If It Can Fly, It Can Float!!!

[Wayne Little]

Wow...

 

[vikingBerserker]

Nice!

 

[Old Wizard]

 

[AMCKen]

I assume these have been shown. I'm only 50 pages behind in viewing.

 

[stona]

The second linked photograph of a catapult launch is FAKE. The original photograph, which has been doctored to show a Spitfire with floats is of US Navy Lt Fred Hunter piloting an OS2U-3 Kingfisher of Cruiser Scouting Squadron 1 as it is catapulted off the cruiser USS Detroit in the Aleutians, 1943-44.
If you don't believe me here it is.

It's not even a good fake!

The first liked photograph is a genuine image of MJ892, the prototype F Mk IX floatplane Spitfire taken at Beaumaris in July 1944.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Wurger]

A nice catch Steve.

 

[stona]

Easy, I KNOW that such an aircraft never existed. It took me about five minutes to find the original 'Kingfisher' photograph as the float arrangement looked rather familiar
Cheers
Steve

 

[Wurger]

Anyway , someone did some work to fiddle the second image. To be honest it isn't too difficult to do using the Photoshop for instance.

 

[stona]

Anyway , someone did some work to fiddle the second image.

Not very well. He never got rid of the bottom of the original aircraft, that line is nothing like a Spitfire. He also forgot the surround of the original US national marking on the fuselage. Those are just the ones that jumped out at me, I'm sure there are more.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Wurger]

Yep, you are right.

 

[Airframes]

Steve beat me to it !
My first reaction when I saw the image was "What the ....", as I knew that marque had not been trial fitted with floats, and if it had been, it certainly wouldn't have been a single, central sponson !
It didn't take long to figure out that the floats were form a Kingfisher or similar, and then the poor montaging was obvious.
Good stuff Steve.

 

[buffnut453]

Have to say, despite all the issues with the photoshopping, that I rather like the look of the single-float Spit. That said, I can't imagine what such a contraption would have been like to pilot - I imagine the torque from the Griffon would have created all sorts of problems for stability on the water.

 

[Airframes]

And the wing floats would have had the whole caboodle bouncing around like a Hippocroccofrog's t*ts !!

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots guys!

 

[stona]

And the wing floats would have had the whole caboodle bouncing around like a Hippocroccofrog's t*ts !!

'Tramping' was a problem with the Spitfire floatplanes that were built. They also had very little directional control when 'taxying' on water and invariably had to be recovered using a boat. Add that to leaky floats, meaning the aircraft had to be dragged out on a slipway to allow the floats to drain, something not necessarily possible on any operational deployment, and its not difficult to see why so few were converted.
Cheers
Steve

 

[Graeme]

Well, someone is having fun on the net!

Spitfireproject

 

[stona]

Another bad photoshop job. There's more crap on that website than in a festival portaloo.

I don't mind a bit of fun, the problem is that people will believe anything, just look at the 'history according to random people' thread.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Airframes]

Looks like that one, had it been real, would go straight into the drink - look at the elevators !!

 

[Shinpachi]

Oh, I can't blame him.....

 

[Wayne Little]

Spitty on floats is just not right.....regardless!