which planes were used in the battle of britain

What planes was used in the Battle of Britain?

Main types: Hurricane, Spitfire and Bf 109The most famous fighter aircraft used in the Battle of Britain were the British Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire Mk I, and the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 E variant (Emil) single-engined fighters. ... Many of the Spitfires used in the battle were purchased privately.More items...

How many planes were used in the Battle of Britain?

At the height of the Battle of Britain, the RAF had only 749 fighter aircraft available, against 2,550 Luftwaffe aircraft.

Which is better Bf 109 or Spitfire?

Similar to the case of the Hurricane the Spitfire was superior to the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter in a dogfight, since it had considerably better turning ability than its German arch rival. Example: A German Me 109 E is in pursuit of a British Spitfire Mk.

Which was the better plane Hurricane or Spitfire?

Both aircraft are the same height, with the Hurricane being only mildly longer and wider. The Spitfire is noticeably faster than the Hurricane, although, sacrifices range for speed. On top of this, the Spitfire has a slightly higher service ceiling, although, this doesn't make much of a difference.

Who really won the Battle of Britain?

BritishBritish victory in the Battle of Britain was decisive, but ultimately defensive in nature – in avoiding defeat, Britain secured one of its most significant victories of the Second World War.

What plane shot down most in ww2?

It is accurate to state that the P-38 did shoot down more Japanese aircraft than any other USAAF plane with 1,857, with the P-40 running a close second at 1,633.5.

Who shot down the most German planes in ww2?

Erich HartmannWhile serving in Germany's Luftwaffe in World War II, Erich Hartmann flew more than 1,400 missions in the Messerschmitt Bf 109, enabling him to score an astonishing 352 kills. How did Hartmann get so good at dominating the skies over the Eastern Front?

What is considered the best fighter plane of ww2?

The most capable fighter of WWII was the American F4U-4 Corsair carrier-based fighter-bomber, designed and produced by Chance Vought. Between 1942 and 1953 more than 12,500 aircraft were manufactured. The fighter combined good maneuverability, very dangerous armament (six .

What was the most famous plane in ww2?

The P-51 is widely regarded as the finest all-around piston-engined fighter of World War II to have been produced in significant numbers. Approximately 1,500 Merlin-powered Mustangs were used by the RAF for daylight duties over Europe, and the plane was produced under license in Australia toward the end of the war.

What is the most successful plane in history?

Cessna 172 While the 737 and A320 are the world's top passenger jetliners, the plucky little four-seater Cessna 172 is the most successful civil aircraft in history, with more than 45,000 of them reported to have been built.

What is the most badass plane?

10 Of The Most Badass Fighter Jets You Probably Didn't Know Exist10/10 Atlas Cheetah.9/10 IAI Kfir.8/10 HAL Tejas.7/10 Sukhoi Su-47 Berkut.6/10 Saab J-35 Draken.5/10 Saab J-37 Viggen.4/10 Lockheed YF-12 Blackbird.3/10 Douglas F4D Skyray.More items...•

Which British plane shot down the most planes in ww2?

Spitfires shot down a total of 529 enemy aircraft, for a loss of 230 of their own.

How many planes were in the Battle of Britain squadron?

At the start of the battle, RAF Fighter Command had 53 squadrons, each with an establishment of 12 aircraft, in total around 630 aircraft. The Luftwaffe's strength was about 2,250 combat ready aircraft, of which no fewer than 1,000 were fighters.

How many planes did Britain have in ww2?

World War II aircraft productionCountry1939TotalUK7,940131,549Germany8,295119,371Japan4,46776,320Italy1,69211,1224 more rows

How many planes did Britain have in ww1?

In 1914, the British air services had just 272 machines, but by October 1918 the newly formed RAF could call on 22,000 aircraft. Production rose from 50 per month in first year of the war to 2,700 per month by 1918.

How many fighter planes did Britain have in ww2?

Keen is the fact that in the early years of World War II, Britain and France stood virtually alone in Allied air combat capabilities. During the period of 1934 through 1945, the British military lists over 60 fighter planes.

What aircraft was used in the Battle of Britain?

1. Supermarine Spitfire. The Spitfire was the iconic aircraft of the Battle of Britain and became the symbol of British defiance in the air. Designed by Reginald Mitchell, it had an advanced all-metal airframe, making it light and strong.

Why was the Bf 109 used?

It was markedly inferior to the more nimble RAF fighters and became a liability when attempting to guard the bomber formations. The Germans were forced to use Bf 109s to escort the Bf 110s. However, the aircraft was more effective when used for low-level attacks against factories and RAF airfields.

What squadron was the Spitfire in?

Crucially, it was a match for the Luftwaffe’s Messerschmitt Bf 109 and was superior to it at lower altitudes. The Spitfire entered service with No. 19 S quadron at Duxford in August 1938. Production was slow at first, but by September 1940 it was in service with 18 RAF squadrons.

What is the Do 17?

The Dornier Do 17 - nicknamed the ‘Flying Pencil’ - was based on a pre-war design for a high speed mail plane, which was converted into a bomber by the Nazi air ministry. The Do 17Z became the main production version, equipping three Luftwaffe bomber wings at the height of the Battle of Britain.

What was the most important bomber in the 1940s?

The He 111 was the most important of the Luftwaffe's early bombers, but was obsolescent in 1940. Its bomb load of 2,000 kg was insufficient for a strategic bombing campaign and it was slow and poorly armed. Measures to increase its defensive armament proved ineffective and the Heinkel, like other German bomber types, was acutely vulnerable to RAF fighter opposition. In its favour was a structural strength that could soak up punishment – many aircraft managed to return to base with hundreds of bullet holes in their fuselage and flying surfaces.

What was the Defiant?

The Defiant was a two-seat fighter with a four-gun power-operated turret. It had no forward firing armament, which meant it could not shoot down enemy aircraft from behind. It was intended primarily as a bomber interceptor, but the turret fighter concept was outmoded and the extra weight made the aircraft sluggish in combat. In early battles over Dunkirk, Defiants had proved very vulnerable to conventional enemy fighters. RAF Fighter Command rashly sent its two Defiant squadrons - Nos. 141 and 264 - into action in July and August, which resulted in two separate massacres at the hands of the Luftwaffe. As a consequence the aircraft played no further part as a day fighter in the Battle.

What was the battle between the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwaffe?

From The Battle Of Britain. The Battle of Britain, which raged between July and October 1940, pitted the Royal Air Force against the German Luftwaffe in a duel for air superiority over southern England. Pilots on both sides were at the controls of some of the most iconic aircraft in aviation history, including the Spitfire, ...

What was the role of Junkers Ju 87s in the Battle of Britain?

If the Luftwaffe had won the Battle of Britain, these dive bombers would have played a vital role in disabling the British fleet as the German invasion force attempted to cross the Channel.

What was the Ju 88 used for?

The Ju 88 could be used as both a dive-bomber and a level bomber. Early in the Battle of Britain it replaced the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, the most accurate German dive-bomber, as the Stuka lacked effective defensive weaponry. 9. Heinkel He 111.

What happened to the Stukas during the Battle of Britain?

During the Battle of Britain, squadrons of Stukas gained some success destroying ground targets. On 13 August 1940 – Eagle Day – Stukas attacked RAF Detling and inflicted a high level of damage on the airfield.

What was the Heinkel He 111?

The Heinkel He 111 was the most numerous bomber which the Luftwaffe deployed during the Battle of Britain. It was capable of storing and delivering large bombs (250kg) and had state-of-the-art gyroscopic sights to improve its accuracy. The He 111 was protected armour plating and self-sealing fuel tanks which made them difficult to shoot down.

How many Allied pilots died in the Battle of Britain?

Around 1,500 Allied pilots perished during the Battle of Britain.

Why was the Do 17 so hard to disable?

The Do 17 also benefited from an air-cooled BMW engine which was much harder for British fighters to disable, as there was no vulnerable cooling system to destroy. However, the Do 17, like all German bombers, suffered from a lack of accuracy.

How many bombs can a BR.20 carry?

This Italian twin-engined bomber could carry 1,600kg of bombs. When it was developed, the BR.20 was considered one of the most advanced bombers in the world. However, it participated in the latter stages of the Battle of Britain to limited effect.

What aircraft were used in the Battle of Britain?

The mainstays of the Battle of Britain for the RAF were undoubtedly the Hawker Hurricanes and the Supermarine Spitfires. The rugged Hurricane was able to destroy the German bombers it encountered during the Battle of Britain as well as the Messerschmitt BF 110.

What German bombers were used in the Battle of Britain?

The main types of German bombers used in the Battle of Britain were the Dornier DO17, the Heinkel HEIII, the previously dreaded Junkers JU87 ‘Stuka’, and the Junkers JU88. The Luftwaffe soon found out that the Dorniers and the much-vaunted Stukas were very vulnerable to attacks by British fighters. It would be logical to assume that the Luftwaffe could have caused much more damage if it had more Junkers JU88s available.

How many women pilots are left in the UK?

There are only two of the women pilots left in the UK.”. The ATA’s women pilots included the aviation pioneer Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. She drowned in the Thames Estuary after parachuting out of a plane she was delivering for the ATA that had run out of fuel.

What aircraft was used to defend London?

The aircraft defending London that day were spearheaded by the Supermarine Spitfire, an iconic single-seat fighter plane which had only entered service a few months before the start of World War Two.

How many ships were refitted in the Sea Hurricane?

There was only one problem – it was a one-way mission, as there was nowhere to land the aircraft. More than 30 ships were refitted, and several were launched in combat. Incredibly, despite the challenges of ditching a small plane into rough, freezing seas, only one Sea Hurricane pilot was killed in combat.

What was the last time a force this powerful had threatened England?

The last time a force this powerful had threatened England was the Spanish Armada, 500 years before. The aircraft defending London that day were spearheaded by the Supermarine Spitfire, an iconic single-seat fighter plane which had only entered service a few months before the start of World War Two.

How did the Battle of Britain help Europe?

The Battle of Britain prevented Germany from invading and occupying Great Britain, eventually meaning that Europe could be liberated. Hurricanes served in the Blitz as night fighters, directed to their targets by radio operators on the ground and on the pilot’s own keen eyesight. They helped prevent the vital Mediterranean island of Malta from being invaded. In the deserts of North Africa they served as ground attack aircraft, being much better suited to the rough conditions than the more fragile Spitfires.

What happened in the early afternoon?

During the early afternoon, British radar observers hunched over their screens started seeing something massive taking shape. From airfields across France, wave after wave of German bombers and fighters took to the air, forming up into one enormous formation over the English Channel.

How many aircraft were involved in the 7 September raid?

The 7 September raid marked the first time in history 1,000 aircraft had taken part in an air raid (two-thirds of them were fighters protecting the bombers). London’s docks and the working-class neighbourhoods of the East End were devastated.

How was the Luftwaffe ill-served?

The Luftwaffe was ill-served by its lack of military intelligence about the British defences. The German intelligence services were fractured and plagued by rivalry; their performance was "amateurish". By 1940, there were few German agents operating in Great Britain and a handful of bungled attempts to insert spies into the country were foiled.

What was the Bf 109?

The Bf 109, unlike the Stuka, could fight on equal terms with RAF fighters after releasing its ordnance. At the start of the battle, the twin-engined Messerschmitt Bf 110C long-range Zerstörer ("Destroyer") was also expected to engage in air-to-air combat while escorting the Luftwaffe bomber fleet.

How old was Julian Glover in the Battle for Britain?

The battle is also depicted in the 1956 film Reach for the Sky and First Light (BBC drama 2010). In 2010, actor Julian Glover played a 101-year-old Polish veteran RAF pilot in the short film Battle for Britain.

How did Keith Park's tactics affect the Battle of 11 Group?

The weight of the battle fell upon 11 Group. Keith Park's tactics were to dispatch individual squadrons to intercept raids. The intention was to subject incoming bombers to continual attacks by relatively small numbers of fighters and try to break up the tight German formations. Once formations had fallen apart, stragglers could be picked off one by one. Where multiple squadrons reached a raid the procedure was for the slower Hurricanes to tackle the bombers while the more agile Spitfires held up the fighter escort. This ideal was not always achieved, resulting in occasions when Spitfires and Hurricanes reversed roles. Park also issued instructions to his units to engage in frontal attacks against the bombers, which were more vulnerable to such attacks. Again, in the environment of fast-moving, three-dimensional air battles, few RAF fighter units were able to attack the bombers from head-on.

What was Hitler's strategy for the Battle of Britain?

In a secret conference on 23 May 1939, Hitler set out his rather contradictory strategy that an attack on Poland was essential and "will only be successful if the Western Powers keep out of it. If this is impossible, then it will be better to attack in the West and to settle Poland at the same time" with a surprise attack. "If Holland and Belgium are successfully occupied and held, and if France is also defeated, the fundamental conditions for a successful war against England will have been secured. England can then be blockaded from Western France at close quarters by the Air Force, while the Navy with its submarines extend the range of the blockade."

What was the impact of the German defeat of the defending armies in Norway in 1940?

The speed with which German forces defeated most of the defending armies in Norway in early 1940 created a significant political crisis in Britain. In early May 1940, the Norway Debate questioned the fitness for office of the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.

How many German aircraft were in the Battle of Britain?

126 German aircraft or "Adolfs" were claimed by Polish pilots of 303 Squadron during the Battle of Britain.

Hawker Hurricane

Supermarine Spitfire

Messerschmitt Bf 109

Messerschmitt Bf 110

Boulton Paul Defiant

Fiat CR.42

Dornier Do 17

Junkers Ju 88

Heinkel He 111

Fiat BR.20

• This Italian twin-engined bomber could carry 1,600kg of bombs. When it was developed, the BR.20 was considered one of the most advanced bombers in the world. However, it participated in the latter stages of the Battle of Britain to limited effect. Italian bombers flew over 100 sorties in the Battle of Britain, with only one notable success: the des...

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