Battle of Britain veterans take to the skies again

[Garry Russell]

BA Airbus flight with a difference

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11120357

[TobyV]

It's quite an unsual formation! I've seen a Lancaster and a Vulcan, a Eurofighter and a Spitfire, but an A321, Spitfire, Hurricane and whatever took the photo... thats exceptional.

Good way to remember those that made all this possible 70 years ago

[FlyTexas]

Bless 'em all.

Brian

[austerdriver]

Nice picture of the aircraft information.

Now who was faster? Spitfire or Hurricane.

[Garry Russell]

Spitfire was much faster and more manoeuvrable..could nudge the sound barrier in a dive

The Hurricane however was a much better gun platform.

I think the Hurricane made more kills than the Spitfire in the BoB

[airboatr]

the Hurricane was the first to shoot down an enemy plane over Britian.

And remember Sgt. Holmes who saved Buckingham Palace flying his Hurricane into a Dornier taking the tail off with it's wing
And that was After he had shot down another Dornier and chasing a third away screaming mommy.

[austerdriver]

I thought the Spitfire was more powerful than the Hurricane.

I have a DVD which shows the Hurricane and the Spitfire flying in formation and the Spitfire was throttled back so the Hurricane could keep up with the Spitfire.

[Garry Russell]

I would think the higher drag on the Hurricane airframe would makes go some way toward that.


The Hurricane did a fine job and yet always seems to play second fiddle to the more glamorous Spitfire, despite what the numbers say.

[petermcleland]

I'm pretty sure that the Hurricane was the more manoeuvrable of the two and the Spitfire was the fastest and had a higher ceiling. The Hurricane was really more numerous in the BofB and probably should be remembered as the main star. However, because there are more Spits left and they only had flyable Spits for the film and the Spit was later and faster, it has become the star of the show for most people

Don't take my word for it...I was only seven at the time, but I remember it well. I also remember that my father who was serving in the RAF at the time as a Carpenter/Rigger, chose to make me a model Spitfire rather than a Hurricane

[fighterpilot]

The spitfire is certainly the aircraft most remembered from the battle of Britain although it was the hurricane that was far more numerous and shot down many more aircraft. The spitfire however was considerably faster than the hurricane I guess largely due the the aerodydnamics of the thin wing etc. The hurricane is also said to have been a far more stable gun platform than the spitfire, making it easier I guess for more inexperienced pilots.

Richard