Spitfire & Hurricane 'Sky Dance'

Описание: Supermarine Spitfire LF MK. VC, AR501, G-AWII, was built in 1942 by Westland Aircraft of Yeovil, Somerset.
By 1940 the Mark V Spitfire had been developed around a Mark II airframe, strengthened to receive the latest Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 and 46 engines. More were produced than any other variant of the Spitfire.
The Mark V was designed to improve the flying characteristics of the Mark II. Some were designed for ground attack with bombs, machine guns and cannon, and some with all cannon armament.
The Mk. VCs had a 'universal wing' enabling it to be armed with three different sets of armaments. They served mainly overseas, especially in the Middle East. First production models were delivered in late 1941.
This aircraft was built as an F. Mk. VC - a general altitude fighter. It had the universal armament wing and a Rolls Royce Merlin 46 engine, developing a maximum of 1415 horsepower, with an altitude rating of 19000 feet.
Initially going to RAF 8 Maintenance Unit (MU) at Little Rissington (22/6/42), it then went to 6 MU Brize Norton (7/7/42) before issue to 310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron at Exeter (19/7/42).
On 15/3/43 AR501 was severely damaged on the ground at RAF Exeter, when a Mosquito collided with it. Repairs to AR501 were completed off site at 67 MU, Taunton and Westlands at Yeovil.
It then went to 33 MU, Lyneham (17/7/43) and 3501 Servicing Unit, Cranfield (6/8/43) before issue to 504 (City of Nottingham) Squadron at Church Stanton (Culmhead), Somerset (18/8/43).
AR501 then went to 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron (10/10/43) which was engaged on bomber escort duties protecting raids across the English Channel against V-1 rocket launch sites.
In post war years it became an instructional airframe at Loughborough College and was acquired by the Shuttleworth Collection in 1961 and displayed for many years in the clipped wing configuration wearing the 1942-43 livery of No.310 (Czechoslovak) Squadron.
Returned to flight for the Battle of Britain film, a major overhaul was then carried out in the early 1970s. She was airworthy from 1977-2005, then removed from service for another overhaul.
In mid 2000 the elliptical wingtips were refitted when the aircraft took part in the filming of the movie 'Pearl Harbor'.
Between 2005 and 2018 a complete strip down and rebuild to original specification was completed.
Today, Spitfire AR501, appears in the livery that it wore when serving with 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron in 1943.

The Spitfire's wings were 'clipped' in order to improve its performance against the German Focke Wulf FW190. It increased the roll rate of the Spitfire and improved its fighting qualities. The wingtips were a separate piece constructed from wood with an aluminum skin, attached with two bolts and a number of small screws to hold a covering strip where the wing and the tip joined, enabling them to be easily removed.

In tests the clipped Spitfire wing made the aircraft 5 mph faster at 10,000 feet and slightly faster at 25,000 feet, but with better acceleration across the board. In a dive, the clipped wing aircraft could pull away from the standard version and in a dogfight, the improved roll rate meant it could shake off a pursuing unmodified Spitfire. Climb performance was hardly effected and there was no change to the take-off and landing performance.

Removal of the wingtips takes over four feet from each side, improving the pilots downward view considerably. From a combat perspective, a downward view becomes a sideways view at large angles of bank.

Hawker Hurricane Mk.II, P3717:-
Hawker Hurricane P3717, G-HITT, was built in 1940 as one of 544 Hurricanes built as part of the 3rd production batch. She was delivered to 253 Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey on the 13th of July 1940 and was flown by Pilot Officer W.M.C Samolinski. The unit then transferred to RAF Kenley, on the 29/8/40.

P3717’s Battle of Britain was brief. After landing and refuelling at Kenley on the 29th the Squadron was scrambled at 16.00 for a patrol, which proved uneventful. At 10.50 am the following day they scrambled to counter 3 incoming waves of Albert Kesselring’s Luftflotte 2. Samolinski and P3717 were in the thick of the action and a running fight developed across the south of England. Samolinksi and P3717 destroyed a Bf110 over Redhill, Surrey but P3717 was so badly damaged that she had to be returned to Hawkers for repairs.

After rebuild she was sent to Russia. It was from here that she was recovered in the late 1990s and the return to airworthiness started.

The Hurricane force destroyed more than twice as many enemy aircraft during The Battle of Britain as all of our other defences combined.

Filmed at Old Warden during the Shuttleworth Vintage Airshow 2020.

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