I climbed a Spitfire Mk I. It was difficult to trim the aircraft as the stability was pretty much nuetral on the longitudinal axis.
I felt like the oil temperature was high from the begining. The aircraft started the channel free flight at the limit of 90 degrees. I had to have the radiator open in level flight at 4 1/2lbs @ 2800 rpm. The Operating Notes tell the pilot to close the radiator in level flight and open it on climb only if needed.
The rpm changes were rather dramatic too. A small control input caused large deflections in the rpm making it difficult to smoothly and precisely change.
I did not check FTH or anything, just getting a feel for the aircraft.
I dove to 420IAS and did manage to lose an aileron but still could perform and full deflection assymetrical pullout. The pullout again resulted in a loop with some grayout at the top but no blackout.
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