Guy Martin's Spitfire

[tony_d123]

19.30 on Sunday, October 12, 2014, on Channel 4


http://www.iomtt.com/News/2014/October/07/Guy-Martin-takes-to-the-skies-Spitfire.aspx

[Dave48]

Look forward to watching this-history & machinery beats "strictly come dancing"anyday in my book!

[locksmith]

Cheers for the heads up, just sky plus'd it on my phone in case I forget!

[Andy FZS]

+1 looking forward to it cheers

[locksmith]

Well, I happened to see the red recording light on the skybox. WTF is that on for?, had a look OH GUY MARTIN !!

Great programme

[bigralphie]

Grafting 7 days a week ,1 weeks holidays and you might be blown up at any time 
Bloody humbling the effort and spirit of everyday folk in the 30/40,s   

[fireblake]

Everyday I think to my self that I owe so much to so few. And am proud to be British


Mickey

[YamFazFan]

Missed it last night.Just watching the repeat on 4seven.Great prog .

[Exupnut]

It was really good, it was really good, it was really good. Why did he keep repeating his sentences. Why did he keep repeating his sentenced. Why did he keep repeating ......

[tony_d123]

Shame that they couldn't save much of the original plane but a testament to the original engineers and fitters when you saw how difficult it was and how long it took to reproduce parts. When they were fitting and refitting that wing skin to get a perfect fit, I wondered how many went out with gaps when they had to churn out 80 a week         

[YamFazFan]

It was really good, it was really good, it was really good. Why did he keep repeating his sentences. Why did he keep repeating his sentenced. Why did he keep repeating ......

Yeah I've noticed that!.

[YamFazFan]

Shame that they couldn't save much of the original plane but a testament to the original engineers and fitters when you saw how difficult it was and how long it took to reproduce parts. When they were fitting and refitting that wing skin to get a perfect fit, I wondered how many went out with gaps when they had to churn out 80 a week         

I find it hard to see how you could salvage anything from a plane that has been in the sea for nearly 50 years.Salt is bad enough on the roads in winter let alone being constantly submerged in it.It looked fantastic at the end tho.Really interesting to hear the memories of the veterans.Amazing people.

[Simon.Pieman]

When they were fitting and refitting that wing skin to get a perfect fit, I wondered how many went out with gaps when they had to churn out 80 a week         

I wish the bods on the Yamaha production line had taken half as much care fitting my Fazer's fairing infill panels. This would have saved me half a lifetime of faffing about with draught excluder and rubber bits trying to rid them of vibration.
 

[chris.biker]

It was really good, it was really good, it was really good. Why did he keep repeating his sentences. Why did he keep repeating his sentenced. Why did he keep repeating ......

Yeah I've noticed that!.

I have become very fed up with programmes that are delivered in the way programmes for schools were done.

[Skippernick]

Shame that they couldn't save much of the original plane but a testament to the original engineers and fitters when you saw how difficult it was and how long it took to reproduce parts. When they were fitting and refitting that wing skin to get a perfect fit, I wondered how many went out with gaps when they had to churn out 80 a week         

I find it hard to see how you could salvage anything from a plane that has been in the sea for nearly 50 years.Salt is bad enough on the roads in winter let alone being constantly submerged in it.It looked fantastic at the end tho.Really interesting to hear the memories of the veterans.Amazing people.

Ah yes but under water there is no air which is also needed in the process, although things still rust at a slower rate.

[YamFazFan]

Shame that they couldn't save much of the original plane but a testament to the original engineers and fitters when you saw how difficult it was and how long it took to reproduce parts. When they were fitting and refitting that wing skin to get a perfect fit, I wondered how many went out with gaps when they had to churn out 80 a week         

I find it hard to see how you could salvage anything from a plane that has been in the sea for nearly 50 years.Salt is bad enough on the roads in winter let alone being constantly submerged in it.It looked fantastic at the end tho.Really interesting to hear the memories of the veterans.Amazing people.

Ah yes but under water there is no air which is also needed in the process, although things still rust at a slower rate.

Good point .Would be interesting to know what the corrosion rate difference is on metals between being submerged in salt water & being exposed on land to salt spray consistently is?...bet somebody on here knows that

[Fazer Forever]

Just watched it last night. Was there any part of the original plane re-used? Seemed to be a new build with the old plane used for reference.
Still enjoyed it though. I'm an engineer by trade and can appreciate that level of skill.

[YamFazFan]

From what I could tell,very little indeed was used from the wreckage of the spitfire.It seems the big issue is establishing and having ownership of the identity of the original plane.Once you have that it appears that you can replace any number of parts (which in this case even included the fuselage),and it is still recognized as being the original aircraft.Apparently it also makes a difference when it comes to matters like approval etc...as it counts as a restoration/rebuild.But like you suggest it does seem to be pretty much a new build.They did a fantastic job on it tho didn't they.Brilliant engineering.

[BBROWN1664]

Just watched it on replay. It wasn't a rebuild it was a new build.
The thing that surprised me was how keen they were to get the build exactly on spec rather than build it like they did during the war.
The other thing that made me chuckle was the way they installed things like the prop just like they did in 1940. No torque wrench in site, just a bloke hanging off a pole to get it tight enough.

[richfzs]

Watching it now. It's fookin frustrating! There could be so much good information being passed out here, but it's dumbed down - as someone said above, like it was for junior schools. Typical of guy's recent programme though :-/

[Dave48]

Guy is a likeable "personality" but isnt the most articulate presenter is he? There is only so much "enthusiasm" can make up for a lack of ability to get a complex subject across to a broad viewing public. Like many on here I guess its the technical & historical aspects that I am interested in but your typical average member of the viewing public isnt interested to this extent.
Programme planners must target the largest possible audience so this requires a general "dumbing down" of the subject to include the viewers with limited attention spans (Is this why they have to interrupt progs every 15 mins with mind numbing adverts?)

[Deefer666]

Sorry but I found the program dull

[BBROWN1664]

I started my working life as an aircraft engineer and have always had an interest in WW2 etc so tried to see the good bits of the programme. There weren't many to be honest apart from the fact they were building the first Spitfire since 1950 or whenever but they didn't mention that, it was always "rebuilding so and so's Mk1 spitfire he crashed"
Guy is not the greatest presenter and the amount of bits they actually let him loose with on the two or three occasions he turned up to Duxford in the two years of the project were limited to things he couldn't really get wrong.

[fazerscotty]

But surely the best bit - Series 5 versus the .50 cal 
In my dreams.....

[Punkstig]

Enjoyable to watch, but too much repetition, 1 hour 20 minute programme that probably boils down to under an hour without all that!