The Aircrafts of each side.

The Hawker Hurricane.

The Supermarine Spitfire.

The Messerschmitt  Bf 109.

The Messerschmitt Bf 110.

The Junkers Ju87B Stuka

The German heavy long range Bombers.

 

 

The Hawker Hurricane

 

 

 

 

The Hawker Hurricane was one of the two best RAF fighters in the WW2. Although it had a fuselage made of  linen, it was the first modern aeroplane of Royal air force. The production started in 1935 and the plane came in service in the same year. The Hurricane was motorized with a Rolls-Roys Merlin III of 1,030 horse power. It was easy to pilot for young and unexperimented pilots and it gave them the confidence that they needed to come into the air battle. The Hurricane was equiped with eight Browning gun-machines (7.69mm) that gave it a quite high power of destruction. However, its performances were lower than those of the best axis fighters, especially the Messerschmit Bf 109. That is why the main role of the Hurricane pilots was to shoot down the slow bombers of the Luftwaffe that flew above Britain while the Spitfires, faster and easier to handle had to fight with the redoubtable fighters Bf 109. However in the hands of a skilled pilot, the Hurricane could achieve great success. In fact during the Battle of Britain between July and October 1940, 1.720 of them took part and had the honour of claiming 80% of enemy aircraft shot down by Fighter Command.

 

 

As a Hurricane pilot I had a certain fear and respect for the Me 109. For one thing, it could dive faster. If an Me 109 pilot saw you, it would drop down taking a shot at you, go past, pull the stick back and start climbing very fast. You just couldn'y keep up with him. The only way to overcome this was to roll over inverted and dive after him in positive g. When the 109 pulled up to level out or climb, we'd aileron-turn to right way up and see his plan view and get in a perfect shot.
The Hurricanes visibility was pretty good, except above and below to the rear. The mirror was useful, but not as effective as it might have been. I replaced mine with a curved rear view mirror, and actually felt it gave me a touch extra speed besides giving a better view.
I once looked in my mirror and saw the biggest, fattest Me 109 ever, or so it seemed. All at once his front lit up as he fired at me. The 109 went over the top, to be followed by my No.2, who was firing at me! When we got down I put him on gun practice for two days and told him "Don't shoot at your friends.....and if you shoot at anything, make sure you hit it!"
Air Commodore Peter Brothers CBE, DSO, DFC.
formally Fl/Lt P. M.Brothers 32 and 257 Squadrons

 

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The Supermarine Spitfire.

 

 

The Spitfire has matched the reputation that no other aircraft had in history. That plane had the highest performance of any other fighters at that time. It was the first fighter of the RAF that was only made of metal: the concept of the Spitfire began in 1930 and the first project was called F.7/30. Its cockpit formed part of the design lines of the body, and the undercarriage was retractable so that any form of resistance to the wind was removed. By 1935, the aircraft with the Rolls Royce PV12, later called Merlin, and its four Browning machine gun gave better performances than expected.The Spitfire MK I. went into service in August 1938 and the performances were improved with a new motor of 1,175 horse power. Before the battle of Britain, the Spitfires acted in Norway and flew above France, giving the protective cover at Dunkirk.

 

 

In the battle, although the Spitfire was more manoeuvrable, faster and could climb faster than all axis fighters, the qualities of the pilots were also important to win an air battle: those who piloted Spitfires and even Hurricanes did not have the experience of the German pilots who already fought in Spain.

The Spitfire was produced in many versions until after the World War two. It is still the most famous aircraft of the war and was one of the best fighters of its time.

 

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The Messerschmitt  Bf 109.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The plans of the Messerschmit 109 were made in 1934 by Willy Messerschmit. At that time it was the best fighter in the world because of the power of its motor and of the fineness of the fuselage. It has been tested during the war in Spain where it has proved the qualities in speed handling and climbing rate. The Messerschmit 109 acted as a fighter during the battle of France but it had no real opponent because France only had a small aviation. Although it also escorted the heavy bombers above the cities, it had another role in the battle of Britain, which was to attack with bombs the English airfields and to destroy the RAF on the ground. However the Messerschmitt 109 showed its drawbacks before, during and after the battle: the undercarriage was too thin and it was extremely difficult to land or to take off ( 5 percent of the Messerschmits that crashed did it during landing or takeoff), and the working range was too short so that the protection to bombers was really effective. The Messerschmit 109 was the most produced aircraft in Germany and it was the best axis fighter until 1942.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Messerschmitt Bf 110.

 

 

 

This double-engined aircraft was specially made in 1934 to escort heavy bombers and to protect them from the fighters that could attack them. However the Messerschmit 110,although it flew as fast as single-engined fighters, was not as manoeuvrable as them. Quickly the Me 110 became an escorting plane who needed its own escort! Then it has been moved away from the battle of England and had another role which was the role of night-fighter against British bombers.

 

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The Junkers Ju87B Stuka

 

 

The Stuka was a nose diving bomber whose horrible looking and screaming siren became famous in the armies of the World War two. Unfortunately the aircraft had so low performances that the RAF shot down a great number of them: It was awkward in the air and could not go as fast as the other aircrafts. Like the Me 110 it was moved away very quickly from the battle of Britain.

 

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The German heavy long range Bombers:

 

- The Dornier Do17Z


- The Heinkel He 111


-The Junkers Ju 88A: the best heavy bomber of the Luftwaffe

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