16.04.2009, 12:16
Totally true. Since it was retired from active duty as late as 1963, there still alive some pilots that took part both in active squadrons and in the movie "Battle of Britain". I had the honour to met the guy that made an attacking pass at 1m above the ground in the first minutes of the movie:
![[Image: 071.jpg]](http://www.jaon.es/batallainglaterra/imagenesbatallainglaterra/071.jpg)
![[Image: 085.jpg]](http://www.jaon.es/batallainglaterra/imagenesbatallainglaterra/085.jpg)
![[Image: 103.jpg]](http://www.jaon.es/batallainglaterra/imagenesbatallainglaterra/103.jpg)
![[Image: 075.jpg]](http://www.jaon.es/batallainglaterra/imagenesbatallainglaterra/075.jpg)
More pictures of the recording of the movie here:
http://www.jaon.es/batallainglaterra/ba ... aterra.htm
Fore more info, I showed Il-2 to another of those pilots. He told that the flaps lasted one entire minute for complete their extension, since the wheel that actuates them (below left on the cockpit) use to be hard to move and there were remains of oil on it.
He also reported that their Merlins were limited to 1400 Cv for better engine endurance, but in the throttle there was a point that, if it was needed more power, it just had to be pushed forward, and then they got 1600 Cv.
There were a lot of accidents, and there's a false myth that most of them they were caused by the unstable thing that propeller rotated towards the inverse direction than the german one. In fact, Willy Messerschmitt itself helped to redesign fuselage and rudder to correct adverse effects of this.
There were also a known pilot, Messeger, that was famous by surviving many accidents. He crashed 3 in the same day. It's a popular thing told from mouth to mouth, that "Messerschmitt los construye y Messeguer los destruye" ("Messerschmitt builds and Messeguer destroys")
More pictures of the recording of the movie here:
http://www.jaon.es/batallainglaterra/ba ... aterra.htm
Fore more info, I showed Il-2 to another of those pilots. He told that the flaps lasted one entire minute for complete their extension, since the wheel that actuates them (below left on the cockpit) use to be hard to move and there were remains of oil on it.
He also reported that their Merlins were limited to 1400 Cv for better engine endurance, but in the throttle there was a point that, if it was needed more power, it just had to be pushed forward, and then they got 1600 Cv.
There were a lot of accidents, and there's a false myth that most of them they were caused by the unstable thing that propeller rotated towards the inverse direction than the german one. In fact, Willy Messerschmitt itself helped to redesign fuselage and rudder to correct adverse effects of this.
There were also a known pilot, Messeger, that was famous by surviving many accidents. He crashed 3 in the same day. It's a popular thing told from mouth to mouth, that "Messerschmitt los construye y Messeguer los destruye" ("Messerschmitt builds and Messeguer destroys")