Posted on Aug 2, 2019
'The Most Beautiful Machine To Fly': Iconic Spitfire Takes Flight Once Again
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The Spitfire, an iconic British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in World War II, is taking to the skies once again, marking 75 years since the D-Day invasions. But this time, the legendary warplane isn’t outfitted with guns, camouflage and squadron markings.
The Spitfire Mk IX, known simply as the “Silver Spitfire,” is set to become the first of its type to fly around the world.
Starting August 5, aviators Steve Brooks and Matt Jones will be taking the 76-year-old Spitfire to new heights, traveling 27,000 miles around the world in a 4-month expedition. Brooks and Jones plan to make more than 150 stops in nearly 30 countries, including South Korea, Pakistan, Egypt and Russia.
“It's the most beautiful machine to fly,” Steve Brooks says. “You sort of wear it like a jacket rather than sit in it. Where you look, you go — and it's as if gravity itself falls away.”
Flying the aluminum machine — which has the largest petrol engine ever built, Brooks says — is going to be a challenge, even for these seasoned aviators. Brooks says things move “very quickly” in the cockpit, meaning the pilots need to be on their game.
The Spitfire Mk IX, known simply as the “Silver Spitfire,” is set to become the first of its type to fly around the world.
Starting August 5, aviators Steve Brooks and Matt Jones will be taking the 76-year-old Spitfire to new heights, traveling 27,000 miles around the world in a 4-month expedition. Brooks and Jones plan to make more than 150 stops in nearly 30 countries, including South Korea, Pakistan, Egypt and Russia.
“It's the most beautiful machine to fly,” Steve Brooks says. “You sort of wear it like a jacket rather than sit in it. Where you look, you go — and it's as if gravity itself falls away.”
Flying the aluminum machine — which has the largest petrol engine ever built, Brooks says — is going to be a challenge, even for these seasoned aviators. Brooks says things move “very quickly” in the cockpit, meaning the pilots need to be on their game.
'The Most Beautiful Machine To Fly': Iconic Spitfire Takes Flight Once Again
Posted from wbur.org
Flying
WWII World War Two
Air Power
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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I actually built a balsa model of one as a kid I've still got, albeit rather beat up...I just somehow couldn't get over the shape of that gull wing, as I think it was called, ya know?
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Capt Daniel Goodman
Of course, I might have the wing name wrong...it just had that distinctive, long, wide chord, with that really unusual shape....
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It will be interesting to see if it really happens. A ton of newly minted millionaires started buying them in the 90's/early 2000's and naturally - crashed them. As they are national treasures, flying them was banned. The ban even affected the RAF who had to pare down their memorial flight schedules.
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