The Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 - Daily Inspection - Squadron 609

Daily inspection of Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 - Squadron 609, filmed just before the battle of Britain..

[@mrstephenthomas100]

Fascinating, I'm so grateful these films exist.

[@michaeltristanflores3719]

I should be studying for school but learning on how the spitfire works seems important

[@sammymra]

Same here 😂😂

[@phineascampbell3103]

I've also got loads of important stuff which I should be taking care of, which is why I'm now on my third spitfire cockpit tour/tutorial video...

[@stevkolasab7269]

For me it is studying for school

[@kabalastugan4439]

Such a big respect for ww2 veterans. No lock on missiles, no night vision, no fancy computer, no barriers when landing on an aircraft carrier, damn respect

[@patfontaine5917]

What a priceless documentary. Thanks for posting!

[@adalbertotorrero5893]

This film is gold! Doesnt have the much love it deserves.

[@sinistershenanigans965]

Priceless,!! Respect to all of them god bless.🇬🇧

[@thejudge-kv2jk]

Love the hangover over remark. Going to have to get me some oxygen!

[@jeffgraham436]

My thoughts exactly. Here I am 63 years old and no one has brought this to my attention until now! That’s just wrong.

[@johnkinnane547]

Irreplaceable historic film gives a great insight to how the Spitfire was maintained and a great insight to the “inside “ of the aircraft, I wonder if she made it back after the battle of Brittan?

[@iamrichrocker]

great video..and most of these Men..were barely out of their teens..a far better generation than today's..and such a beautiful machine..

[@Ralph2]

I learnt a lot from this, thank you!

[@oceanvibesphotography8395]

I love watching things like this the spitfire is my favourite aircraft🍺

[@SamanthaGuttesen]

I'm reading Spitfire Pilot, the personal diary of David Crook. He was in 609 squadron. Nice how this pops up in my suggestion feed

[@gavanwhatever8196]

Brilliant video for us scale modellers!

[@w.w.2restorations.vehicles698]

The 1 bit of info that was not told is that the ammunition belts were 9 yards long, each. During the Battle of Britton and when pilots had returned to the Aerodrome from a scuffle, they were asked by the ground grew, "Well, how'd it go?" The Pilot's reply sometimes was, "It took the Whole 9 Yards", having expended the entire compliment of ammunition.

[@ChrizRockster]

Possible, but also possibly not true, as I think the phrase was much earlier than that by 9 decades and refers to fabric which came in 9 yard lengths.

[@w.w.2restorations.vehicles698]

@@ChrizRockster Thanks for the reply. I don't know it all and did a bit of research and some reading. You are correct about the 9 yard bolt of fabric. Read here; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards. I love learning about new things!!

[@zingylimes6607]

This is amazing, thanks for posting

[@philglover2973]

Excellent video well done 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

Great video.

[@dogwalker666]

Great video thanks

[@wapphigh5250]

Unbelievable footage

[@KaiserHabsburg]

we need more proper documentarys like this.

[@tommyfreckmann6857]

We need more proper spelling... to prevent comments like this^^^.

[@iskandartaib]

Note the black-and-white painted underside. That didn't last long, you don't get to see it often. It does have the bulged hood - the very first ones weren't bulged.

[@iskandartaib]

In the last 30 seconds or so (loading the ammunition belts) the black-and-white undersides are gone - these are probably the duck egg green used later. And for some reason the last few frames was of what looks like a FW190 Dora starting up.

[@ChrizRockster]

@@iskandartaib The FW190 was the last bit of footage the film crew gathered when they got home... haha. :o)

[@jimbopaw]

They seem to be in tight shape, with the engine running smooth.

[@daveglover6115]

Interesting video. The tracer however was quickly shifted to random locations in the cartridge belts, as the Luftwaffe soon became aware that their opponents' ammunition was about to be depleted...

[@JohnyG29]

No, tracer was always used throughout the belt of ammo to help pilots adjust their aim. The last few rounds however were all tracer.

[@ChrizRockster]

Some are pre-flight checks that would normally be done prior to flight in peacetime. I guess that they did lots of checks on the ground in between flights so that the aircraft was scramble ready.

[@mistag3860]

Aww he gotta wind up the clock, so cute, and a watering can for the oil. Lovely details. The Mk1 had a two blade wooden prop i thought, with the 3 blade on the Mk1a.

[@flynncremin6347]

Mark 1a is the mark 1. ‘A’ is just the armament, being 8 browning machine guns. ‘B’, on the other hand, was two Hispano cannons and 4 machine guns. ‘C’ was more generalised. Mark 2 would follow this pattern and so on

[@dubsy1026]

Wing types don't apply to the Ia, the a there does refer to some updates. However before the standardisation of the Ia over the I, there were a lot of changes in production and retrofits to older airframes that have them given newer features like the 3 blade constant speed DH prop.

[@craigpennington1251]

Very good but too short. There has to be more.

[@ianh.6825]

Armourer @ 6:56 "Am I hurting you Airman?"......... "No Sergeant"........."Well I should be because I'm standing on your bleedin' hair!"

[@vinceq1036]

I should have been there.

[@Bryster51]

Lets see the entire film!

[@alanelesstravelled8218]

The Spitfire is a MkI (Roman numeral) not Mk1 (Arabic numeral). Spitfire versions up to and including MkXX (20) where designated using Roman numerals. After that they were numbered using Arabic eg 21, 22, 23 and 24.

[@JohnyG29]

We know.

[@ChrizRockster]

@@JohnyG29 But the video uploader, didn't. 8o)

[@capdexcox2339]

With all the pneumatic controls and actuators I wonder if they ever had issues with ice in the lines, valves, etc....

[@ChrizRockster]

I've seen turn a co-ordinator freeze on a cold day in a Piper Warrior (I guess the tube contained some sort of contaminant as it should be resistant to freezing by using paraffin etc). So god only knows what could freeze up on this complex type.

[@todaywefly4370]

I wonder if they’d let you near a Spitfire with a hangover these days.😁

[@LaminarSound]

Back when fighter pilots got into the latest fighter aircraft hungover...... lol

[@LaminarSound]

hahahaha thats what I was thinking.....

[@spurgear4]

I'm just glad I diden't have to wear my hat all day at work, only coming and going from the base.

[@Steve27775]

Why did Spitfires "prove unsuitable for night fighting"?

[@jozg44]

Pilot visibility was the main problem. A Spitfire pilot had poor visibility during take-off and landing even in the day, due to the long nose, narrow canopy and the wings being directly below the cockpit. In the day the pilot would pick a reference point that he could see (such as a tree, building or a distinctive-shaped cloud) to maintain his correct alignment on the take-off run or in the final stages of final approach and landing. At night this was impossible, so the pilot had to take-off and land essentially blind. The landing lights only illuminated the ground immediately in front of each wing, and a lot of the illuminated area was blocked from the pilot's view by the nose in any case. The few squadrons that operated Spitfires at night suffered high aircraft casualties, nearly all in landing accidents. There were also a lot of reported problems with flames from the exhaust pipes destroying pilot's night-vision. The Merlin was prone to shooting flames from the exhausts when running at high power settings, and various sparks and flashes when running at low throttle. So at the two times the pilot needed his best vision - the attack and the final approach to landing - the aircraft would blind him! Although this was widely reported as a problem when flying the Spitfire at night, both the Hurricane and the Defiant were successfully used as night fighters with the same engine. Maybe the relative position of the pilot's eye line to the exhausts was different? Not unique to the Spitfire, but there was also the problem of being able to see the targets. The RAF radar system could direct a fighter to the general location of the enemy, but in order to shoot it down the pilot had to rely on the enemy aircraft being caught in searchlights from the ground so he could see it. The German bombers quickly learnt to fly high enough that they could not be found by searchlights, meaning that the intercepting fighters were shooting virtually blind unless there was good visibility and a full moon. The advantage of the Defiant, Beaufighter and Mosquito as night fighters was firstly that they had at least one extra crew member to help spot the target and then that they were large enough to fit the early air-search radar sets, which the Spitfire could not. The landing lights were fitted to MkI, MkII and MkV Spitfires before it was realised that night operations were simply to be avoided if at all possible.

[@Steve27775]

Thanks for the reply.

[@barrierodliffe4155]

No single engine fighter was much used for night fighting, but who needs it when you have Beaufighters and Mosquitos.

[@emersoncaicedo3146]

@@barrierodliffe4155 not quite. The f6f hellcat was used extensively for night flying in the pacific theater.

[@barrierodliffe4155]

@@emersoncaicedo3146 Night flying in the Pacific to what purpose? The F 6F is hardly a night fighter like the Beaufighter or Mosquito.

[@steveaustin6467]

film not long enough

[@phineascampbell3103]

"Once oxygen tanks were fitted it didn't take air crews long to realise that three quick breaths of it were an instant cure for a hangover." Oh yeah, definitely, this is a British video about a British plane 🤣🤣🤣

[@gregtaylor6146]

meaning???

[@phineascampbell3103]

@@gregtaylor6146 Brits like a drink

[@gregtaylor6146]

@@phineascampbell3103 - Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

[@phineascampbell3103]

@@gregtaylor6146 I'm guessing maybe you also like a drop?