Discovering How Small A Spitfire Mk I Cockpit Is

[@Mauser00]

Interesting feeling seeing the irl planes and especially the cockpits of modules I've learned. I think to myself "I know enough about this plane to be a danger to myself and everybody around me."

[@grimreapers]

lol yes

[@matchesburn]

"Know just enough to be dangerous" is so true with things like this. Once you learn how to start up the aircraft and roll it down the runway and up into the air, you know just enough to to be a hazard and danger. Confidence can easily get the better of you.

[@RWHobbies]

I have the Tamiya 1/32 spit in my stash. This is perfect reference material to help with painting. Thanks

[@Motorman2112]

Can't wait to install this graphics update.

[@clivet3846]

God bless all the men that flew these things.

[@cbeckett2787]

Great reference for my Airfix and Eduard early Spits! Thanks for the video!

[@matydrum]

The lever you didnt know is for the radiator. :) Lucky you!

[@lorrinbarth1969]

If you dropped your pencil you'd have to fly inverted to get it back. Also, would probably obtain some pocket change.

[@audunskilbrei8279]

A mk1 would not do well with negative g`s. Probably better to get a new pencil.

[@jacklodge8560]

ENGINE DIED; FLOAT CARBURETTOR FAILURE

[@warrenchambers4819]

Tap tap tap hmmmm yup. Tap tap tap hmmm interesting. Well that's really small?????? Hahahaha. I thoroughly enjoyed this. This guy's thinking out loud what we all realize when seeing old war birds for the 1st time. Wait until you start flying in them, that's a real wake up call. I remember taxing out in a Texan or Mustang can't remember which now but anyway on the take off roll I noticed some screws backing out of the instrument panel. Not much just turning abit from the ground and engine vibration. It was at that moment I thought "Uh hmmmm what yr did that data plate say????? 40 what???? Dam this is an old airplane maybe not the sturdiest thing I could be flyin"

[@PoochAndBoo]

I'm kind of surprised that he's so amazed at what he's seeing. Isn't he an airplane enthusiast? He's tapping the windshield, saying, "Is this glass?" Glass, on an airplane? It's plexiglas, or perspex as I believe the British used to call it. Glass shatters. "Wow, the fuselage is just a hollow tube...that's amazing," he says. It's a WW2 fighter. That's the way they were all built. as a matter of fact, look into the fuselage of an average Cessna 150. It's a hollow tube. "What's this lever for?" It operated the radiator. Push it forward and the radiator door opened, pull it back, it closed.

[@MozTS]

Jnl B do you watch any of his videos? He’s a pure moron

[@matchesburn]

And to think guys were flying missions that were hours upon hours long in this, doing high-G maneuvers and having to manage somehow seeing that damn compass and reading it in order to navigate. On maps. And if you want to see one hell of a cramped cockpit, look at an A-4 Skyhawk. I love the Scooter, it's one of my favorite aircraft in the world, but... Oh my god, you'd feel like a sardine in a can in the cockpit of an A-4. Between the edge of your seat and the front of the instrument panel is about a foot or so. And, of course, between that space is the stick. It'd be hell even for an average height person, but if you were 2 meters/6 foot tall or so? Forget it. Your knees would be up to your chest almost and you'd look like you're giving birth.

[@matchesburn]

Oh, and Cap, I don't know whether that canopy is original (my guess is it is), but it's actually made of acrylic. It was newish technology at the time what with thermal molding of it for canopies. In fact, the Spitfire was one of the first aircraft to get that integrated in it with a very early version of a bubble canopy called the "Malcolm hood." (The Allison-engine Mustangs that the Brits used also had them fitted on it). IIRC, the reason why we have both "razorback" and bubble-canopy P-47s is because designing and making the bubble-canopy (which was very unsupported for its time) was proving difficult. In fact, I think it was the Brits learning from the Spitfire, Typhoon and Allison Mustangs that allowed such canopy construction.

[@grimreapers]

anyone who can fly that thing in combat gets my respect any day. It's like being in a cramped meat grinder...

[@glennledrew8347]

Interesting how many flight simmers will refer to the collimating optical sight as "holographic." Holography involves laser light and diffraction to present a 3D image. A collimating gun sight is a very simple device which positions an opaque disk with 'cut-out' reticle pattern at the focus of a convex lens. The lamp shining through the reticle has its light collimated by the lens, meaning that the lens effectively projects an image of the reticle out to infinite distance. To see this collimated image against the target, a tilted piece of glass called the reflector plate redirects the collimated light toward the pilot. The sight is then adjusted in its mount so that the reticle centre is aligned with the bullet impact point at some set distance. One can make a functional sight with a flashlight having a piece of foil taped over the front and poking a small hole through the foil. A reading magnifier is positioned above the upward-shining flashlight. A small picture frame glass sheet is taped to the magnifier and tilted 45 degrees. While looking at a distant scene, the magnifier/glass combo is moved up-down until the reflected dot of light appears to remain fixed in place against the distant target while you move your eye about. This shifting of your eye L-R and up-down will reveal if there is parallax error resulting from the reticle-to-lens distance being incorrect. Once the reticle is at the focal point of the lens, there will be no parallax. Now, such a simple lens as found in a hand magnifier is not ideal because it will introduce distortion that will cause some parallax error when sighting through the lens outer part. Real collimators often had 3 lenses specially shaped to correct this. You could use a surplus camera lens to very good effect, as they are very highly corrected for numerous optical aberrations. Place the reticle where the film or sensor would be located. A good choice would have a focal length of between 50mm and 200mm, and the faster the f/ratio the better; a larger front lens will provide a larger range of eye position and still keep the reticle in view.

[@Shrike200]

I've sat in a Yak 3, Harvard (T6 Texan for the US people), Spitfire and Mirage F1. It's kind of a 'fighter' thing to have cockpits that are just barely big enough. It's not that bad once you're in (I'm tall), but in many cases the canopy wouldn't be able to close over my head. The Yak for example, I could close it, but only if I bent my head over, and that was without a helmet of course. Sims don't give the size of the thing, but they aren't necessarily uncomfortable once you're in, and everything is close at hand. Oh, and I've sat in a Lightning and a Hunter. The English aircraft had some pretty terrible ergonomics though I must say, everything seemed to be scattered all over the place. The Spitfire was ok because there weren't that many systems, but once you get to the Lightning (with gauges under your armpit for example) it got bad. Definitely something that sim pilots must try and do though, sit in their favourite fighters.

[@jeans1515]

That was my biggest learning moment when I first hopped in to some of these old birds in VR. Especially the 109, in VR it feels weird because I know I'm hanging out the outside of the 'pit lol.

[@carter_1175]

Wait, there is a vr simulator?

[@toxaq]

@@carter_1175 DCS by Eagle Dynamics. It's mostly what this channel is about.

[@Name-ps9fx]

I’ve seen several WW2 aircraft and the singular thing I noticed about ALL of them is just how small they are, both overall size and internally (especially the cockpit). Most bombers the pilots are almost touching shoulders. The B29 is a bit spacious, but then it *is* a B29. Definitely worth seeing, and if you can get as close as the Cap’n did it is even more definitely worth it.

[@grimreapers]

roger ssooo small

[@thanettemperz6052]

I work in a spitfire museum and some bits did make me cringe but wasn’t the worst for a beginner

[@grimreapers]

lols I wish I had you with me!

[@williamstilgoe61]

You really do need to give VR another go, it isn’t claustrophobic in there but it really does feel like being in the aircraft. Don’t know if the mk 9 is bigger than the my 1.

[@grimreapers]

Roger.

[@arjunarabindranath]

Thank you, was very useful for a scale Spitfire build.

[@kj7124]

Most people have no idea how small cockpits can be. I tell people they're smaller than most cars and they look at me like I'm crazy. Thanks Cap for the perspective.

[@grimreapers]

thx

[@MohammadSadeqBozorgnejad-mv7rr]

Thank you for playing this video

[@davehardie4991]

The seat is not made from plywood, it is made from an early form of plastic , the rust brown colour is the colour of the plastic.

[@grimreapers]

thx

[@MrLordBaer]

you forgot to use a Banana for size comparison

[@grimreapers]

Dang!

[@matchesburn]

Now we know how to spot Cap at RIAT. Find the man the with the bananas!

[@cornbread5144]

*** Security! We got another one poking around. Security: " It's just CAP , stand down. " :). Thanks for the IRL Plane videos.

[@grimreapers]

lol thx

[@skidzholeshot1316]

I THINK YOU WILL FIND THAT THE WHEEL IS FOR ELEVATOR TRIM IN REAL LIFE.

[@theskullkid421]

The lever you referred to is for opening and closing the radiator flap

[@mlugin8050]

Thats interesting i didn‘t expect it to be that small.

[@grimreapers]

Horrifically so.

[@jamesdaniel6479]

if you think a spitfire cockpit is small look at the Messerschmitts I saw a ww2 spitfire pilot and a german ww2 pilot compare aircraft and they said the Messerschmitts were like a flying coffin

[@tovarishchdoge3915]

*Slaps roof of BF109* "This cockpit cant anything in it because its bloody tiny"

[@adamxo9999]

2:00 you put them on the rudder pedal’s

[@Sunesen]

I had a sit in an F16 at an Airshow couple of years ago. Now that is one really small cockpit. Definitely not build for tall guys like me. XD

[@grimreapers]

aye

[@ghostviggen]

Would have loved if Cap discovers that the serial number for that Spitfire belonged to a Spitfire lost in Northern Africa during WW2 and that the Spitfire is actually a Transformer. And just listen to the calm panicked voice of Cap running for cover.

[@grimreapers]

lols that would be cool

[@kjw7556]

You got anything good to say about it

[@faxen123]

BF109 = made out of Bicycle-Parts Spitfire = made out of Kitchen-Parts

[@grimreapers]

lols yes this is true!

[@TheGameKing0100]

Really puts the virtual thing in perspective, not sure if the Mk. IX is any bigger. Where is this bird exhibited at, cap?

[@grimreapers]

RAF Duxford, UK. It gives me a new respect for the bird and the pilots.

[@kimbonzky]

Quite spartan and tight as most cockpits in fighteraircraft of the time

[@jonnyl2205]

Thanks!

[@ABWEndon]

The word you're looking for is "monocoque".

[@johnowen9299]

At 5.13. "a tiny little headrest at the back" Hmm. No mention of the fuckin great big Rolls Royce Merlin Engine fitted in this aeroplane. 1030hp. Fitted to one of the most advanced aircraft of its time. Dont talk to me about company cars. Them lads got a Spitfire. On the firm. It drank fuel. No problem when ya not payin for it, fuck the size of the cockpit x

[@TankBuilders]

Two suggestions. 1. Try to keep the camera still and pan slowly. 2. Do some research rather than waffling - the seat is an early composite material, the cylinder is the oxygen tank and there were two armour plates behind the pilot's seat. Interesting video nevertheless. Thanks for posting.

[@Ryan-hv8qg]

The big lever was for the landing gears if the hydraulic system fails

[@ghostviggen]

Great scene in Dunkirk.

[@Ryan-hv8qg]

Ghost Viggen it was a real spitfire they used in the film

[@stevieanderson9670]

Big lever was for the radiator, forward to open Rads, back to close

[@matydrum]

No it's for the radiator flaps mate.

[@spigot993]

No information about which Spitfire this is, where it is, what condition it is in overall.

[@MichaelWilliams-mo1vv]

Apparently the bf 109 had a cramped cockpit

[@SkyGaruda]

They all small in reality dude) Flight sims give us distorted perspective, cause we don't use our vestibular apparatus in games like in real world, plus distorted eyesight you, we all fly in sims using a virtual gopro camera xD

[@mazambaan]

Loved that thx

[@skidzholeshot1316]

so whos all going to the duxford airshow this 100th aniversary year ?

[@grimreapers]

Yes we are meeting there again. Will post details.

[@solid2869]

Wait bro quick question does it cost money to just mess around and play with the insides of that spitfire or is it free?

[@grimreapers]

Free, but you have to know the owner etc and get permission.

[@solid2869]

@@grimreapers thanks man

[@trymytree3155]

Probably it is that small because people were tinier back in those days, than we are today.

[@DrHackmoff]

they probably thought of the pilot last, a "too small ? just get the smaller guy"- kind of attitude. Though i guess from a old car racing perspective , maybe they where just a bunch of sadists lol

[@grimreapers]

lol rgr

[@mzaite]

People were smaller, but the design requires a slim face on profile for drag, so you wouldn't want the cockpit to be much wider than the engine. You'll notice this one has the bubble on the sliding canopy because even then these could get quite small. I flew back seat in a "Harvard" (SNJ-6 AKA in the AAC: Texan) And it's the opposite because big radial means big fuselage behind it. But your head isn't too far from the top of the canopy still. Hence the leather helmets.

[@insertplanehere]

Big lever there is the radiator

[@AEW18141912]

I believe that lever is for the radiator flap source: www.shockwaveproductions.com/wingsofpower/info/forumpicts/spitfire/spitfire_int.gif

[@grimreapers]

Thx!

[@joesamabinbiden6663]

The bf109s cockpit is really narrow

[@keir5818]

holy shit, caps white. big suprise

[@grimreapers]

god dam whitey!

[@peterkirgan2921]

It is what it is !!lol you said this is clostraphobic?? Try being in a Mirage 3 for 4 hours straight! Lol

[@6r14]

Very cool

[@CakePrincessCelestia]

Actually this is a palace compared to a cramped 109...

[@Leon.fiol624]

How lucky some are

[@mrbrianbrush]

Where are you cap?

[@grimreapers]

RAF Duxford, UK

[@ahmadnabeel3252]

If you think this cockpit is claustrophobic then wait till you see the BF 109 cockpit...

[@grimreapers]

ooooo