[TheForge] OT: this is driving me crazy...

[Andrew Vida]

...so I will ask you guys because you are all smarter than I am.

The other day I watched "The Battle Of Britain"... 1969, Christopher 
Plummer, James Fox, Laurence Olivier, and so forth.  I will use any 
excuse to watch or listen to Spitfires.  Yes, I am weak.

Anyhow, there are several scenes where the Luftwaffe are handing the 
Brits their heads as they bomb the living snot out of their airfields.

Does anyone know whether all those Spits and Hurricanes that were blow'd 
up real good were surplus real-deal aircraft or props?  The thought that 
anyone would have destroyed that many real aircraft for the sake of film 
makes my head hurt with some non-trivial violence.  I have a similar 
reaction any time I see really nice things destroyed in the name of 
cinema verité.  Seeing, for example, a very nice Porsche or Bentley or 
Ferrari, etc., being wrecked for the sake of action sets my stomach to 
queasiness.

A friend says they were props... but when you see them go and as the 
skins burn away, there is an AWFUL lot of very authentic looking detail 
that tracks strongly with my meager knowledge of those airframes. 
Almost nobody knows about this stuff, so why would the model makers put 
that much work into details nobody would know about or care?  That is 
why I think they blow'd up the real things.  And why go through the 
trouble of making uber-realistic engine models as well?  In fact, I have 
no doubt those were real Merlins.

Anyone?