Spitfire Aerobatics -- New!

Rolls and loops in a Spitfire IX at Gatineau, Canada, Aug 2021. Cockpit video of one complete flight, with Dave Hadfield. www.hadfield.ca
Spitfire TE-294 is part of the Mike Potter Aircraft Collection, flown in association with Vintage Wings of Canada. www.vintagewings.ca
NOTE: There are always comments about how long it takes to go through the checklists and get the thing airborne. In the B of B the ground crews would have started the engines and done the mag checks etc before sunrise. As soon as the pilots appeared on the airfield they'd go to their aeroplane, talk to the crew about it, check that all the switches and levers were in the right position for a Scramble, and -- very important! -- arrange the parachute and harness "just-so" for a quick strap-in-and-go; and brief the ground crew about exactly how they were going to coordinate the startup and launch. BUT... I fly many different aircraft types, our ground crew have many different duties, and we have no time-imperative. So we use checklists -- which have been shown many times to reduce the "oh-crap-forgot-that" mistakes.

[@Mackenziekingphoto]

Perfect way to start the New Year. Thanks for posting 🙂

[@lovelauracp]

hello Dave I'm here in Simpsonville SC ,USA ,I fly the Spitfire in the MSFS 2020 ,watching you fly the Spitfire is such an inspiration ,thank you very very much , you are now one of my Hero's . I subed , liked and belled. Robert P

[@johndymond7709]

Absolutely nothing touches the spitfire . The best interceptor . And,it's a beautiful machine to boot . Ta MR MITCHELL .🙏🙏🙏

[@steveball2307]

Thank you Dave. Can't begin to imagine the joy that must have brought you.

[@wiseoldfool]

Wonderful that the engine has enough power to rotate the entire planet around the axis of the aircraft!

[@propboss]

Best in-cockpit Spitfire footage I have seen! I would love to see similar on the Fairchild Cornell - my Dad trained on these in Canada in 1943 and I'd love to relive his experience.

[@davehadfield5906]

That's a very good idea.

[@longtimepittsowner5589]

Certainly professionally performed here Dave. Thank you for taking me along. She is a bit roomier than my little bird. I can’t help but to remember the brave”boys”who flew these and in all types of weather too. Thank you for sharing Dave. Cu, Pb

[@baileybrunson42]

What a great way to start the new year. Nothing says "good morning and Happy New Year..!" like a RR-Merlin engine. Thank you Dave and Mr. Potter for keeping these great pieces of history where they belong.. in the sky..!

[@georgecoventry8441]

That's great, Dave! It's a wonderfully graceful and handsome fighter plane. All these detailed views inside the cockpit are quite useful for us model builders. I don't expect there's much extra room in there, but still not as tight a fit as a Bf-109 cockpit.

[@davehadfield5906]

It is tight, George. As soon as you start moving around to look for traffic your shoulders hit the cockpit rim. You come away with a bruise on both upper arms. Worth it though!

[@georgecoventry8441]

@@davehadfield5906 - I bet! You chose a great path in life, Dave. I envy you, flying those vintage aircraft.

[@Leighside]

Thank you for bringing us along!

[@billgordon416]

I’ve said it before, but I don’t mind repeating it: Dave, you Rock!

[@peterconnan5631]

Thanks for sharing this magnificent aircraft with us!

[@Knappist]

Thanks for posting, few people have this privilege in this day and age long May it continue ✌️

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Wow! you make the rudder and slip needle look easy, that must have taken a lot of hard work and dedication. Brilliant video, big thanks.

[@smokeonthewater5287]

This video makes me miss the old air combat times in Warbirds and Aces High...

[@sylvainfortin7554]

Wow, thanks a lot David for taking us with you.

[@nickservos8992]

What a start to my day seeing you and the Spit in operation. Thanks Dave.

[@44RobC]

Thank you sir for taking me along on such an incredible flight.

[@drumrd]

Awesome! I wish you guys could fly like this at the Gatineau Airshows!

[@willstadnyk7209]

Talking about chute straps reminds me of a story of a Spit Pilot in WW2 who had to bail after he had been shot down. On bailout his straps caught on the antenna and he was hanging there as the aircraft went down. He blacked out but fortunately the aircraft landed bent and broken but right side up! A Dutch citizen got him free of the antenna and he lived a lot more years. As luck would have it he was killed in an automobile accident in civvy life🙁. Thanks for the great video👍👍

[@andrewhurst9770]

I knew that Spitfire when it it was a wreck and owned my friend Mark deVries in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was his lifelong dream to restore and fly it but sadly it was not to be. It’s wonderful that it did eventually return to the skies. He was an absolutely devoted Spitfire enthusiast and to me a part of Mark lives on in that aircraft.

[@davehadfield5906]

I had a photo of Mark in the cockpit when I took it to the west coast in 2018.

[@andrewhurst9770]

Thanks Dave. That’s nice to hear.

[@kennedysingh3916]

Watched from Old Harbour Jamaica and I wish I could fly in it too.

[@craigpennington1251]

Yes, a dream for sure to fly this bird. Thanks so much for posting an outstanding flight. A very well done to all the build crew and best wishes.

[@bernardanderson3758]

Happy New year Dave and what a ride

[@korma9732]

Beautiful, love your channel!

[@LEDAClocks]

Love your video! Spitfire is such an amazing plane!

[@Parawingdelta2]

It's hard to think of them as an instrument of death. Now they're a beautiful piece of aviation history.

[@BrianWMay]

A privilege to watch, thank you.

[@windsorspitfire]

Glorious. Thank for sharing Dave.

[@jay600katana]

Does that Merlin ever run like a watch! Thanks to Mr Potter and yourself for letting us drool over Y2K. Great Video. (Santa didn't bring me 5JZ for Christmas)

[@horsemoney]

Really cool, wish I could have been there to video this from the outside...

[@ronfrost7160]

Awesome, just awesome! so glad you let the merlin sing? bellow? her own song, rather than the extraneous noise others use! Greetings from Auckland, New Zealand.

[@LeroyKinkade]

You can't beat a pretty wing tip!

[@AlexanderMeier-iw7bz]

#OUTSTANDING I subscribed after viewing your greatly detailed and educational video! #FIGHTER #PILOT #WW2 #SPITFIRE #AEROBATICS #fourbladeProp #Two20mmHispano Cannons & #Six30cal machine guns

[@kevinstone9638]

Thank you for posting this. Hoping someday to fly warbirds.

[@iwayini]

Great video. Just what I needed for today!

[@larrynitso3597]

Nice beautiful landing 👌

[@marcelf.9747]

Anybody ever told told how lucky you are ? Thanks for the video. Maybe in another life I will fly one. Cheers.

[@SongOfTheSoul63]

Spectacular 💖

[@markhayes100]

I like looking at those pretty wingtips too. Such a beautiful machine. Was this practice for an air show? Thanks for bringing us along Dave.

[@davehadfield5906]

Not a formal airshow practice, no. These engines last longest when the aircraft is flown regularly. All these maneuvers were flown with cruise power set and left on.

[@JackRoadkill]

Dave, your family must be the only family that can boast one brother who flies Spitfires and another who is an astronaut.

[@davehadfield5906]

Maybe, not sure. But Chris has flown this Spitfire too. There are 8 of us in the family flying now.

[@JackRoadkill]

@@davehadfield5906 That's absolutely brilliant. What a superb story!

[@whathasxgottodowithit3919.]

Great video, thank you for posting. You would not want to drop anything in that cockpit!!

[@davehadfield5906]

Thanks, and that's right. There is no floor.

[@moises8795]

I was beginning to worry why he left the canopy open on the takeoff roll

[@n176ldesperanza7]

Dave--You have won the lottery to be able to fly a Mark IX. Thanks for bringing us along. What's your airspeed over the fence for landing?

[@davehadfield5906]

90 mph.

[@ricksheldon8074]

thanks

[@infinitesky-59]

I guess it's blowing air towards the windshield? Didn't know they had a vent.

[@davehadfield5906]

No, straight across the cockpit from right to left. I modified it by tying on a small PVC pipe elbow from Home Hardware, so air would blow on my chest, but for some reason the owner had it removed... ;)

[@culvercadetguy5245]

Hay David next time you do a video like this I’d love if you would talk us through the power settings you are using at take off, climb, cruise and during aero’s. Also the speeds at take off , climb , during aero’s , base leg , final and touch down. Also what kind of limitations are you to stay within as specified by the airplane owner or the insurance

[@davehadfield5906]

OK, I'll bear that in mind. If you enlarge the screen you can often see the airspeed indicator, but not the power settings. The only limitations are common-sense ones, as laid out in the VWoC Ops Manual.

[@johnmclean6498]

Who said you couldn't hesitation roll a Spitfire? Been trying to nail it for days in DCS for a video, but lost her wings vertical. The secret (as you show) is to pitch up first and don't hesitate too long. Thanks. Lets see if that works....

[@hernethehunter3008]

Nice to see a spit doing a loop, For some reason they seem to shy away from them at air shows. (Thinking of Duxford) and yet the P51 does them all day. Why is that ?

[@philhawley1219]

You should have been at Goodwood festival last September. Mark IX. Fantastic!

[@hawkertyphoon4537]

Spitfire on a sunny Summer morning. Stop right there. all has been said.

[@williammcconnell6937]

That was quite a lengthy and interesting preflight check. Did the Battle of Britain pilots dispense with all these checks when they got the call to scramble ? Just curious

[@davehadfield5906]

See the Remarks section at the top.

[@mehere8-32]

Wonderful thank you very much.

[@Swaggerlot]

Need to get the throttle friction just right 🙂

[@richardhughes6353]

wounderfull sound does this have the original engine as well?

[@davehadfield5906]

Not the actual Merlin it was matched up with in 1945, no -- but it has a 60-series WW2 Merlin -- not a modern substitute.

[@drpando]

Airspeeds??? Power Settings? (Are you hesitant to discuss (read: show actual instrument indicators?) these because you don't want owner/insurance company knowing the actual numbers you flew?

[@davehadfield5906]

Not at all. Rolls can be done at fairly low speeds in a Spit, but it's nice to have 220 mph. For a loop I'd rather have 300 mph if the recovery altitude is to match the entry. And for power I generally just leave it at high cruise and yo-yo the energy. +2 and 2400 rpm. These videos are the opposite of hiding.

[@pylon500]

Was that already warmed up, that was the easiest start I've seen! Poor old AH couldn't handle the aero's, and didn't look to have a cage knob? All looks so effortless, which probably highlights the anxiety when it comes time to land 😏

[@davehadfield5906]

No cage knob. But in these aircraft I never even notice the AH or DG. It's eyeballs-only.

[@MarcoHernandez-sw2yk]

Great video. I see that there are some modifications in the cockpit. Why does the vertical speed needle go all the way up to 2 turns? Shouldn’t it be only half turn either way?

[@davehadfield5906]

The VS is calibrated from zero (level) to 4000 ft/min. The Airspeed Indicator is designed to go around twice. This ensures that it tells you what you need to know as a pilot, but most importantly still gives good detail at the low speed range. You need that on approach.

[@MarcoHernandez-sw2yk]

@@davehadfield5906 Thanks for answering Dave. I mean the instrument to the right of the artificial horizon that says UP. During the wingovers at minute 17 it’s clearly visible that it goes beyond the 4000 fpm mark, indicating descent during climb and viceversa. I think there’s a problem with it.

[@davehadfield5906]

@@MarcoHernandez-sw2yk It's a zoom-climb, not sustained, and these pressure-instruments always have a lag, so it's probably indicating correctly as much as it can. I don't know -- I don't look at it during a display.

[@JohnSmith-vi5pz]

Don't retract the gear on the landing roll by mistake. ;-) Lovely though, never flown the Spit but got some time in the back of a Stallion P51 in Florida.

[@davehadfield5906]

In the P-40 that's a huge consideration -- both the gear and flap levers are on the same valve-box. But in the Spit the 2 controls are in opposite corners of the cockpit, and are operated by completely different hand-actions. Retracting the flaps happens in about :01 sec, dumps the lift, and the aeroplane settles instantly.

[@JohnSmith-vi5pz]

@@davehadfield5906 I knew there would be a good reason for it! I have no idea of your experience, but I have 11,000 commercial jet, all boring stuff, so apologies if i'm trying to teach you to suck eggs. It would be a bad mark on a check ride if one of the crew started doing non essential stuff like pulling in the flaps on the landing roll, the earliest would be on the high speed or taxiway. Too much chance of grabbing the wrong thing at a time when you're concentrating on other stuff. But it sounds like a mistake that you couldn't really make on the Spit.

[@davehadfield5906]

@@JohnSmith-vi5pz Yes, for sure. I had a 39-year career with an airline, plus the vintage flying on the side.

[@yogibear4682]

If an Acrobat does acrobatics, what do you call someone who does aerobatics? An Aerobat?

[@mikedunn7795]

No Me-109s or Dorniers?

[@downwardlymobile4957]

How hard are you allowed to fly these old aircraft - it would be interesting to see just how aerobatic they can be when pushed to the limit, which of course, you can't do now.

[@davehadfield5906]

We could if we wanted to. There is no regulatory restriction. But our own rules are 4Gs, no negative G, and a speed limit that corresponds to a roll-off-the-top. I watched a P-51 at an airshow doing light-aircaft-style aeros once, flown very hard on the pitch-ups. Frankly it didn't showcase the airplane very well.

[@downwardlymobile4957]

@@davehadfield5906 thanks for the reply. I appreciate you taking the time.

[@joeszymanski6936]

Was this the plane that was in a private collection in Fort Erie? The owner had several beautifully restored planes including a spitfire, a hurricane and a BF109 Meschershmit

[@davehadfield5906]

No, that was Ed Russell's collection. This Spitfire is owned by Mike Potter of Ottawa, and flown in association with Vintage Wings of Canada.

[@joeszymanski6936]

@@davehadfield5906 do you know what happened to the Russel collection?

[@davehadfield5906]

@@joeszymanski6936 The aircraft were sold individually. Not sure of the details.

[@mickemike2148]

Just curious: why did you not check the mags and props before entering the RW?

[@davehadfield5906]

The Spitfire coolant heats up rapidly after the runup. If I think there is likely to be a traffic delay, I wait until I'm out there in position. CYND has no parallel taxiway -- just a mid-point access, so the wait for a gap in the traffic can be long.

[@bernardanderson3758]

What is your fuel burn at high cruise during from takeoff to during your time of Acrobatic in this Beautiful warbird

[@davehadfield5906]

At 2400 rpm and +2 lbs of boost, (which is about what I used in this sequence) I believe this Merlin drinks about 60 Imp Gal/Hr. But I'm not certain, because I've never gone A-B at that power setting to formally calibrate the burn. I flew a 5000 mile trip in 2018 in this Spitfire. I used +1/2 lb of boost, and 2050 RPM. (It was smooth right there.) That consumed 40 Imp Gal/Hr, or maybe a bit less. It's important to recognize that all modern Spitfires have been restored in some way, and their fuel consumption may not match WWII stock numbers. So one of the jobs of the Collection's pilots is to document what it actually consumes in real life.

[@coopandcarter]

With all the checks they do preflight, how did they do all this when they were scrambled for combat?

[@davehadfield5906]

Check out the Remarks at the top for the answer to that.

[@coopandcarter]

How were they able to do all those checks under the pressure of battle takeoffs?

[@davehadfield5906]

That's a common question, and I've answered it with some more info in the Remarks section.

[@lohikarhu734]

Is it *really* the delight to fly that we so often here?? Really? Have you flown the Mosquito, to compare the two? Maybe hard to compare a much larger aircraft, but I had the pleasure of talking to a Mosquito WW II pilot, who said that it was the only airplane that he would ever need to fly :-) ??

[@davehadfield5906]

Yes, it's a delight. The Mosquito has many more "gotchas" than the Spit.

[@bernardanderson3758]

Does this have a locking Tailwheel? I want to know more about it

[@johngrantham8024]

This Spitfire (Mk9) has a free castoring tail wheel. Can't be locked.

[@Mark13091961]

Is that a MK IX?

[@davehadfield5906]

Yes. But it was a 1945-built aeroplane, so it had the big tail -- which is great when you're at slow speed or on the ground.

[@Mark13091961]

@@davehadfield5906 thanks for the update. I was guessing either a V or IX from the gun configuration but when I saw the tail at the end realised it likely to be the latter. Absolutely stunning

[@David-lb4te]

9:26 friction please.

[@davehadfield5906]

You caught that -- good on you! Yes, that was a mistake on my part.

[@christopherbasham2179]

Ha Dave a good video, but your poor Horizon could not stand your aerobatics.

[@davehadfield5906]

There's an AH? Oh yeah...