13 DECEMBER 2008, Page 26

Prop forward

Sir: Like Mr Saunders (Letters, 6 December) I was irritated to see the obvious misdescription of what looks like a Yak-52 as a ‘Spitfire’ in the article on Nick and Giles English. It was a particularly sad mistake in the context of the article but hardly worth a letter, in my view.

However, if he must be pedantic, he should get his facts right. Almost all early Spitfires sported two-bladed propellers; later marks also used propellers with up to five (Mk 21) or even six blades.

Michael Lewis

High Barnet, Hertfordshire