Page 100 - Demo

98Monday I was Easy-Jetting to Geneva, and onwards by train to Sion.The plan was to meet up with an old friend of mine, ex RNZAF6, who would also be picking up a Mk IX Spitfire from Sion, and together we would head out for Warsaw. We had agreed to try and get one leg completed on the Monday but, when I arrived, our engineer was addressing a red-faced Swiss helicopter pilot in colourful Anglo-Saxon, for landing too close to our aircraft and damaging a panel. Not a good start but, looking on the positive side, it gave us time to go over our route, and anyway we had until Friday to get to Warsaw......... Tuesday dawned bright, with a great route forecast, our engineer had fixed the panel and, having not been arrested for assault on the helicopter pilot, declared our aircraft fully-fuelled and ready to go. Fully-fuelled is not much in the 109, as 84 gallons does not go far with a thirsty 27-litre Merlin %u2013 the Spitfire has the same engine, and normally the same amount of fuel, but the MK IX John was flying had extra tanks in the wings where the guns used to be. I was also conscious that the fuel in my aircraft sat in an %u2018L%u2019-shaped tank behind and underneath the pilot%u2019s seat (really great!), and useable fuel in the bottom part of the tank is, well, questionable when the gauge is low.So, 1%u00bd hours max was the plan, with Augsburg in Southern Germany our first destination. The night before, I had suggested to John that he might like to lead, as he could see a lot more out of the Spitfire than I could from the 109; in that gentle way of all New Zealanders, he said %u201cBugger off, the sun%u2019s in the wrong place!%u201dSion has a lovely long runway, at least for a 109, and the wind was kind and blowing straight down 07 at a gentle 10 knots %u2013 thank you, God. Much is talked about the 109, in all of its variants, and most have read about the landing characteristics which can be %u2018interesting%u2019,..... but the take-off - the take-off can be a trap for players. Willy Messerschmitt designed the 109 with the biggest available engine in the smallest possible airframe %u2013 it is smaller than the Spitfire, with a shorter wingspan and automatic slats7, to improve slow speed handling. The oleos8 are fixed to the fuselage (the wings can be removed in a heartbeat and, with them stacked alongside the fuselage, it could be rolled onto a railway wagon, and you are off to invade Russia, I suppose). The unfortunate consequence is that the