How not to take off in a Spitfire - France a day or two ago.

[BendyFlyer]

<a href="https://youtu.be/c-uQqXKBYAg" target="_blank">
https://youtu.be/c-uQqXKBYAghttps://youtu.be/c-uQqXKBYAg (https://youtu.be/c-uQqXKBYAg)

Apart from the botched take-off, now it is nicely wrecked the fire crews arrive and cover it with retardant foam to wreck it good.

[scotth6]

I saw that on the news and just cringed. What a waste.

Of course I feel for the pilot. I know how difficult it can be taking off in a Spitfire; I have had the exact same experience over and over again with the new DCS World Spitfire.

[Dimus]

I looked at two videos on YT and it seems that he tried to lift off the tail too soon, may be due to a short runway. The rudder was also full left to fight the Griffon torgue to the right but it still seemed to slip to the right, just before the prop hit the ground. That huge prop has only a small clearance with the ground. Good news is that he is all right, although shocked.

[Bomber_12th]

Of course the aircraft will be rebuilt and flown again (whether it stays with the current owner or not - aircraft like these stay or go wherever the money/interest is to be rebuilt/flown, and with the Spitfire, there is no shortage of such people), it's just going to obviously require a very extensive/time-consuming rebuild. Fortunately the pilot was out of the hospital within quite a short period and only suffered a bruised rib by the sound of it.

From what I've read from those closest involved - this was the pilot's first flight in the aircraft (though I know he has some level of experience in the T-6 and Sea Fury (all other types I know he has flown/displayed are irrelevant in this situation) - the owner of the Spitfire does not fly the aircraft himself, and I know of a few different pilots who have displayed the aircraft over the years), the aircraft was fully loaded with fuel (this was to be the return trip back to Dijon-Darois where the aircraft is based), photos seem to show at least one of the main tires quite well dug into the ground on the takeoff roll (no confirmation, but perhaps a bit of a soggy runway, which the airfield warns/cautions about), or perhaps an indication of some braking action. The event itself, unlike what was reported in the mainstream media, was not an airshow, but simply a local fly-in/gathering, thus the reason for the lack of immediate emergency services (one cannot expect to find emergency services readily available/at the call wherever one decides to fly a Spitfire to, or any other warbird for that matter). I have over time seen some various, experienced pilots, flying earlier-Mark Spitfires, input down-elevator at the start of the take-off roll (as much as I've also heard that is not advised) to get the tail up early/tailwheel off the ground (just as you see pilots of lighter taildraggers do quite often as well), and to get to a level attitude early, to gain greater forward visibility. However, those earlier, lighter Marks have more clearance for the prop (though last year, even the Jerry Yagen/Military Aviation Museum Spitfire Mk.IX had its propeller filed down/splintered when its pilot had the nose pushed too far forward - in that case it was on a hard-surface runway, and nothing much was said about it at the time as all that needed to be done was replacing the wood prop blades). It has been said that with the Mk.XIX and Mk.XVIII type Spitfires, it is not advised to use grass-surface runways (I think, because of the closer proximity of the prop to the ground), but the aircraft had no issue what-so-ever operating from the grass runway at La Ferte Alais, last weekend, in the hands of a different display pilot. From what I've seen, there appears to be some down elevator at the start of the takeoff roll, and the power is brought up very fast (full rudder deflection seems to be used to try and counter the p-factor/torque, all compounded by how early the tail is in the air). Although everything happened within just a few seconds, in a slow motion version, one can see the aircraft, after the tail is raised, ever so briefly level-out and not continue its forward/nose-down rotation, until it does, as if it perhaps got into some soft ground or the pilot input some brake at that point. Once the prop digs in and the forward momentum and balance is thrown too-far forward, nothing can be done to keep it from going down on its nose (even with full-up elevator, as the pilot used by that point).

It is my own gut feeling that the pilot used some brake, just as the p-factor/torque effect came on strong (with all of that power - all compounded by the tail being forced-up too early), which is something that, unlike other warbirds, will put the Spitfire on its nose in an instant (as has been seen numerous times in the past, even just at taxi speed/power). In the Sea Fury, I've actually read of pilots using some brake on take-off to counter all of the p-factor/torque, which I guess is okay with that aircraft, but which is something you can't get away with in the Spitfire. The pilot involved had just been flying the Sea Fury - it is the aircraft he arrived in to the fly-in. All conjecture, I know, and I know it is not even worth stating/probably I shouldn't even say anything to the matter. Fortunately the pilot survived and we'll know just what happened after the investigation is finished.

[Dimus]

Very good insights John. I also watched the vid in slow motion and agree that there is a hint of brake application as the tail comes up too fast. The wide undercarriage of the fury may forgive such practice but not the Spitfire.