Sunday, February 20th 2022.
The weather outside is horrible. 50 mph wind and driving rain. So I abandoned the idea of a walk and went for a spin in a Spitfire from Perranporth. Real-world weather on. Perranporth Airfield is an ex-RAF base perched on the cliffs of the North Cornwall coast.
See how it went:
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Perranporth Airfield
RAF Perranporth was a World War Two military airfield, a fighter station built in 1941 and decommissioned in 1945/6.
It is now run by Perranporth Flying Club Ltd. They offer air experience flights, trial lessons and PPL courses.
The airfield has examples of Second World War bunkers, air-raid shelters and revetments. Most are in very good condition, and Spitfire revetments can still be used to tie aircraft down.
Other activities taking place at Perranporth include parachuting, land yachting and cycling events. Clubs for radio-controlled cars and aircraft also operate there from time to time.
Parts of one runway and taxiways are used as an off-road driving school.
The scenery in the video is the Stairport payware version of the airfield, available from Justflight, Aerosoft, and several other flight simulation vendors.
Local Landmarks
There are several mines and a cave, close to the airfield, but these are not generally visible in the sim. The beach at Perranporth continues north for about three miles and is well represented with the Cornwall sandbank freeware scenery installed, available here.
Falmouth and the Carrick Roads estuary are visible to the South from a few hundred feet altitude.
I had an upgrade by Christian Grimsel that improved parts of the Cornish coast and modelled some of the mines to the Southwest of the airfield. I can't find it now (2026). Perhaps MSFS2024 made it obsolete.
RAF Portreath, a few miles to the Southwest, is still operational as a Reporting Post with a remote radar head within the UK Surveillance and Control System (UK ASACS). This upgrade offers some current scenery.
The Aircraft
Appropriate for the history, I made the video with the payware Flyingiron Spitfire IXc.
The Mk IX replaced the Mk V in June 1942. It allowed the RAF to go back on the offensive in occupied Europe, and resume the “circus”, “ramrod” and “rodeo” raids.
Its first combat success came on 30 July 1942, when a Spitfire Mk IX shot down an Fw 190.
Amongst other notable achievements, the Mk IX took part in the highest altitude combat of the Second World War, when it intercepted a Ju 86R at 43,000 feet over Southampton on 12 September 1942.
On 5 October 1944, Spitfire Mk IXs of 401 Squadron were the first Allied aircraft to shoot down a Me 262 Jet. The Mk IX remained in service until the end of the war.
Do you have narrated YouTube videos of simulator flights from Cornwall airfields? Send me a link or post it in the comments. I'll add those I like to this site.