Jerry Billings- some say the Canadian "Ray Hanna' Spitfire Master

Read the forum code of contact

Member for

17 years 5 months

Posts: 117

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sibefRmGmJ4

Old film of Jerry flying his MKIX Spitfire - reminds me of the many Ray Hanna displays I had the privilege of witnessing over the years

Be sure to check out the other clips of Jerry - fascinating Gentleman

Original post

Member for

17 years 7 months

Posts: 1,135

Excellent!

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,435

What a find, Biggles, thanks for posting. 13 minutes of, well, words are hard to describe....amazing flying. Plenty of 'moments' for today's airshow attendee to goggle at! The old film format (16mm?) complete with clatter, and the rich colour hues really take me back to another age of display flying. I've never seen a slow flypast of a Spitfire (including knife-edge in a crosswind) as seen here. I once asked a current Hurricane pilot if he would consider a dirty flyby, the answer being if the engine missed, his options were very limited, so no. It looks at about 9:00 that the spectators are in line with the landing strip/display axis, as the aircraft overshoots in front of them. A unique viewing perspective! Plenty of crackling Merlin exhaust in evidence...:rolleyes: The last sequence of Jerry landing in the light aircraft and climbing out are very poignant...'We made it...' He says to the cameraman. Jerry, you certainly did!

Member for

12 years 8 months

Posts: 400

Many thanks for linking to this - what an outstanding 13 mins of video and what a man. Utterly joyous to see and hear.

Member for

12 years 4 months

Posts: 277

Some great flying indeed, and some great passes, although it could of been interesting for the group of people if the engine hadn't picked up during the touch n go .

Member for

12 years 9 months

Posts: 1,078

The aircraft is now on display at the Seattle Museum of Flight. Great footage, thanks for posting!