Spitfire to circumnavigate the world

story

A couple of guys are hoping to circumnavigate the world next year in a Spitfire I hope they manage to do this.

originally posted by: Woody510
story

A couple of guys are hoping to circumnavigate the world next year in a Spitfire I hope they manage to do this.

How cool is that. Here's hoping this project gets in the air, and maybe they can throw a transponder on so it can be tracked.

a reply to: nelloh62

Yeah that would be good to watch their progress. Hopefully Zaph can intercept them stateside.

I'll add this here just because it's funny

amazing story

“I suppose it came about nine years ago, when Matt and I bought an old two-seater Spitfire at auction and decided we ought to do something special,” Brooks says.

Buying a Spitfire seems the special bit, wanting to fly it round the globe would simply seem to be the natural progression.

Lucky chaps.

a reply to: Woody510

Lmfao

That does not sound like a comfortable trip

I wonder if it will fly over German Airspace and disappointed its not coming down under put probably an excuse for a trip when they confirm where it will stop between Russia and India.

North Korea would be peace signal! Not that I would go there just yet.

originally posted by: rktspc
That does not sound like a comfortable trip

Who gives a sh1t about comfort when you're flying a spitfire? Besides, the seats might be comfier than you think.

Well, they've got one thing right. It's not just GB enamored with the Spitfire. It's just an icon, unrealistically-beautiful aircraft, let alone combat aircraft. It's simply stunning.

I love aircraft very much, and I can think of only one other aircraft that is more beautiful than a Spitfire, in it's own right: The Hughes H-1 Racer.

imgur.com...

originally posted by: Tempter
Well, they've got one thing right. It's not just GB enamored with the Spitfire. It's just an icon, unrealistically-beautiful aircraft, let alone combat aircraft. It's simply stunning.

I love aircraft very much, and I can think of only one other aircraft that is more beautiful than a Spitfire, in it's own right: The Hughes H-1 Racer.

imgur.com...

Disagree, its the only picture I have seen of it and IMO it has a bellend.

Spitfire is probably the best name the RAF has ever come up with for an aircraft!

Obviously they must have long range fuel tanks and a drop tank, as the original Spitfire was notoriously short-ranged, because it was designed as a short range interceptor. Great story though.

a reply to: Forensick

You must be British using the term bellend 😂😂

originally posted by: AngryCymraeg
Obviously they must have long range fuel tanks and a drop tank, as the original Spitfire was notoriously short-ranged, because it was designed as a short range interceptor. Great story though.

They have a MK IX, so...

The capacity of the main fuel tanks was 48 gal for the upper tank and 37 gal for the lower, for a total internal capacity of 85 gal. Jettisonable "slipper tanks" of 30, 45 or 90 gal could be carried under the centre-section.[39] As an alternative a cylindrical 50 gal drop tank, adapted from those carried by long range Hawker Typhoons, could be carried on the fuselage bomb rack used on most Mk IXs of the Second Tactical Air Force. To further increase the combat radius some late production Mk IXs were fitted with additional internal self-sealing fuel tanks in the rear fuselage: the upper tank carried 41 gal and the lower 34 gal. When both were full this enabled a ferry range of over 1,200 miles (1,900 km), although they made the aircraft unstable in flight and only straight flight and gentle manoeuvres at low altitudes were recommended by the pilot's manual.

en.wikipedia.org...(late_Merlin-powered_variants)#Mk_IX_(type_361)

It has always appeared to me, by the way the pilot's eyes light up when they talk about flying a Spitfire, that the main pleasure of flying one is that responsiveness that would be lost by having to carry too much fuel. Given that they are planning 150 stops on their way around I should think that they'll probably find a happy medium, keeping things as light as possible. And of course, one would presume, they won't be bearing the weight of guns...it'll likely still be pretty nippy.

Also the PR Spitfires had leading edge fuel tanks in the wings that pushed range out to about 2000 miles.
www.historyofwar.org...