What Happened?
Does anyone really now what happend to Christopher Harts Aircraft, why did the props just break and fall off?
share[deleted]
MovieChat Forums > Piece of Cake (1988) Discussion > What Happened?
When the series is set, the majority of RAF aircraft of that period had wooden props. Now if you use a spade with a wooden handle for long enough there's a good chance that the handle will break. This was the same with the props of the period. The aircraft got faster and more powerful and put simply, the wooden props were no longer suitable for the job and metals ones were fitted instead.
shareAnd as all the props broke at the same time, the other props probably broke because right after the first broke the rotation speed was to high for them to hold.
shareNot strictly true - later versions of the Spitfire (and no doubt some others) used a wood-laminate prop. In fact, they still do today.
In the book, if I can remember rightly, it's not Hart's plane but someone else's which suffers damaged props, and because of Rex's insistence on tight formation flying, the pilot collides with one of the others.
Indeed, many aircraft (such as the Spitfire and Hurricane) were fitted with wooden props that provided two pitch settings - one for take-off and the other for general flying - which the pilot had to operate. These were replaced later by metal props that were controlled automatically, so lessening the pilot's workload in the cockpit.
At least I think that's right!
The Spitfires used in this series were for obvious reasons wildly differing Marks... the Battle of Britain Marks did not have four bladed propellers....or cannons...I think I am right in saying that there were finally 24 Marks of Spitfire, not bad for an aircraft whose combat career basically lasted six years.. although many were used later, in Israel for example.
In the novel Hornet were equipped with Hurricanes, and , taking a wild guess as to why Spitfires were used,...there weren't many Hurricanes able to fly when the series was made... in the Battle of Britain era the Hurricane was used in more Fighter Command squadrons than any other and was in some ways a better aircraft. The Hurricane was a great deal stronger, more stable and a better gun platform having it's machine guns grouped more closely, and it's landing gear opened 'wide' unlike the Spitfire's 'narrow' meaning that a possibly badly wounded pilot had more chance of landing a Hurricane safely. The Hurricane wasn't as fast though and its high altitude performance was poor.Hurricanes quickly became obsolete after 1941, but were used quite successfully as ground attack fighter bombers in the Far East.
I loved this series, having just bought a region free DVD set from the USA. I first read the novel ten years ago, and was pleased to see that despite the inevitable removal of big chunks of the book that the series was excellent.
There were more Hurricanes in 1940 because the Hurri went into production first, and could be built more quickly than the Spit. This was because the fuselage used the old fashioned construction method of canvas around a welded tubular-steel frame. The Spitfire was made entirely from aluminium alloy skins, and production was initially limited by the availability of skilled workers trained in this method - British manufacturers did not start making 'all-metal' aircraft until around 1936, and it took some time to build up a skilled workforce.
shareWooden airplanes are easier to manufacture! The Mosquito which was built later in the war consisted almost entirely of wood so almost the entire plane could be manufactured in furniture and piano factories! And it kicked serious ass.
Think you can trust your cat? Think Again!
[deleted]
Hart's props were damaged from colliding with one of the other planes ... due to Rex's insistence on tight formation flying. What I could not figure out was why there was not another damaged plane???
share