I haven’t ever seen a flyby this low before, especially not in an awesome World War 2-era fighter plane. The Spitfire is long renowned as one of the winners of the British front of WW2, playing crucial roles in the Battle of Britain, among others. It’s powered by a huge 27-litre Rolls Royce V12 producing anywhere between 1030 horsepower and 2340 horsepower. The sound would have been astronomical to say the least. Especially skimming the head of a television reporter!

The Spitfire was perceived by the public to be the icon of the Battle of Britain, despite the Hurricane actually doing more work against the Nazi Luftwaffe. Spitfire units, however, had a lower attrition rate and a higher victory-to-loss ratio than those flying Hurricanes because of its higher performance. They became the backbone of the RAF after the Battle of Britain. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber and trainer, and it continued to serve in these roles until the 1950s.

Needless to say, I don’t think any of the cast or crew of this documentary were expecting the velocity combined with the altitude of the Spitfire. Looks great though!