Spitfire Manuals

[Ron Handgraaf]

Pilot's Notes for this navy Spitfire

Regards

Ron

Supermarine Seafire 45 & 46

[Rocat]

Thank you!

[Ron Handgraaf]

Pilot's notes for this version of the well known Spitfire!

Regards

Ron

Supermarine Spitfire 18

[Micdrow]

Thanks Ron, yet another great one.

[cungya]

Offered for free by HLebooks.com
The Spitfire Pilot's manual

Download web page : Spitifire fight plane pilot's manual - hlebooks.com

Ebook's Content
Chapter 1
MAIN SERVICES
- Oil system
- Hydraulic system
- Pneumatic system
- Electrical system
- Primary flying controls and locking devices
AEROPLANE CONTROLS
- Flying instruments
- Trimming tabs
- Undercarriage control and indicators
- To raise the undercarriage
- To lower the under carriage
- Electrical visual indicator
- Mechanical position indicator
- Warning horn
- Flap control
- Undercarriage emergency operation
- Wheel brakes
ENGINE CONTROLS
- Throttle and mixture controls
- Automatic boost cut-out
- Airscrew controls
- Radiator flap control
- Slow-running cut-out
- Fuel **** controls and contents gauges
- Immersed fuel pump
- Fuel priming pump
- Ignition switches
- Electric starting
Chapter 2
- Hand starting
- Oil dilution
- Engine instruments
COCKPIT ACCOMMODATION & EQUIPMENT
- Pilot's seat control
- Safety harness release
- Cockpit door
- Hood locking control
- Direct vision panel
- Cockpit lighting
- Cockpit heating & ventilation
- Oxygen
- Mirror
- Map cases
OPERATIONAL EQUIPMENT & CONTROLS
- Guns and cannons
- Reflector gun sight
- Camera
NAVIGATIONAL SIGNALLING & LIGHTING EQUIPMENT
- Wireless
- Navigation & identification lamps
- Landing lamps
- Signal discharger
DE-ICING EQUIPMENT
- Windscreen de-icing
Chapter 3
- Pressure head heater switch
EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT
- Hood jettisoning
- Forced landing flare
- First aid
ADDENDUM
- Jettisonable tank controls
- Fuel tank pressurising
- Air cleaner
- Desert equipment
- Seafire I & II
- Arrester gear release control
- Arrester gear warning light
- Air intake control
- Radio equipment
- Stowage for signal pistol cartridges
INSTRUMENT PANEL - Spitfire VA, VB, VC & Seafire I & II
Chapter 4
PORT SIDE OF COCKPIT - Spitfire VA, VB, VC
PORT SIDE OF COCKPIT - Seafire I & II
STARBOARD SIDE OF COCKPIT - Spitfire VA, VB, VC
STARBOARD SIDE OF COCKPIT -* - Seafire I & II
FUEL SYSTEM DIAGRAM (tropical)
FUEL SYSTEM DIAGRAM
Chapter 5
HANDLING & FLYING NOTES FOR PILOT
- Flying limitations
* Maximum speed
* Restrictions
- Management of fuel system
- Preliminaries
- Starting the engine and warming up
- Testing engine and installations
* While warming up
* After warming up
Chapter 6
- Final preparations for take-off
- Take-off
- Climbing
- General flying
* Stability
* Change of trim
- Maximum range
* Climbing
* Cruising
- Stalling
- Spinning
- Aerobatics
* Looping
* Rolling
* Half-roll off loop
* Upward roll
* Flick manoeuvres
- Diving
- Approach and landing
Chapter 7
- After landing
- Oil dilution
- Flying at reduced airspeeds
- Management of 170 and 29 gallon auxiliary fuel tanks
ADDENDUM
- Deck take-off
- Deck landing
- Catapult launching and accelerator take-off
- Ditching
- Seafire III wing locking
Chapter 8
- Characteristics of* the different models of Spitfire
Chapter 9
- Spitfire cine-camera model G.45
Chapter 10
- Other historic resources

[Micdrow]

Thanks

[Holtzauge]

Hi,

I have long been a frequent visitor here and uploaded lots of stuff. So now I think it is time to reverse this and therefore I attach an article I scanned from the German magazine Luftwissen.

Also, I would like to extend my personal thanks to Micdrow for his tireless work in this forum and all the great stuff he has made available to us all.

Thanks Micdrow!

BR//Holtzauge

[Micdrow]

Originally Posted by Holtzauge

Also, I would like to extend my personal thanks to Micdrow for his tireless work in this forum and all the great stuff he has made available to us all.

Thanks Micdrow!

Many thanks and your welcome Holtzauge!!!

[DKoor]

Nice. Thanks!

[HoHun]

Hi Holtzauge,

>So now I think it is time to reverse this and therefore I attach an article I scanned from the German magazine Luftwissen.

Thanks a lot!

An interesting bit of information: "The extremely stiff wing nose box was originally designed to be used as a condenser for the intended steam-cooled engine was implemented for this purpose as a steam-tight and pressure-resistant part."

I've never heard of this before - is it real, or is it some German misunderstanding?

Regards,

Henning (HoHun)

[Hop]

Alfred Price in the Spitfire Story:

Stiffened by ribs at regular intervals. the thickly skinned leading edge of the wing combined with the main spar to form a very strong and rigid D-shaped torsion box that ran the full length of the wing. This torsion box was to carry most of the wing loads and, at the same time, serve as the steam condenser for the evaporative cooling system.

Very nice article Holtzauge.

[Holtzauge]

Yes, it does contain some nice info and astute observations does it not? Typical German thoroughness!

Some quick comments on some German observations:

Page1:

"Flugzeugfuhrer....bemängeln die etwas geringe Längdstabilitet". So the Germans think it's too sensitive in pitch. Intersting to compare with the British complaints about the heavy elevator control on the 109. It's all about what you are used to I suppose

A nice touch is also where they say "Die Leistungen der Spitfire wurden.....stark ubertriben" and go on to mention the discrepancy beween British numbers and what they have measured themselves on captured aircraft. Kinda reminicient of British evaluations of the Me109...

Page 2:

Notice they know of the original plans for only 4 MG's and their observation that the late addition of the other 4 leads to a rather (in their view) poor arrangement of the guns!

Page 3: "Bemerkungen der Aerodynamik": They chalk one up for the Spit on aerodynamics as "recht gut" and "gefähige Formen"

OTOH they seem unimpressed by the choise of airfoil: "Ein Schnellflugprofil stellt es nicht dar"

Page 4: They complain about the air intake (I think?) and that this is made out of an Elektron (Magnesium) cast with 12 mm thick walls weighing a in their view hefty 5 kg?

Page 7: Interesting point on the balancing of the ailerons: "12 kleine 25 g-Bleigewichte" that could be inserted in a tube?. That was new info for me....

Further, they observe that a lot of control surfaces use brass bearings as oppsed to ball bearings. I think the Germans used mostly ball bearings for control surfaces?

It would be good if someone with a good grasp of German could translate it completely though.....

Holtzauge

[Kurfürst]

Nice find. At first I thought its the same stuff as the DVL report on the early Spitfire types, but seems to be rather just based on the DVL findings, reproduced in Luftwissen. DVL also expressed its scepticism about specification claimed by the British, so I guess the article roots in the DVL report (which also examines the Mk I and II).

Again, kind of a mirror image of 'Flight Magazine' basically repeating RAE reports..

[The Basket]

The Spitfire was designed for another Rolls Royce engine which name escapes me. It was steam cooled and so water needed to be cooled in the leading edges of the wings.

The Merlin had glycol cooling but the design was already fixed so the Spit had a very robust leading edge.

Odd that the evolution of the Spitfire was by such things.

The wings were small for the machine guns so they had to go where they could fit. I don't think the wing was desgned for 8 brownings.

[Juha]

IIRC the RR engine was Goshawk.

Juha