Supermarine Spitfire

Battle of Britain

The Spitfire is often credited with winning the Battle of Britain; it was mass produced in Castle Bromwich, Birmingham and there now stands a large metal memorial on Spitfire Roundabout on Chester Road in the city. The aircraft, and Mitchell, were lauded in the (somewhat inaccurate) movie The First of the Few. It certainly must be considered one of the finest aircraft of the war and possibly the most beautiful. But how did it compare with the Hawker Hurricane (that the RAF used in greater numbers at that critical stage in 1940), or with its counterpart in the German Luftwaffe, the Messerschmitt_Bf_109? The Hurricane's guns were better suited to attacking bombers, but the close pattern of fire and slow speed made the Hurricane a bad choice for attacking the German fighter escorts. The Spitfire, on the other hand, was in most respects the close equal of the Me109 but had some attributes that helped "Spits" to win many "dog fights"; most often quoted is manoeuvrability but good cockpit visibility was probably a greater factor. Nonetheless, seven in every ten German planes shot down during the Battle of Britain were victims of Hurricane pilots. The miniseries Piece of Cake depicted the life of a Spitfire squadron during this period.

Related Topics:
Battle of Britain - Castle Bromwich - Birmingham - The First of the Few - Hawker Hurricane - Luftwaffe - Messerschmitt_Bf_109 - Piece of Cake

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