Battle of Britain Flight Spitfire belly-flops

[old man emu]

On Monday afternoon, British time, one of the Spitfires belonging to the Battle of Britain Flight had to make a belly landing as it was returning from Duxford after a major inspection. Seems that the plane lost a main landing gear wheel on take off.

 

It could not land at its home aerodrome as that aerodrome is an operational RAF one, and a landing would put a runway out of service, which would be nasty for Britain's defence capability. The aerodrome is also the base for a squadron of those Euro-fighters.

 

Anyway, the Spit made a successful belly landing at a civilian airport. News footage later in the evening showed the plane being towed to a hangar after another main wheel had been fitted. An inspection is to be made to see how long it will take to repair the damage.

 

The Spitfire was one of those later Marks which was fitted with the more powerful Griffin engine. It was a photo-recce plane, painted a darkish blue. I have photos of its sister ship which was at RAF Coningsby .

 

OME

 

 

[sain]

Thats a shame.. hopefully its not completely trashed

 

 

[deltacharlie]

Is this another accident after maintenance?

 

 

[planedriver]

Is this another accident after maintenance?

With the few that remain in flying condition, it's a sad day, whatever the cause.

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

The Spitfire in question is a civilian registered Mk 19 , registered G-GGRN , reflecting the Griffon engine in the rego . It is one of 79 Mk19s built by Supermarine at Southampton . I understand that the aircraft was acquired by Rolls Royce plc from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight ( BBMF) in the mid 90s and as such was now an ex BBMF aircraft and was no longer based at RAF Coningsby but based at the East Midland Airport , the location of the incident .

 

 

[planedriver]

The Spitfire in question is a civilian registered Mk 19 , registered G-GGRN , reflecting the Griffon engine in the rego . It is one of 79 Mk19s built by Supermarine at Southampton . I understand that the aircraft was acquired by Rolls Royce plc from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight ( BBMF) in the mid 90s and as such was now an ex BBMF aircraft and was no longer based at RAF Coningsby but based at the East Midland Airport , the location of the incident .

As a very young guy, I always was fascinated by the sound of the Spitfires flying from nearby Biggin Hill and the Hurricanes from Kenley aerodromes.

 

At the height of the blitz, my family and me included, spent a lot of time sheltering in Kenley caves. Maybe thats why I was in the habit of draging the misses around by the hair, until she got jack of it.

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

My missus has been dragged all over the World in the pursuit of my hobby .. Funnily enough she never complained about being dragged to the Paris Air Show or the Duxford Air Show last September .. Amazing that ! . But try getting her to Temora or Narromine for example , now that's another story ..

 

 

[Bryon]

My missus willingly came to every airshow we went to all over the world

 

All it cost was ...one airshow/museum visit = one shopping trip

 

fair trade I thought

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

Haha Byron .. Love it .. Yes that is a good deal .. We operate on the same principle . I've been in Harrods and Fortnum and Mason in London so many times I think I could get a job as a guide , Printemps and Galleries Lafayette in Paris I know almost as well too .. Expensive this aviation bug hey ? .

 

 

[planedriver]

I used to stop the car so my misses could check out Harrods of Knightsbridge. I thought that was the least I could do for her.

 

It was normally on a Sunday night after droping her rello's home when the store was closed, but it still counts.

 

 

[Phil Perry]

The Spitfire in question is a civilian registered Mk 19 , registered G-GGRN , reflecting the Griffon engine in the rego . It is one of 79 Mk19s built by Supermarine at Southampton . I understand that the aircraft was acquired by Rolls Royce plc from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight ( BBMF) in the mid 90s and as such was now an ex BBMF aircraft and was no longer based at RAF Coningsby but based at the East Midland Airport , the location of the incident .

Hiya Yampy. . . . I t h i n k that one was recently bought by a private owner in Lichfield, just up the road from me. . . . there can't be many Spits in private hands around here . . . certainly don't see many, unless it's in the aiarshow season and they're just passin' thru. . . My friend Anthony, who has one of the few 2 seaters in the UK, spent over £20K on his undercarriage not long ago ( ouch ) guess the bits are at a premium now !! Coulda bought a secondhand Skyranger 912 for that !!

 

 

[Bryon]

Yampy,

 

I have been taken to every major shopping centre in UK and the Calais area, Paris (boy, did that one cost me), Los Angeles (Santa Monica, Rodeo Drive etc)

 

Hawaia

 

The way I found to handle it was to find a bookshop/newsagent, buy a flying magazine, find a pub or bistro and park myself there for the day

 

The missus would come back at least every 11/2 to two hours to make sure I was OK

 

 

[kittyhawk]

A few skins and oil coolers,it's just a bit of metal work.

 

He didn't bring it down on the grass did he that realy buggers them?

 

 

[Phil Perry]

A few skins and oil coolers,it's just a bit of metal work.He didn't bring it down on the grass did he that realy buggers them?

Dunno Kittyhawk. . . . . East Mids closed the runway for a short while but they would have done anyway even if the aircraft HAD use the grass alongside it. . . . .PERSONALLY unless I had some pretty good knowledge of the field layout, I would Never do that again, after being offered the grass at an RAF station in the early days of microlight operations here,. . . by a very helpful controller who thought that I might break my little plane on a hard surface ( ! ) I hit a hidden power cable and disconnected the runway lights, and also wrecked a wheel and spat. . . . . I can imagine the sort of damage that a meaty Griffon powered spitfire could do to it's underbelly if landed on a soft surface. . . .

 

Anyway,. . when the story finally filters thru the local jungle telegraph, I'll post and let you know.

 

Phil

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

Phil ..Thanks for keeping us in the picture ... BTW do you fly from the small airfield nr the M6 junc at Penkridge by any chance ?? .. I'm an ex Halfpenny Greener ..

 

 

[Phil Perry]

Phil ..Thanks for keeping us in the picture ... BTW do you fly from the small airfield nr the M6 junc at Penkridge by any chance ?? .. I'm an ex Halfpenny Greener ..

I certainly do mate,. . . . . it's called OTHERTON ( othertonairfield.co.uk - for pics and details - very nice club, about 65 aircraft on site ) And I used to fly a lot from FIVE PEE GREEN too,. . . . as soon as I got back from OZ in very late 1982, originally using some of Stevie Green's hacks ( Senair - next to the old fire engine hut opposite the fuel bay ) and other Clubs after Steve closed it down. - he's recently started it up again, after being at Coventry for many years running a business jet charter service.

 

I usually fly ( GA Appliances to keep my hours in, I fly Microlights on a rating on the GA ticket . . .) from Tatenhill, ( EGBM ) which is near to Burton upon Trent, it's about the same distance, but I can do it in under 20 mins on the bike, and it's all country lanes, whereas driving to the Green is a pain as I have to go thru Wolverhampton and it takes about 1.5 hours in the traffic. ( in the car that is. . . too many bloody speed / tax cameras for the bike ! ! ! )

 

I mentioned in a previous post that my mate Tony and I walked the Otherton field back in 1990, and made a deal with the farmer to bring the Sataffordshire Aero Club there and make it our base. SInce then, it's gone through a few different operators, but it is now run by Club Pilots for Club Members and no money gets creamed off the site in commercial profits. . . . ( apart from into the farmer's pockets !!!! )

 

Phil ( long answer to a short question - sorry )

 

 

[Guest Yampy]

I get back to The Green about once a year. Last time was last October . Had a lovely flight in a Warrior , taking in Ludlow , Worcester , Kidderminster and returned the long way via Ironbridge and Bridgnorth . Previous to that I had a fly in a Cirrus SR20 , very nice indeed . Next time over there at this stage looks to be about October again .. Have fun at Otherton , I have often wondered what the go there was as I passed by on the M6 , I know now ..

 

 

[Phil Perry]

I get back to The Green about once a year. Last time was last October . Had a lovely flight in a Warrior , taking in Ludlow , Worcester , Kidderminster and returned the long way via Ironbridge and Bridgnorth . Previous to that I had a fly in a Cirrus SR20 , very nice indeed . Next time over there at this stage looks to be about October again .. Have fun at Otherton , I have often wondered what the go there was as I passed by on the M6 , I know now ..

Don't PASS BY next trip mate,. . . call in and I'll buy yer a butty !!!!!! ( but NOT in the Warrior please, the strips are a bit short. . . . ask if you can borrow a C42 from the microlight school ! ! )

 

Phil