you are a picky bastard, aren't ya? what's a several hundred bhp between friends?

hey, you might know if this is true. A friend who was a RAAF aircraft tech, told me that when servicing those old merlin engined fighters, they couldn't open up full throttle on the ground or the torque reaction would tip the plane over till the wing tip touched the ground - is that true? And if so, what the hell would happen to the poor old chev? anyone got any training wheels...