Posted on 05/08/2025 5:11:39 AM PDT by DFG
It was the plane that pilots 'put on' rather than flew; the beautiful beast that left even the Germans waxing lyrical.
If you ask people today what typified British defiance the most in the Second World War, many of them will tell you it was the Spitfire.
So when I got the chance to take to the skies in one - and even briefly take control - on a sunny morning in March, I knew that this would be the experience of a lifetime.
Today, as Britain marks the 80th anniversary of VE Day, we are rightly remembering the men and women who gave their lives in the fight against Nazi tyranny.
But it was specifically the bravery of 'The Few' - those young pilots who kept Hitler at bay during the Battle of Britain in 1940 - who I had in mind as I was flown above Cambridgeshire by a former Red Bull Air Race champion.
And the fact that we were flying from the historic Duxford Aerodrome - the wartime home of the Spitfire that is now a popular Imperial War Museum site - made it even more fitting.
Less then two weeks later, news of the death of the last surviving Battle of Britain pilot, 105-year-old John Paddy Hemingway, was broken by the Daily Mail.
Like many other pilots, Mr Hemingway flew both the Spitfire and its great wartime counterpart, the Hurricane.
The debate about which aircraft was more consequential continues to rage.
But none of that drama was on my mind as I arrived at Duxford with my brilliant colleagues, videographer Amogh George and photographer Nick Edwards.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The Mustang indeed had much longer range and was faster, but the Spitfire could out-turn, out-climb, and out-dive the Mustang when comparing contemporary variants. It was a smaller plane and a near perfect interceptor. The Mustang was a bit larger with a modern wing design (allowing almost laminar airflow), and was the premier escort fighter.
and many believed better armed with 6 50 cal.
Again, it all depends on the mission. The 20mm cannons on the Spitfire were superior in knocking out large slow moving bombers (although I can't defend the .303s) whereas the .50s on the Mustang were superior for taking down smaller, lightly built figher planes. Another interceptor vs escort thing.
The USA’s use of big, powerful radial engines(P47 Thunderbolt, F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair)turned out to be the way to go in piston-powered fighters.
Those are my three favorite fighters of the era. The radials were perfect for the navy, but in terms of the Thunderbolt vs the Mustang, the Mustang had better range and was far, far cheaper to manufacture than the big brute Thunderbolt. (I still like the Thunderbolt better than the Mustang, but understand why all but the 56th FG switched to the Mustang.)
Reading WW2 newspapers, I’m under the impression that we were providing 100 octane gas to England, both for our planes and theirs.
There was and is a small refinery in The Bahamas. The only reason I know about it is that a friend of mine worked contract in that plant for about a year. I think Sunoco owns it now.
“The Spitfire was a great airplane but I liked the Hawker Typhoon as well.”
The Typhoon was hot. I do love a Mosquito though.
I would imagine that during the war the true numbers were classified. No sense in giving the enemy any ideas.
How did the US save the day in the Battle of Britain?
Well from 1939 until early 1942 when USA deployed troops to Europe but I don’t think we did much fighting until late 1942 in north Africa
And remember Hitler was killing women and children by bombing
So yes England bore the brunt for a long time
A great design, but it wasn't perfected until Packard Motor Cars, of Detroit, started manufacturing it. This fact is often lost on many Brits.
And wildcat…but the Spitfire was a damned good plane as an interceptor fighter early in the war and was heavily improved throughout the war and into the early jet era.
And nobody remembers the Hurricane workhorse that did most of the killing.
I hate Britain and anything from Britain. We fought a war to gain our freedom from British rule. Ever since that war, the Brits have worked to weaken the USA!!
I am not a hating man. But Frig” Britain and its ilk!!
It was Aruba. The reason the showing was unsuccessful was that the german gone malfunctioned and blew up in the barrel. The Germans were forced to withdraw, and they cut off the barrel to make their deck gun kind of a snub nose until they got home. But at that time, the British also got oil from Iran , ultimately Texas oil was critical for the war.
I am not diminishing what the Brits did, it was monumental. When the main battle wound down in late 1940 Germany was still bombing England into 1941. Hitler’s mistake was after the Brits made an attack on Berlin, he ordered Goering to start targeting cities. Up until that point the German’s were making headway destroying Britain’s military infrastructure, so it was just a matter of time before Britain could have capitulated (we will never know because the battle plan changed).
The 2 events that eventually saved Britain was Hitler’s turn toward Russia in preparation for the invasion in June 1941 and then the Japanese handed Britain a bigger gift on December 7th.
I took my young boys to a warbird museum near Warner Robins AFB. They had a Merlin on display with its casing sliced open to reveal its innards. My youngest son, about four years old, ducked under the ropes and put that engine in a loving embrace.
Momentarily, there appeared a staff member at my side who was obviously getting ready to scold us. Then he said, "I was here to tell you not to allow your children to go under the ropes, but I am not going to be the fellow to break up a nice love affair".
I typed Hawker Typhoon and got “Buy Hawker Typhoon on eBay.”
I didn’t try to buy one.
But there were also some nice pics.
Yes they called it the FM-2 Marlet aka Ford built Wildcat...The Soviets as much as I disliked them during WW2 loved the Hurricane as they did the P-39 Air Cobra\P-63 King Cobra.
What times I played the MS WWII flight simulators; I used the Hurricane a lot. The P47 was another favorite. Sometimes the Merlin.
I was horrible at the game. Unless I had unlimited fuel and ammunition, no chance at all.
They pretty much fought the Battle of Britain all by themselves.
With the help of the Poles:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._303_Squadron_RAF
Flying Hawker Hurricanes, the 303rd squadron claimed the largest number of aircraft shot down of the 66 Allied fighter squadrons engaged in the Battle of Britain, even though it joined the fray two months after the battle had begun.
The Hawker Hurricane was overall a better plane and more rugged.
Especially with Polish pilots flying them.
Make no mistake. This media star is not riding in the spitfire version which helped Britain win the Battle of Britain, but in a much newer, more advanced version.
Also, although the spitfire takes most of the credit for the victory it was a relatively minor player compared to the plywood Hawker Hurricane.
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