What's this about Spitfires at Enstone?

Thu 16 Feb 2012, 10:13

May be the Spitfire over Charlbury was one left over from Rissington
W W 2 thats where a lot of pilots did there training,I went to school
in Chippy,and on those days when the sun did shine, and not a cloud
in the sky, only Spitfires, from Rissington.

Wed 15 Feb 2012, 09:59

The link on Harriet's post of 4th Feb tells the story.

Wed 15 Feb 2012, 01:38

What is the truth about the Enstone B36? Did they fly it out off the short runway with just enough fuel to make it to Brize, or did they take it away in sections?

Wed 15 Feb 2012, 01:35

Bryan, that was a B36, a mutated monster of mixed pusher propeller engines and 4 jets. I saw a squadron overfly the NE at Toronto in the 50s as a boy in Canada. They were highly impractical, would have been shot down in droves and I doubt one would have made it to Moscow. The near supersonic B47 when it came into service when they shrank the fusion bombs was much more difficult to intercept with current and near future technology and was a really credible threat.

Sat 11 Feb 2012, 07:02

Going back to the B47 at Enstone, Mrs Benfeild who lived at CUCKOOS HOLT,
said that when it went over the house it missed the chimney by a fag paper,
(thats close)

Sun 5 Feb 2012, 12:39

Brian
I remember the B36, as lads we cycled to Enstone to marvel at this monster,what I rember is it was parked up by the Tew road side of the airfield so you could get a good look at it, was not there at take off unfortunatley, one rumour we heared, was that it had to be dismantled. I am sure there are a few more stories to tell.

Sat 4 Feb 2012, 15:36

Having told me to post that he remembered it, he's now sent me a link

www.raf-upper-heyford.org/Mishaps/Village_Alert_BA.jpg

It was a B36, which is bigger than the B47

Sat 4 Feb 2012, 15:24

My father used to live at Kiddington, he remembers it. Doesn't remember how they got rid of it, but apparently there was a lot of speculation as to how this would happen.

Sat 4 Feb 2012, 02:44

Never mind Spitfires at Enstone, can any body remember a B 47 USA
bomber landing on the runway at Enstone.

Fri 3 Feb 2012, 09:06

Just to clarify the issue a little, if you saw and heard a real Spitfire a few weeks ago, complete with Merlin engine, then it probably came from the flying school at Kidlington.

The Enstone project involves building a squadron of replica Spitfires, which are kits obtained from a company in the USA and are 90% scale - the shape is correct but they are a bit smaller than the real thing. The other major difference is that the replicas will have a V6 engine in them, not the original Merlin, so the noise will be completely different. My understanding is that one of these is now in the process of being built, so none is flying yet.

Fri 3 Feb 2012, 07:01

This link should explain everything.
www.enstoneflyingclub.co.uk/news_item2.php?wnID=1077&PHPSESSID=126c8be51bd04b2ef8ed2938d73918fb

Fri 3 Feb 2012, 01:00

I've not heard the news but saw a Spitfire doing aerobatics over Charlbury a few weeks ago for a couple of days, which really excited my 9 yr old who has just done WWII at school. Could someone tell me what is going on? I heard the engine noise - unmistakable sound of a RR Merlin - and went outside and saw it tooling around. An inspiring sight indeed.