Guys,
This clip as been around for a couple of years. It has been discussed at
length on the Spitfire forums. Here is the scoop as I understand it. They
were filming a documentary for the 60th anniversary of the Spitfire. Ray
Hanna, flying Spitfire MKIX serial number MH434, was supposed to fly over
the reporter and the camera. It was a timed deal, with the reporter
finishing his speech and the airplane arriving a second or two later. In
addition to the reporter, the camera operator, and the soundman, there was
also a aerial coordinator in radio contact with the airplane. This was the
first take.

The airplane did not take off and fly over the reporter. The airplane was
already in the air and made a low pass. A very low pass. Mr. Hanna has a
reputation of flying very low. I have another clip (if I can find it) where
he is flying in an airshow and he actually goes out of sight, below the
level of the runway (which was built up above the average ground level).
All you can see is the prop tips and the vertical fin.

The pass was lower than expected and caught the reporter off guard. You can
imagine what it was like, standing under 1650hp. The airplane is very low
as it approaches. Many self proclaimed experts have said the the bottom of
the airplane is less than 4 feet off the ground as it approaches. The
airplane does appear to rise up as it approaches the camera but it is not
more than 20 feet or so.

If you have trouble viewing it on the link as posted, it is on my site as
well:
http://www.spitfire.org/doc9/ohmygod1.wmv
you need Windows Media Player to view it.

You can read about Ray Hanna, Spitfire MH434 and their adventures he
http://www.ofmc.co.uk/aircraft/spitfire.htm

Rick Pellicciotti, webmaster,
http://www.spitfire.org