Spitfire Control Handle

[Sergio]

My old friend had an aircraft control handle (top of control stick) that he always said was from a Spitfire. I know little about this. He recently passed on and his wife has given me this control handle. I cannot imagine it was ever used for a Spitfire. The ones I have found on the web are circular and bound in cord. This is straight (ish) and has many numbers but the one on a plate says: 'PT NO AC 10522'. The 'NO' beneath this is 35381.

Can anyone confirm that this was fitted to a Spitfire and if so, which Mark etc??

Thank you very much.

 

[mjfur]

Looks a bit Hawker Hunter'ish.

RAF HAWKER HUNTER aircraft pilot cockpit control stick grip | eBay

Hawker Hunter grip with a little wear (e.g. slight crazing on button guard, etc) but is in great working condition.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[Wurger]

For sure not the Spitfire one. The plane used a different style and type control stick. It looks like the grip used for the Gloster Meteor and both de Havilland Venom and Vampire , the RAF early jets.

the pic source: the net.

 

[Sergio]

Thank you Wurger sir! and Mjfur. Most helpful. The photos look identical to the control handle I recently inherited. It's a pity it's not from a Spitfire.

Now here's a tale. The only control stick I have ever held was inside a new EE 'Lightning' at Warton aerodrome. My uncle George was a progress chaser there and as a twelve-year-old living in Lytham, one Saturday morning he talked me past the entrance gate security and into a large assembly hangar. In those days (late 1950s), local lads like me got to know these all those jets taking off from Warton over the years as the P1, P1A and P1B. I was asked if I'd like to sit inside one of the line of P1Bs or Lightnings in that hangar. How could I refuse? I remember climbing a step ladder and grabbing the stick which I vaguely recall looked a bit like the one I now possess..

Agh! Memories.

 

[Wurger]

My pleasure.

 

[Sergio]

I was curious about why my friend thought this was a Spitfire control grip and in trying to find when it was used, I can see the general type was used on de Havilland Vampires and Venoms and on Gloster Meteor as identified by Wurger. However, the buttons at the tip of the control grip for the de Havilland applications are different to my own which I have learned are identical to those fitted to later Gloster Meteor Night Fighters. The C-Button is for CAMERA; the M-Button is for MUTE (VHF).

The Pilot's Notes for Meteor Mk 4 shows a very Spitfire-esque cord-bound, circular handle that may have created confusion somewhere along the line.

The Pilot's Notes for the Meteor Mks 11 to 14 Night Fighters show a handle identical to my own complete with C and M Buttons, Gun Safety Switch and Brake Lever.

So a final thank you for your knowledge that has resolved this little conundrum.

 

[Wurger]