Chat Ed : Spitfire Ace is a programme about four young pilots competing to go through the same training that Battle of Britain pilots underwent as they learned to fly Spitfires in combat. Tonight we are chatting to Spitfire instructor Pete Kynsey and competitor Dave Mallon
Pete Kynsey : Hello, Pete here. I was instructing Dave in the last part of his flying training and I've been flying Spitfires now for about 16 or 17 years. I'm happy to answer any questions that anyone has got.
Dave Mallon : How can I follow that! I'm the very lucky boy who managed to have nine and a half hours flying the great Spitfire.
bob2 : what a cool plane!
Mark Smith : how does it feel to take control of the Spitfire?
Dave Mallon : The first time you take control of the Spitfire it takes you by surprise how light the controls are, but the most amazing thing is how quickly it puts you at ease. It is an easy aircraft to fly in cruising and doing gentle moves.
James G : What, to both pilots is the best thing about flying a Spitfire?
Marc : What is the best thing you like about flying the Spit (Handling/performance/feel/views/engine etc)?)
Pete Kynsey : I think the best thing about it is that you just feel an enormous privilege because now Spitfires are so rare that you are very lucky to be invited to fly one. They are very valuable and they need to be treated as a piece of history. They mean so much to so many people who are watching them fly that all the time I am flying one I just feel I have to be very careful with it and not do anything with it that anybody watching would feel was inappropriate.
Dave Mallon : I know it sounds corny, but you often hear the veterans talking about 'strapping a Spitfire to your back' but only after you have flown in a Spitfire does that statement ring so true. Like Peter said, it is just such a privilege.
Pete Kynsey : People have said you don't so much as fly it, you actually put it on.
Dave Mallon : It is probably one of the finest pieces of British engineering that I think they have ever come up with.
Tor : I was glad to see you 'graduate', Dave. Good going for a civilian!
steve davis : dave, did u get to meet any of the veterans ? what a bunch of absolute heroes...!
Jibflyer : Did Dave meet any of the veterans and what did he learn from them?
Pete Kynsey : Yeah that's true.
Dave Mallon : On the last day I met a veteran called Peter Brothers who had an extremely distinguished flying career. I think he had around 14 kills. When you read about people like him and you listen to the stories they tell you realise they are real heroes and you see that in them. They have been into battle and defended Britain and risked their lives for us, but probably the nicest thing about someone like Peter was that he was so down to earth.
Pete Kynsey : They are all very modest about their achievements which they achieved at such a ridiculously early age.
Dave Mallon : I don't think some of them even understand what they did achieve really.
Pete Kynsey : I agree, yes, totally. They were thrown in with very little training and just had to cope.
Dave Mallon : He is in his late 80s and yet he was so full of life. All his memories rolled off his tongue like they happened yesterday. People like that you could just sit around and listen to them talk all day long.
AaronTurner : Question for Pete Kynsey: One of the big debates is how the 109E and Spitfire I matched up. Does Pete Kynsey have any comments on this?
Marc : Have you ever flown a ME109 and compared performances?
Jezz : Dave, wou;d you like to do the same in a 109???
Pete Kynsey : Unfortunately I have never flown a 109 because there are very few of them left, but people who have flown them say that they were not nearly as good at handling as a Spitfire, they were very heavy - particularly the rolling. Also the view out of the cockpit was quite poor because they didn't have the one piece blown canopy, instead the structure of the canopy had a lot of supports in it restricting your view. It was also a notoriously difficult airplane to land compared to the Spitfire. But in terms of performance - speed and such like - they were actually very similar.
Mark : Pete, do you guys get to dogfight the spit?
Pete Kynsey : Occasionally yes. Sometimes at air shows we simulate dog fighting. The other occasion is for filming which is in demand so often we will create dog fights e.g. for Pearl Harbour, some of which was filmed in England. So we carried out dog fights over the chalk cliffs of the south coast for that film.
Ste : How did you manage to get picked for the programme, Dave?
Christine : Dave, how did you get chosen in the first place to take part?
Dave Mallon : RDF Media - the production company - went around lots of airfields in the summer of 2003 to interview candidates. They needed pilots with less than 100 hours of flying time and under 25 years old, as they would have been during the Battle of Britain. They were looking for people from the RAF, the University Air Squadron and club flying backgrounds. They came to Lancashire Air Club where I fly and then I was selected to go down to Headcorn to start the target training.
Mike Aldridge : Dave: How did you get on with Caroline Grace?
Dave Mallon : Very well. At first you had a great deal of respect for her because of what she had achieved so far in life but she is very reassuring and very much straight to the point, which I like in a person anyway. She always had the time and the patience to explain things to me. So after the programme I feel like we are quite good friends now.
Triffid68 : How many Spitfires remain? worldwide & in the UK..
D Moriarty : For how many more years can we hope to see Spitfires flying, given that they're almost sixty years old?
Mike B : How many Spitfires are left that still fly?
Mike : How many Spitfires are in service today?
Pete Kynsey : In the UK there are just over 20 flying and worldwide approaching 40. I think it's possible for them to fly indefinitely because the number of hours flying they do per year is very small compared to what they would have had when they were in service. As part of the air frames wear out, it is possible to make the parts. That even applies to the engine, when Merlin engines become very scarce.
Dave Mallon : Let's hope so anyway.
tony smith : Pete, can you tell us how many hours in Spits you have had
John L : Pete - what is the fastest that you have flown in a Spitfire?
Pete Kynsey : I've flown nearly 700 hours in Spitfires. The highest speed is called the 'velocity never exceed' which is the maximum diving speed and that is 450mph
jl151080 : Pete have you flown a Hurricane? If so, how does it compare to the Spit?
James G : what drawbacks, if any does a Spitfire have in your opinion?
Pete Kynsey : I have flown several Hurricanes and it's a lovely aeroplane but it does feel like it's from a different generation of development. Although it was very successful during the Battle of Britain, after the battle it had no real development potential. The Spitfire was such a good design that when more powerful engines came along, such as the Griffin, the Spitfire just went faster and faster whereas the Hurricane could just never achieve those speeds. Probably the only disadvantage of the Spitfire was that it was unable to carry a lot of fuel, which limited its range and prevented it from being used later in the war for bomber escort deep into Germany.
Peter Brown : Dave..by the end of your training how would the prospect of a front line squadron seem??
Retro007 : By the end of the 9 hours did you feel you could have coped with having to fight the plane?
RichardR : Dave - did you think you were ready for war after 9 hours?
Dave Mallon : Very daunting, Peter. Although if it was 1940 I would have gone forward and tried my very best but I really don't know how I would have done. I'd have kept my fingers crossed that I didn't get shot down in the first couple of flights and then go on from there. I'd only had an insight into flying a Spitfire in peacetime conditions, but flying it to its limits during battle is something completely different.
Straters40 : Pete. Having flown 700hours on Spits do you have a favourite version?
Robina : What version of Spitfire are you flying?
Greg : Question for Pete - what's your favourite mark of Spitfire?
Pete Kynsey : I think most people like the earlier marks because they are lighter and the handling is much better, so I'd say my favourite so far is the mark 5. With clipped wings the rate of roll is much better. On the other hand, for out and out performance, the later marks were the fastest with the Griffin engine, but they paid the price by losing the fine handling that the earlier Spitfires had.
David Massey : David, does your future now include working with warbirds?
james : Dave - what do you want to do now - which direction will you take ?? Civilian or military ??
Ashley : Dave - what are your future flying plans now!?
Dave Mallon : It's one of my newest ambitions since taking part in the programme and that is to get myself back in the seat of a war bird, but now I am concentrating on getting a career as a commercial airline pilot. I'm hoping to start training as soon as possible. Then once that is done I will start to look into the interesting aspects of aerobatics and war bird flying.
Chiller : Is there any way at all that I can get to fly a Spitfire? I have a PPL(A)
DaveH : Four of us have asked now - how can we get a flight (any way possible!) in the spit?
MacAtilla : I've always had a dream to fly Spitfires... could you please advise how best one could get involved?
Pete Kynsey : That's a tricky one...You have to speak very nicely to one of the owners.
Richard595 : Pete. Do the government supply any monies for the upkeep/maintenance of old war birds
Pete Kynsey : The RAF do operate some Spitfires and Hurricanes as part of the Battle of Britain memorial flight but no help is given at all to civilian owned aeroplanes like Carolyn's. The running cost of a Spitfire is between two and three thousand pounds an hour and the owner has to find that from somewhere.
Jon R : Dave: What would you say was the best thing about the whole experience?
D Moriarty : Dave, how would you sum up the experience of flying a national treasure?
Bryan : Your a lucky man Dave!
Dave Mallon : It was just a massive learning experience. Not only about flying such a wonderful aircraft that was much more technically advanced than anything I had ever come close to beforehand, but to do the kind of flying that I had never done before, like the formation and aerobatic flying with Peter. The one lasting memory I have is sitting on the grass at Duxford one very hot June afternoon trying to put myself in the position that the young pilots in 1940 were in.
Mike : That would be DUXFORD!!
dave34 : Duxford is great
Dave Mallon : I am probably the only young man in the UK to have ever even come close to that. I'll never forget it.
Chat Ed : That's it! Thanks for coming and talking to us Pete and Dave!
John L : Many thanks C4 for a great series of programmes - over and out.........
Straters40 : Great program. Good luck for the future Dave.
dave34 : If only we were all that lucky!
Chris Broad : Thank you Channel 4 and thank you Dave and Pete for sharing this half hour with us!
fatciderman : superb programme - thanks to all
kh : good night boys
Freddy : Thanks!
MacAtilla : Thanx chaps
Kipper : bye
Peter Brown : happy landings!
Max Glide : Thanks Dave, Pete
philcallow : Cheers Boys
Mike : bravo to you all!
HarryJ : night all, best of luck
Pete Kynsey : I hope everyone enjoys the fourth programme and don't worry I know how lucky we are.
Dave Mallon : I am so pleased with how the programme worked out. The production team had so much enthusiasm and so much willingness to learn and I think everyone can see that. It's excellent.
john_p : Thanks. Happy Flying!
MikeKeogh : Good bye and thank you
fatciderman : tally – ho
Pete Kynsey leaves the room
Dave Mallon leaves the room
Chat Ed : You can buy the book Spitfire: Flying the Battle of Britain priced £20 from the Channel 4 Shop or by calling 0870 1234 344.
