug, then chemically treated in a process similar to how gold is extracted from electronics today. Feel better now?

[@swisscottagecleanairaction]

​@@Milkmans_Son A debunking master piece

[@n176ldesperanza7]

What a beautiful machine.

[@offshoretomorrow3346]

It is. Factory fresh, I'd say.

[@olsurferguy1]

@@offshoretomorrow3346It, in addition to being so beautiful and pleasing to the eye, it has the black and white bottom wings to aid in recognition to AA gunners.

[@tylerrose4416]

It has come full circle, I’m currently in A&P school so this is so cool to see

[@honestreviewer3283]

Really near to see a Spitfire in brand new condition. I imagine these films were closely guarded during wartime, as they basically explain all the aircraft's vulnerabilities.

[@actonman7291]

Outstanding content.❤👏

[@iancarr8682]

I imagine this is a modellers dream!

[@ianvaughan9028]

I'm a modeller... and yes it is!!! 🙂

[@teverwelsch9114]

It is

[@joeschenk8400]

This is an outstanding video...thanks for the post. 👍👍👍

[@adrianh332]

Daily inspection of a spitfire first shots show hurricanes 😂

[@desertmandan123]

Great film....10/10.

[@stevechopping3021]

Spitfire MKIa R6692 Built in Eastleigh First Flew 3rd June 1940 No6 Maintenance Unit. In service with 609 Squadron 7th June 1940. (The PR on the side is the Squadron code it has not yet received it's individual aircraft letter ) Damaged while attacking a Ju88 12th August 1940. Struck off charge 2nd September 1940. short career In 1940 609 Squadron was based at RAF Northholt then RAF Middlewallop so this could be at either.

[@memkiii]

This is Northolt. The hangar the spit came out of is still there, as a listed building I think, and if you look back a few years before the base was trashed by developers, so was the hangar next to it, with the 7 roof ridges, and the small (POL?) building in-between. Also the barrack block building in the distance is a dead giveaway.

[@muttley8818]

Not entirely sure, but I think she ended up with the aircraft letter T (so her markings would be PR-T). Apparently, her damage during the attack on the Ju-88 was due to airframe overstress.

[@marcoortiz4579]

The UK was ahead of it's time in 1940...

[@kidmohair8151]

you do keep managing to find these gems!

[@n176ldesperanza7]

Back when adults were in charge.

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

Yes, and most of those adults were very, very grown up twenty year olds. One matures quickly when you are responsible for killing some stranger who is dead set upon killing you.

[@ianmorgan9291]

Imagine how secretive this film would have been in 1940.

[@theonlymadmac4771]

I don’t think there was anything worthwhile to learn from this film as the Luftwaffe by itself knew how to inspect a fighter plane and they already had Spitfires in working order in 1940.

[@DannyBoy777777]

​@theonlymadmac4771 Not before June, they didn't.

[@russellking9762]

It still is...what the hell are they doing showing it and what are YOU doing watching it!

[@memkiii]

@@russellking9762 I have SC and have signed the official secrets act.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

Very nice indeed, thanks!

[@memkiii]

The F700 was certainly an awful lot simpler in 1940 than the ones in the 70s & later, but the sort of checks involved are still familiar, as are the lack of work the sparky has to do compared to the heavies (nothing different there).

[@billy4072]

Superb. Sounds like Jack Hargreaves..a bit ...actually a lot lol

[@andyb.1026]

I was a Rigger on Fighters in 60s and 70s , we did QRA,, sometimes working 18 hour shifts,, not much changed 😂😊

[@memkiii]

The F700 certainly got a lot bigger.

[@iancarr8682]

No sign of the fabric patches applied over the machine guns holes on wing leading edges. These were apparently added for streamlining and so whether guns had been fired could be established as planes are landing.

[@JohnHill-qo3hb]

And here I thought because of something I read a long time ago that the red tape was to let air and ground crew know that the weapons were loaded and ready to be fired.

[@paulmanson253]

Also so that airflow was blocked so that condensation and freezing would not happen to the individual guns. The guns would then reliably fire the first time. Various reasons for blockage were a serious issue pretty much throughout the war.

[@crazypetec-130fe7]

The patches also kept dust out of the barrels, which was a problem in north Africa.

[@memkiii]

@@crazypetec-130fe7 Not in 1940 it wasn't...

[@GaryJohnWalker1]

Real gem

[@kiwidiesel]

You don't hear a battery referred to as an Accumulator anymore

[@andyb.1026]

An electrical battery and a pneumatic/ hydraulic accumulator are very different 😮😊

[@StephenEldridge]

and what's the 'Fusilige'...

[@memkiii]

@@andyb.1026 No one said it was pneumatic or hydraulic. This IS an electrical battery, *and* it is an accumulator. That is how they referred to a lead acid battery. Note the Trolley Accumulator in one scene, these were in use well up to the 80s or 90s in the RAF - just a 24 volt battery pack essentially. How do you think hydraulic systems are checked with a voltmeter?

[@andyb.1026]

@@memkiii 40 years on Aircraft Maintenance, and I've never heard of testing a hydraulic system or component with an avo

[@xeutoniumnyborg1192]

2:35 My guess is during the 1940 Blitz not every maintenance chief was diligent in keeping up the Form 700 for each aircraft. Just a guess.

[@promerops]

There's an awful lot of work involved here and even if the various trades tried to work simultaneously, it would have taken a lot of time. During the Battle of Britain, was this all done during the hours of darkness?

[@memkiii]

My guess is that you would be wrong.

[@memkiii]

@@promerops They said quite clearly it could be done any time in a 24 hour period.

[@promerops]

@@memkiii "Could be". Given the pressure on both men and machine, I suspect that there was no time during daylight hours for anything other than operations.

[@jhonbee5434]

Perhaps i'm being piccy but why is the photo above of a Hurricane ?

[@simonmcgough7336]

My fav air plane is Spitfire Mk 1

[@richardrichard5409]

First few frames are a Hurricane?

[@ArmouredCarriers]

Yeah ... A bit awkward. Perhaps the producer was secretly a Hurricane fan?

[@drEvilfromLV]

It is said that gun barrels are de-nickeled if fired since previous check. Anyone knows what the process was of de-nickeling?

[@nledaig]

Cleaning out deposits as you would with a shotgun, I reckon, as the process of firing leaves traces of pitting chemicals and grooves inside the barrels. Why exactly the term "de-nickeling" was used I am unsure. I reckon pushing the cleaning rod through a few times would be sufficient. It may have been impregnated with a cleaning agent before doing that. De-nickeling stripped gun parts would involve cleaning with acid before oiling and re-assembling

[@AerialImagery]

.303 bullet jackets were cupronickel, a copper-nickel alloy. A brief internet search leads me to think the removal was probably carried out with a paste akin to jewellers rouge.

[@stuarthipkins8336]

Im assuming..oil seals for hydralics wernt that good back then.

[@stephenrice4554]

Rubberised fabric ?

[@gerrycollins2335]

I was surprised by the extent to which the flaps lowered, making them look more like airbrakes: maybe they had a combined purpose?

[@IntrospectorGeneral]

The flaps were used only for landing and had only a 'shut' or 'open' setting, being blown down by compressed air to 85 degrees as a drag flap rather than for additional lift which would have been achieved at about one third that angle or less. As a side note, in 1942 they did use flaps for takeoff from HMS Eagle in 1942 on delivery to Malta. Wooden wedges held the flaps open to 25 degrees for takeoff, the wedges being dropped by opening flaps. The use of wedges carried over to the Seafire but, from memory, with a flap angle of about 15 degrees. If it works!

[@ArmouredCarriers]

The wooden wedge trick became somewhat standard for carriers operating Seafires ... and they presented something of a hazard for deck crews!

[@peterbates4696]

I can’t see the PFD or the MFD in the cockpit.. and what are those round things covered in glass with white lines in them…?

[@grahamdowling5602]

Most informative ,,, what happened to the "breaker bar " usually attached in the upper door skin ...

[@foxstrangler]

Probably away being painted red! 🤣

[@memkiii]

This was clearly released in 1940, and obviously made quite early that year, or the year before. Long before they started fitting the crowbar, which I believe was around Jan 1942. I suppose it's possible that individuals may have had them fitted in the BoB, but not fresh from the factory.

[@actonman7291]

The narrator mention of a second video about the spitfire maintenance outside the hangar with the engine on do you have that one?

[@ArmouredCarriers]

I've not been able to locate it yet, sorry.

[@ricardobufo]

It's the later part of this video

[@ahsansariyadi29]

What's with the rectangular patch of cloth on the backside of the maintenance crew uniform ?

[@stephenrice4554]

In case of emergency remove panel ?

[@memkiii]

Laundry tag? It has writing on it, and is only lightly tacked on. My second guess would be a gas detection patch, but it would be an odd place to have it, and this seems to be a period before the aircraft had them taped on - at least, this one doesn't appear to have one.

[@Tesserae]

What is the significance of the small, light-coloured square on the back of the overalls of some of the mechanics? 🤔

[@memkiii]

I would like to know too - another post asks the same: I guessed that they were just laundry tags - or at an extreme stretch some sort of gas detection cloth (unlikely imo.

[@rodrigomeneses5900]

extreme

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

I wish we could see the serial number more clearly. The closest I can get to the serial and a 609 Squadron aircraft is R6692 which, according to the details in Morgan and Shacklady's book first flew on 3/6/1940 before bring delivered to 6MU on 5/6/1940 from where it was delivered to 609 Squadron on 7/6/1940. It was struck off charge on 6/9/1940 with the code of "E" (unfortunately this abbreviation is not defined by the authors). Towards the end we see Hurricane JX-Z of 1 Squadron who were at Northolt between 18th and 23rd June 1940 having returned from France. They were then moved to Tangmere until the start of August 1940.

[@Bob-Is-A-PotterNow]

I was -10 years old (new?) on the date of the first flight. That Spitfire is a Pisces! :)

[@mmrd50112]

R6692 or R6693 - You can just make it out on the tail fin. According to allspitfirepilots, R6692 was over stressed in an encounter with a JU 88. The image on their website shows the same fuselage makings PR. R6693 was lost in a landing accident in July 1940.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@mmrd50112 can't be R6693 as this wasn't a 609 Squadron aircraft but a 610 Squadron aircraft carrying the markings DW-A. Original posting had a typo on serial no, how corrected. That's a useful source.

[@mmrd50112]

@@neiloflongbeck5705 I don't really know much about 609 and 610 squadron histories or how this airframe became the subject of an instructional film. All that made me think it was R6693 was the stencilled number on the tail that appears on the video @ 14:07...indeed, allspitfirepilots is a great resource. Thanks for your comment...I have just only recently started looking into early Mk1 Spits so I have a lot to research.

[@neiloflongbeck5705]

@@mmrd50112 All Spitfire Pilots, for those who have yet to discover it, gives a potted history of each Spitfire a number is followed by an S then that indicates the squadron ie 54S means 54 Squadron. Thus aircraft was in the right place when it was needed to be a film star, All Spitfire Pilots also, helpfully gives a still from the film showing it was R6692 as the subject of the film. PR was the squadron code for 609 Squadron in 1940. Another good source is Spitfire by Morgan and Shacklady. It's full of detailed information about the Spitfire from its ancestors through to the last off production line.

[@howardsimpson489]

I would like to see an inspection of an aircraft that had been shot up but still managed to land. Who made the serviceable judgement?

[@memkiii]

The chief tech / Sergeant in charge that day would have to assess it, and pass it up the line if it was going to result in unserviceability, or take a while and need to be taken off the line for any amount of time. Some minor things can be "lived with" and those will be entered in the 700.

[@offshoretomorrow3346]

Why one black wing below?

[@iancarr8682]

To assist with reconition as a British aircarft from ground, early in war.

[@offshoretomorrow3346]

@@iancarr8682 Thankyou! 👍

[@memkiii]

@@offshoretomorrow3346 It varied, but this has one has one black, one white, with the rest of the underside painted silver.

[@offshoretomorrow3346]

Better off hosing the wheel wells clean with water before entering the hangar old bean.

[@memkiii]

Not if you don't have a hose, or prefer not to crawl about under a low winged aircraft and get yourself soaking wet. Having been there, I'll take a rag to it & stay dry thanks. Plus it looked dry outside. 😉

[@clairelanoix5405]

En français

[@alexeyzhdanov5498]

Какой викторианский самолёт - по сравнению с Bf.109 ))

[@rogerpritchard]

Depends on the pilot.

[@soultraveller5027]

note spitfires and mosquitoes used wooden propellers

[@memkiii]

Propellers? very early MkI had 2 blade wooden props, later models 3 bladed metal props, later 3 bladed wooden props, it basically depends on the aircraft and the time period. Mosquitos went through a similar process, both wooden and metal props were used.

[@soultraveller5027]

@@memkiii yeah the did, actually they went through 13 designs thought the war, however I was responding in general terms to wooden ""Propellers'' (tapo error) thousands of apologies alrigh bubba. and yes I was referring early years of the war 😀

[@user-jy2qp8gp2l]

Fajny film

[@krukpolny8505]

Sabaton - Aces In Exlie PL. You Tube.