World War II Archives - Golf Hotel Whiskey

Own a 1/10th share of an original Supermarine Spitfire

The Boultbee Flight Academy, the only accredited Spitfire training academy in the world located at the Goodwood Aerodrome in Chichester (West Sussex), has just announced a unique opportunity for pilots to purchase a 1/10th share in an original Supermarine Spitfire in flying condition.

Any syndicate members who wish to undertake training to fly the aircraft themselves will need to hold a current Private Pilots License and then learn to fly on one of the academy’s two seat Spitfire TR9s. Once an owner has mastered the basics, he or she can complete further training in order to display the aircraft at their own private events or even airshows.

The Spitfire itself will be based at the Goodwood Aerodrome, formerly RAF Westhampnett, which had been a Hurricane and Spitfire base during the Battle of Britain and World War II. Each share is expected to cost in the £250,000 (around US$380,500) range and can be purchased by pilots and non-pilots alike. And since the Spitfire is classified as a wasting asset, it will avoid capital gains taxes.

A quick look at BoultbeeFlightAcademy.co.uk reveals a number of cool resources, including the following short video:

And if owning a 1/10th share of a Spitfire is beyond your budget right now, a price list for learning how to fly one (or other aircraft like a Tiger Moth) along with a list of related merchandise is available here.

Want to buy your own P-51 Mustang replica?

The AOPA Pilot Blog has brought our attention to FK Lightplanes, a small-aircraft manufacturer based in Poland, and its FK51 Mustang – a 70%-scale replica of the famous P-51 Mustang, an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War.

The aircraft only weighs 1,000 pounds (a limit for ultralights in Europe), has retractable landing gear (which can’t be done in the American light sport aircraft world, but the company is developing a version with fixed gear to comply with the American light sport rules) and a couple of extra special details, namely:

Around 100,000 simulated rivets and screw heads in its molds, meaning the carbon-fiber airplane aircraft appears to be made of metal.
When the aircraft is started, a sound system is automatically triggered which plays a recording of the Merlin engine used by the real Mustang. The speaker is disguised as a cooling vent on the lower cowl.
Puffs of smoke will emerge from fake exhaust stacks to add to illusion you are flying a real P-51 Mustang.

One other thing: The aircraft is aerobatic as heck (because its supposed to be a P-51 Mustang) and is capable of plus 8 Gs and minus 4 Gs.

The AOPA Pilot Blog noted the following video on bydanjohnson.com where Dan talks to company representatives about the aircraft:

FK Lightplanes intends to complete final testing in July and then get final approvals in Europe with deliveries starting in late summer. And the price? €99,800 (net excluding taxes).

That may sound pricey for what amounts to a light sport aircraft, but if you have ever dreamed of owning or flying your own P-51 Mustang, the FK51 is going to be your only chance!

German Dornier Do-17 successfully raised from the English Channel

A German Dornier Do-17 that was shot down off the Kent coast more than 70 years ago during the Battle of Britain was successfully raised from the sea bed in the English Channel on Monday. Attempts by the RAF Museum to salvage it had been hit by strong winds over the last few weeks, but weather conditions for the hour-long operation were “near perfect” on Monday evening:

Source: BBC

It took three years to come up with a plan to raise aircraft which ultimately involved divers attaching lifting equipment to what was believed to be the strongest parts of it’s frame and then raising it whole in one single lift. Originally, the plan called for building an aluminum frame or cradle around the wreck, but those plans were abandoned after it became clear it would take too long cost more than the £600,000 project budget to do so.

The Dornier Do-17 aircraft is believed to be the only intact example of its kind in the world and has lain in 50 feet (15 meters) of water on the Goodwin Sands. However, the aircraft will still need a two-year restoration at the RAF Museum’s site in Cosford, Shropshire.

To learn more about the Dornier Do-17, check out a cool BBC interactive by clicking here along with an album of pictures showing what’s left of the aircraft.

Rare radio chatter clip of a WWII Lancaster bomber engaging a German fighter

Hat tip to the Aviationist blog for finding and posting this video containing a rare radio chatter clip from a British Lancaster Bomber flying a mission over Germany during World War Two when its attacked by a German fighter. The crew sounds like they are panicking as the fighter engages them with the captain at one point shouting: “Okay, don’t shout all at once!” Eventually, one of the gunners brings down the German fighter:

Audio clips from World War II aircraft are rare since radios were not so advanced then – making this audio clip rather interesting to history buffs. And as one commenter on YouTube pointed out:

No single “f***” in the whole conversation. Compare it to modern soldiers in Iraq.

The Maid of Harlech: A rare Lockheed P-38F Lightning awaits rescue from a Welsh beach

The Daily Post and the Daily Mail recently reported that the wreckage of a rare Lockheed P-38F Lightning which crashed during World War II and has been dubbed the “Maid of Harlech,” remains hidden under the sand of a Gwynedd beach near Harlech. The aircraft was found six years ago after being covered by sand for more than 65 years.

Pilot USAF Lt Robert Elliott was attempting to make an emergency landing at the RAF airfield at Llanbedr after his engines cut out on a training flight in September 1942. Fortunately, Lt Elliott was able to walk away from the beach unscathed; but a few weeks later, he was killed in North Africa.

A passer by rediscovered the downed aircraft in the spring of 2007 after high tides had washed away sand and experts from the USA visited the site to confirm there were no other examples of the aircraft in Europe as it was used extensively in the Pacific and over China-Burma-India by American pilots. However, bad weather and a lack of funding has left it where is crashed landed.

The Gwynedd Council’s maritime department has protected the site of the plane and refuse to reveal its exact location because there is still high-octane fuel in its tanks and they are afraid souvenir hunters will damage the aircraft.

Richard Gillespie from the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) has been trying to raise funds to rescue the aircraft. However, he has told the media:

Recovery awaits a home for the aircraft, preferably a major UK museum – but none have been willing to take it on due to space and funding constraints.

He also noted that attempts to rescue a Dornier DO-17 German bomber from the Goodwin Sands off the coast of Kent (see our post about it here) for eventual display in the RAF Museum is a similar challenge, but that involves a bigger aircraft upside down in 50 feet of water.

Richard and his team are also preparing to journey to Gardner Island in the Pacific this month to find clues of missing American aviation legend Amelia Earhart. After that project, TIGAHR will turn their attention back to the “Maid of Harlech” and try to secure funding to pull the buried plane from the Welsh sands.

Remembering the “Dambusters” mission

Earlier this month, aviation enthusiasts and military veterans alike gathered outside Sheffield to mark the 70th anniversary of one of World War II’s most memorable air assaults: Operation Chastise, otherwise known as the "dambusters" mission.

The gathering was extra special because vintage aircraft, including a Lancaster bomber, recreated a dambuster mission by performing three runs over the Derwent Dam in Derbyshire which, coincidentally, was used back in 1943 by the 617 Squadron pilots to train in preparation of the daring night missions using “bouncing bombs” against dams in Nazi Germany’s industrial heartland in the Ruhr Valley.

If you want to learn more about the actual mission, a quick look at YouTube reveals the following documentary narrated by Actor Martin Shaw who also talked to the last living RAF veteran of the mission as well as a survivor of the tsunami that was caused by the Moehne dam’s destruction:

The Aviationist blog has posted the following footage from onboard the RAF Memorial Flight Lancaster as it flew over the Derwent Dam:

Finally, PlanesTV has the following footage taken from the ground of the Lancaster flying over the dam: