Honda-SOHC
SOHC.co.uk Forums => Other Bikes => Topic started by: Otis on August 01, 2026, 05:58:28 PM
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Whilst visiting Goodwood today for the Brighton and Hove Road Club sprint event I noticed this lovely Vincent owned, from what I could gather, by the chap in the green jumpsuit behind. He also happens to be the two seater Spitfire pilot that was taking off and landing all day.
An eye watering fact that the lady in the Aerodrome told me is that a 20 minute passenger ride in the Spitfire costs £3,500 and it is fully booked for just about ever from people all over the world. I dare say there are others in the world but if one had the means can you imagine the experience of flying a Spitfire across the South of England in the summertime.
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Now that is certainly something that I would love to do, but alas a bit beyond me.
I have flown a Spitfire and an Me109 simulator though.
Cheers
Dennis
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You can have a 15 taxi ride in a Lancaster for about £500 at lincolnshire aviation.
Sound pricey but consider a merlin overhaul at north of £80,000 every 250 hours of running
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Looks like a "chap" with his life sorted out, a Spitfire and a Vincrnt 1000 Rapide (think that's correct) to blatt around on.
Before my personal history began :) my father raced his Vincent in production class at various circuit.
I've his 3rd place trophy from 1953 TT races along with helmet worn and rider number bib.
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I did overhear them saying that the wheels were not correct but that was to enable modern tyres to be used. If only that was the only thing to worry about hey?
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Looking at the angle between the front brake cable and the operating arm, I guess it will very soon want re-lining. Hope it does not reflect on the Spitfie!!!
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I did overhear them saying that the wheels were not correct but that was to enable modern tyres to be used. If only that was the only thing to worry about hey?
The originals rims were 19 inch, I believe. Makes sense with currently available rubber to change over into 18 inch with high profile in a matching diameter. My dad used Avon in specially supplied soft compound for the TT.
Unsure if the Rapide was fitted with that original Smiths 150 mph speedo as that was Black Shadow originally. Possibly if its a later series bike as the forks also changed from steel tubes to those aluminium forged "blades" that were original to Black Shadow spec too.
Very interesting bikes, with near enough zero frame (headsock and rear sections bolted to fully stressed engine structure) with cantilever rear and those "Girdraulic" front fork arrangement and centralised spring.
The aluminium alloy in fork blades was essentially linked to high strength alloy program from Spitfire aero development too, ultimately leading to products like Duralumin in more general engineering.
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Looking at the angle between the front brake cable and the operating arm, I guess it will very soon want re-lining. Hope it does not reflect on the Spitfie!!!
Does look a bit odd set like that, doesn't it.
My father's one ran Elektron (high magnesium content alloy) brake plates there, with a much stronger balance bar across between the cables at top of fork from factory development program stock.
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What I love about this forum is that from a simple photograph a torrent of interesting knowledge, snippets and anecdotes come forth. All very interesting points and observations.
Thank you all.
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On the Spitfire comment- I live near Leeds Castle in Kent and we see Spitfires doing those £3.5k trips most days- so as they say- someone's got money! When I was a kid, living in Welling- the only Spitfire I saw was the one hanging from fishing-line from my bedroom ceiling. occasionally, we would go out for a picnic in the car and pass biggin hill and see the 'gate guardians' - but when you consider i was born only 10 years after WW2 ended, they disappeared fairly quickly from the sky's, as vintage fighters or enthusiasts toys.
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Talking of Spitfires.............I am a volunteer tour guide at the Battle of Britain Bunker in Uxbridge, Middlesex.
This was the home of Number 11 Group Fighter Command. The Air-Vice Marshal was Sir Keith Park, a New Zealander who was a WW1 fighter ace. The Air-Chief Marshal of RAF Fighter Command was Sir Hugh Dowding who was also a WW1 fighter ace. Between them Dowding and Park perfected the Air Defence of Great Britain using the plotting system that became known as The Dowding System (and is still used to this day in modified form).
RAF Fighter Command was split into four control groups when it was formed in 1936, these being 10, 11, 12 and 13 Groups. No.11 Group looked after the airspace of London and the South East and was located 60ft below ground at RAF Uxbridge and is the only surviving control bunker left. Everything in the bunker is original apart from the green lampshades (they went over to fluorescent lighting later in the war) and the Tote Board. The Control Room set up as it was at 11:30am on Sunday 15th September 1940; this is now known and celebrated every year as Battle of Britain Day.
My uncle was stationed at RAF Kenly in Surrey and was ground crew servicing the Hurricanes that flew from the base. Kenly was under 11 Group Control.
I flew in a 2 seat spitfire in 2022 from Biggin Hill, another airfield under 11 Group Control. The aircraft I flew in has a history having shot down a ME 109 during the D-Day landings in June 1944. It was converted to a 2 seat training aircraft just after the war. To say the experience was unforgettable would be an understatement! We flew from Biggin Hill to Folkestone where we did a low pass, full 360 around the RAF Fighter Memorial below to the amazement of the visitors looking up! The aircraft had a full cockpit layout in the second seat and I was allowed to fly it for 10 minutes despite having never flown! On the way back we did some rolls, absolutely amazing. Pilots said you didn’t fly a Spitfire; you wore it as it fitted around you.
Expensive, yes, very, worth it, absolutely to be flying in a piece of history and to remember not only my uncle but also the 2900 pilots of ‘The Few’. 545 of these brave men died during the Battle of Britain, another 600 were burnt or wounded in their aircraft during the battle and another 800 of those ‘Few’ died in other theatres of WW11. The average age of a Fighter Pilot during the Battle of Britain was between 18-24; the average age of the WAAF’s who were sending them into battle via the plotting table at Uxbridge was also between 18-24. Not a single pilot in the RAF knew the control bunkers existed during the war, all they knew was they were told to fly to a vector and the Luffwaffe would then suddenly appear!
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What I love about this forum is that from a simple photograph a torrent of interesting knowledge, snippets and anecdotes come forth. All very interesting points and observations.
Thank you all.
Yes, i love the banter! If your moniker is anything to do with lifts, i served my apprenticeship with them in the early 70's. As for Honda 400/4's, Ive had 3 of the since 1980 something- They were either too expensive or too small for me and the Mrs, Life and kids got in the way and she 'banned' me from owning another bike after my big accident in '79. But that didn't stop me.
On Leverda Dave's comment- fantastic stuff. Im related to, by marriage to - Nigel Day. He's a very interesting chap to talk to about flying. obviously more modern kit, but he trained in Hawks, from memory. He's on Wiki if you dont know who he is. Ive not seen him since last year as time just slips by, doesn't it.
I must get my honda out- but with the builders her for at least another week- its locked by gawd knows what.
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My daughter has promised me a flight in a Spitfire as a reward for staying alive last year. I didn't argue, it was on my bucket list. I'll post when she books it, she's booking a observation plane at the same time so they can follow the Spit around and video it.
Saying that she also booked the WW2 fighter flight experience I had in 2016. It ended up being in a Tiger Moth, hardly a fighter but I'm not arguing. I've posted about the flight before but I'll just say the engine blew up mid flight, massive bang and then silence. My very first thought was "I'm going to be on the news tonight" but the pilot managed to glide and make it back to the airfield we'd taken off from. Which oddly was right next to Darley Moor race track for bikes, as we banked round I spotted it and said "I used to race there", we were chatting about it as he made his approach. Weird things seem to happen to me a lot.
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On the Spitfire comment- I live near Leeds Castle in Kent and we see Spitfires doing those £3.5k trips most days- so as they say- someone's got money! When I was a kid, living in Welling- the only Spitfire I saw was the one hanging from fishing-line from my bedroom ceiling. occasionally, we would go out for a picnic in the car and pass biggin hill and see the 'gate guardians' - but when you consider i was born only 10 years after WW2 ended, they disappeared fairly quickly from the sky's, as vintage fighters or enthusiasts toys.
Ah yes, Leeds Castle owned by Sir Gawain and Lady ? Sir Gawain owned a compressor engineering company called HPC Engineering. A good friend whom I no longer see was a director of HPC and milked his position for years because he had a good relationship with the boss. When the son took over my friend was the first one out the door and to be honest, it was well deserved. Back in the early 60's I lived in Addington, not far from Biggin Hill and whilst aware of special things above I was too young to appreciate the significance at the time.
It's great hearing these anecdotes from similar generations.
PS, the Moniker Otis is not to do with lifts but I always liked the name when he was Lex Luthor's sidekick in the Superman movie.
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I have never been in a Spitfire
But had a PPL ,and flew around most of southern England
Favourite flyaway field is Compton Abbott, near Shaftesbury and once flew in to Thruxton, no racing obviously
I have also sat in the LH seat of 2 Mossies
Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk
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Spitfire experience too expensive for my tastes- but I too used to fly out of Rochester in the mid-80s when things were a bit more lapsed. To put things into significance- the owner of one of the planes was a fork-lift truck driver. The owner of the plane I flew was b=my next door neighbours- a Financier (thats someone who spends other peoples money, so he used to tell me)
My first bike that i was allowed to bike is 25 years old next week- it too has faired well (R1- Blue) and looks in better nick than my 400/4, which has passed through many hands and has been in mine since 2009. I shall hopefully take it for a spin this week but only if it cools down a bit.
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What I have considered now and then is a ride in a different classic, a Tiger Moth. :)
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I wouldnt do that- the engines go pop! :-)
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I wouldnt do that- the engines go pop! :-)
Yes, but they glide nicly too! ;D
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Mine kept running luckily and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
(https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/5804/XrwgvY.jpg)
Cheers
Dennis
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I dropped in to Goodwood a while back on my bike. I was sitting in the sun enjoying a coffee when a guy wandered over in flying kit. We had a quick chat about bikes etc, and he walked off towards the aircraft parking area.
About 10 minutes later, he came back and said he was taking a Stearman up for a flight to keep his hours up, and had a spare seat, so would I like to go with him. I thought this man is a complete stranger, the aircraft is circa 1930s, I’d be mad to accept his offer. So I did. We went for a 45 minute flight out over the channel, and he let me take the controls for a spell. The seating in a Stearman is tandem, so I was in the front. It was incredible.
When we landed I offered to pay for the fuel, but he declined. I bought him a bacon sarnie and a coffee.
He said he was in the army, and when I pressed for more details, he just said he was in ‘logistics'.
That was quite a day!
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The most exciting thing I've flown in was a Wessex helicopter with the door open. 8) That was as a soldier in NI, being near the border we travelled that way quite a lot those days. The nosiest but roomiest flight was in a Hercules transport going from UK to Gibraltar, however a five hour flight without a loo had it's own complications! ;D
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I was lucky enough to have a flight in Spitfire for my 60th (several years ago) out of Duxford. It was a fantastic experience and if I had enough money I’d certainly do it again. A very generous birthday present from my wife, who did it because I had been involved with the design, installation and commissioning of an engine test bed to test Griffon and Merlin engines after being rebuilt.
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Some of my most interesting flights were at Boscombe Down when I worked there for a few years. It's a Government test airfield so a whole range of aircraft based there, at the time it went from Harvards to Lockheed Tristar, plus a range of helicopters.
I got a flight in a Hercules doing test drops on Salisbury Plain. We were standing in the back with the rear door open. On the way to the drop site the Harvard chase plane came right up under the tail of the Hercules really close. When the loads were dropped the Harvard spiralled around the parachute filming it to analyse the behaviour.
Another flight was in an Andover on a "training flight" to Jersey and back. Beats working!