Hurricane Vs. Spitfire (Battle of Britain)

[Pigslilspaz]

Seeing as I want to go into Aeronautical Engineering as a Major, I'm guessing the classes are going to be a breeze for me. 

[Krusty]

Weight alone did not make the Hurricane slow. It was an overall issue with the total design. Big, thick, wings, heavy parts, draggy bumps, etc...

The pilot armor has NOTHING to do with which plane was best. It's effectively the same in both planes.

That's like saying the tires are why a Fw190 was so fast in 1942..  

There's no real debate... Why was the spit better? Because it was deemed to be by the pilots and manufacturers. Make 2 different designs, both capable, and somehow one will be better than the other. Usually performance was the key. Higher, faster, quicker, etc.

IronDog: The 109Es were limited by strict close-formation, and the bombers formed up inland way way behind the fighters. Fighters had to stage, circling waiting for the bombers, stay close to them (rather than a more economical fast-cruise to target and back) while they zig-zagged over France and into the Channel to keep the RAF guessing as to their flight path, and the limitation over target was mostly a political dictation on how the war should be fought, rather than how it needed to be fought. It was handed down from above, and the officers could only obey their orders. In a straight-line to London and back, they would have had a lot more time. That said, as early as the 109E-7 a drop tank was equippable, and the problem eased (but the target no longer on the table!)

[Brooke]

Some important conceptual differences between the Spitfire and the Hurricane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGp4DvFEgh8

[JimmyC]

Been alot of BoB shows on BBC this last couple of weeks
Been really good
One show was showing that the British way over estimated the German numbers and the Germans way under estimated British forces
British had about 20 pilots in a squadron Germans had twelve
Each side thought they where equal numbers
So British thought there where twice as many german pilots out there
Germans thought there was half the amount of British pilots
Much better to over estimate your opponent than under estimate I reckon

[Squire]

All the repeated "The Hurricanes were assigned to take on bombers" is largely over generalised and not entirely true. The RAF sent up squadrons based on which was assigned readiness to what sector station, which squadron was available to scramble, and which squadron was assigned to an intercept based on where they were at the time a raid was detected. In practice, a LW bomber or fighter formation was just as likely to meet a Hurricane squadron as a Spitfire squadron in actual combat. Group HQs did not distinguish between assigning an intercept based just on what type of fighter equipped what squadron, they had no such luxury. Added to that air combat is not so "neet and tidy". Any Hurricane unit that made an intercept was almost guaranteed to tangle with either 109s or 110s at some point irregardless of what some fancy "assignment" was. The Hurricanes in the BoB were almost 50 percent more numerous to Spits as well and claimed 3/4s of the kills. Hurricanes tangled with more LW fighters in the BoB than Spits did just based on their numerical differences in the RAFs OOB. In No. 11 Group (the vanguard unit) there were 14 Hurricane squadrons to 7 Spitfire at the height of the battle.

Both fighters used 100 octane fuel, had self sealing tanks, metal wings, pilot armor, and constant speed three bladed props by the time of the BoB. Statistically they performed very closely despite the Spit being about 20 mph faster at best alt and having a better high alt performance. In the end it mattered little what the fighter was, it was the pilots themselves that made the difference. An aggressive skilled pilot who was willing to get in close and shoot would be just as dangerous in either type. Thats proved by the # of aces that flew them.

Despite all the debate there just isnt much evidence that in actual combat one did any better than the other (re: BoB) but as WW2 history buffs we go on endlessly about small technical differences but they sometimes just didn't make that big of an impact.

[Hawklore]

Some important conceptual differences between the Spitfire and the Hurricane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGp4DvFEgh8

Those quotes were thrown about like crazy while we discussed it.

I was called a remtard, but never got a free dinner out of it, lol.

 

@Squire:

Very well put m8.

We came to this conclusion.

(The Hurricane was the backbone to the the Battle of Britain, and was a great asset to the Spit. The Spit was more like the long arm of the law.)

[Brooke]

I was called a remtard, but never got a free dinner out of it, lol.

Random. 

[Shuffler]

The spit being called long arm....


It was notoriously short legged till the later models.

[Masherbrum]

Even though his instruments were shot up and not working, 2nd Lt. Jan Zumbach out-flew 5 Messerschmitts in what seemed to be suicidal dogfight in Sept. 1940.  He sent of them crashing to the ground.  A shaken, dazed, but alive, Zumbach landed his plane and, whilst smiling asked for "a cigarette and a glass of water".

2nd Lt. Jan Zumbach is on the left (standing)