Supermarine Spitfire and the Battle of Britain

[hannecatton]

Very good . I do take issue with his description of the R.A.F. pilots of the Battle of Britain as rich kids. The majority were in fact working class and middle class boys.

[MegaSalainen]

Brilliant plane. I would like to remember also Hawker Hurricane. The Hurricane actually inflicted 60 percent of the losses sustained by the Luftwaffe in the engagement. It was very important fighter in 1940.

[TJH]

Thanks for yet another great guest speaker. Please, PLEASE keep them coming.

[Lensman]

An excellent presentation; thank you.
I own that "coffee table" book. I've had it for 20 years in perfect condition.
I saw 27 Spitfires in my local air a few years ago above the Duxford I.W.M.
My Aunt Margaret was a WWII Chain Home radar operator.

[mcfontaine]

Great talk as always. Just one point on Codebreaking and the Battle Of Britain. I work with Bletchley Park Museum and have been producing their podcast for nearly 6 years. The information given to the British by the Polish codebreakers in July 1939 enabled the codebreakers at Bletchley Park (GC&CS) the ability to read German Airforce codes by the time of Dunkirk. I was lucky enough to interview Sir Arthur Bonsall who worked in the German Air Section at GC&CS. They were breaking Enigma messages on a daily basis during the Battle. These were biogram tables that gave coordinates of the airfields and numbers for the attacks.

[fossy]

"Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few" British pilots joked at the time that he was actually referring to their mess bills!

[jamesstewart]

What a lovely talk, informative and extremely enjoyable.

[colindebourg]

Churchill was correct, if Great Britain falls the rest of the world falls, an absolutely crucial battle.

[woooster]

And of course (37:15) Alex Henshaw was chief yesterday pilot at the Castle Bromwich aircraft plant producing the vast majority of Spits.. he test flew around 10% of all Spitfires built

[jakhaughton]

The WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) played a major part in delivering manufactured airplanes to the bases. Unarmed in all conditions and sometimes with minimal training.

[MonkPetite]

At 1:30 it’s the carburettor and Miss Beatrice Shillings And her idea of a Orifice to fix the over prime of the engine.
This was a stop gab until the pressure carburettor was introduced.. every engine did receive that press carb.
It’s was also called the Tilly ring.
But why her ..the message was out at the RR engine factory to think and come up like with solution..
And she nailed it.

[mrswinkyuk]

The best book on the Battle of Britain, in my opinion, is _Most Dangerous Enemy_ by Stephen Bungay

[ww]

Like so many of these documentaries you never mentioin the best alrounder British aircraft of WW2, it could outrun, out turn and climb / dive better than any other fighter, it could and was also used as a precision bomber. It was of course the wooden wonder, the Mosquito

[stewartw.]

I saw several Me109s at Nimes, France with Merlin engines, in Spanish markings in the year 1959 along with a Spanish He111. The 109s were in fact known as 'Buchons'.

[neildahlgaard-sigsworth]

The lady was Beatrice "Tilly" Shilling, she was an aeronautical engineer working at the RAE. Miss Shillings oriface, as it became known, was a wsaher place at the mid point in the carb to collect the fuel-air mixture during low g manoeuvres. It was not as effective as the later solution or the German fuel injection system, but it worked.

[OrcaTri]

1.5h presentation on YouTube doesn’t sound sexy? True, but I watched it from beginning to end and loved it. Thank you!

[andyc]

Gloster Gladiator was used in the Battle of Britain and in the defence of Malta, the war in North Africa plus used by Norwegian and Finnish Air Force.

[MultiZirkon]

Please, invite Lynn Jenson back to also tell the story -- thoroughly -- of the Spitfire after the Battle of Britain too.

[powerjets]

Many thanks for this video and the others in your series. Some not often given information in it. Concur with the reading list.
Like correctly identifying the true heroes. :) The Spitfire has looks that kill.


A few "myths" and extra info comes to mind:


Galland was upset with being ordered to stick close to the bombers as a result of the high losses and complaints from the bomber crews. The Spitfire had a much better turning circle than the Bf-109 due to the larger wing area. The Bf-109 was more suited to zoom attacks from altitude (it had gained over the channel) with its high energy recovery. The escort order played to the Spitfires strengths and against the Bf-109s. Thus the quip about wanting Spitfires. The Bf-109 was a very fine plane and Galland knew it.


The Spitfire wings were very thin and manufacturing the wings was much harder (Britain also lacked the skills too) than with the Bf-109. The thin wings meant it was the best performing Allied interceptor throughout the war. The Germans did not raise the Bf-109 production during the BOB, which proved a mistake as the war dragged out. It required about one third of the time to make a Bf-109.


The Bf-109 dived well (pilot might remember to "feather" the prop), but was very hard to pull out of the dive with a Spitfire on your tail. The problem with the Spitfire fuel float emptying and then being flooded from the fuel pump during negative g maneuvers is probably overstated. You could lose sight of the enemy doing a roll first. The problem did take too long to be fixed. The Bf-109 did not like negative g's for long either.



The Bf-109 slats were good for landing and avoiding a stall, but not so relevant in a turning fight. The Bf-109 pilots were told not to enter a turning fight with a Spitfire (the Hurricane turned even tighter) much as pilots fighting the Zero should not attempt that.


Both the Spitfire and the Bf-109 have narrow undercarriages. The Bf-109 had the problem of operating in muddy Russian fields. This and inexperienced crews gave the losses on the ground.


Hitler paused at Dunkirk most likely to keep his generals in check and to clear who was the boss. The RAF was mostly conducting missions behind the beaches. The French held back the Germans which was not to be seen in the film Dunkirk. The film correctly shows a MKI Spitfire with the hand pump to lower the landing gear.


p.s.
The 100 octane fuel made a big difference and Germany could not make it in any meaningful quantities throughout the war.

[gabrielcox]

@22:26. The effect he is talking about is called "wash-in, wash-out".