Cliff Bastow Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Colin, I was told about the Hurricanes better turning ability by a pilot with the BBMF so thats good enough for me. lol I never meant to imply that the Hurricane was better than the Spitfire its just that it annoys me when its part is forgotten. Each aircraft that took part had its good and bad points and I dont believe the ultimate outcome was much to do with the relative abilities of the aircraft involved, it was more due to tactics, training and not a little luck. However I do take your point that the thread is about the Spitfire versus 109 and I will leave it there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuban8 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Posted by robert Jones 14 on 18/01/2015 06:27:02: Can't mention a Spit without mention of Mrs. Shilling's Orifice: **LINK** And also......... **LINK** Anyone for a beer in the 'Tilly Shilling' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 Hi Colin , quite enough for me. I spent most of my life behind the Iron Curtain, so I appreciate for any information, that I did not get it, when it should. Thank you very much once again Sir... Cheers Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Olsen 1 Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 The Hurricane is what I had in mind earlier when I suggested that the plane you have is vastly superior to the plane you would like to have. While there is no doubt that overall the Spitfire is a better performer than the Hurricane, it was only available in relatively small quantities for the BoB and had the Hurricanes not also been around, the outcome might have been different. The Hurricane was easier to produce, not least because it really represented the final development of the earlier Hawker biplane fighters, so not too much change was needed in production methods. Of course when you are in your Me109 and bullets start whistling past, it is probably a bit hard to tell if it is a Hurricane or a Spitfire on your tail, and you will probably assume the worst. If the BoB had been a bit earlier, Britain would have been in dire straits indeed. On the other hand, had it been a few years later the Germans might well have had jet fighters and bombers. One thing is for sure, it is just as well Dowding dug his toes in about sending more squadrons to France. Meanwhile in yesterdays paper here in NZ: "A celebrated WWII hero who saved lives by shooting down flying bombs has died in Auckland aged 93. Squadron leader and Commanding Officier Harvey Nelso Sweetman was surrounded by family when he died on Thursday." I'm not sure if he served in the actual BoB, but he left NZ in 1940 to go to the UK. He was flying Typhoons when he was shooting down the buzz bombs. **LINK** John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted January 18, 2015 Share Posted January 18, 2015 John, thanks for that. Very sad to hear of another of these heroes gone. When I was a kid these men were still young, many of them still in active RAF service, e.g. Ginger Lacey and Johnnie Johnson. There are not many of them left now and we are not improved by their loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 This is the chap that recently sold his Spanish 109's from the BOB film. Interesting comparison between the 109/P51/Spit at around 4.20. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff Bastow Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 I have done some research online and it seems that in purely fighter to fighter kills the 109 shot down about 1.2 Spitfires for every 109 shot down. Not a great advantage but an advantage neverthless. Just out of interest the 109 shot down about 1.7 Hurricanes for every 109 shot down by hurricanes. I think this is an argument that will run and run with everyone having there favourite. Lets face it its been argued about ever since the war. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 Interesting in that video you can see one of the advantage the 109 had - you take the wings off and it still stood on its undercarriage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 man vid......good stuff....make sure you have the volume on 10!. ken Anderson...ne...1..... one of the lads dept. Edited By ken anderson. on 19/01/2015 17:48:52 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erfolg Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 That is a very impressive video, you can only imagine being there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Some of the aircraft were somewhat of a surplice for me, in that I did not know there were flying examples. The Lockheed Lightening, the Bf 109G (according to specs probably the fastest). Another thing that always surprises me is the shear bulk of a Merlin when in a Spanish 109, 33L as opposed to 27L. Is it all the ancillaries of the Merlin that bulk it up, or something else? In one of my books there is a DB engined spitfire, taken at the Rechlin testing ground, It certainly looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Vrandecic -Mes Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Hi Tony and thanks indeed .... really magnificent ... Jo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hopkin Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Posted by Erfolg on 19/01/2015 21:29:27: Another thing that always surprises me is the shear bulk of a Merlin when in a Spanish 109, 33L as opposed to 27L. Is it all the ancillaries of the Merlin that bulk it up, or something else? The Spanish "109" had the Merlin 500/45 variant with an increased HP (1600hp) I have no details of this variant or how the power increase was achieved, so it might have been enlarged superchargers and/or intercoolers (guessing) or perhaps the needs of engine cooling forced additional bits..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve T Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Great 'Legends' clip, had the hair on the back of my neck in a right old state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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