Battle of Britain Memorial Flight

[wattsy]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

A few snaps from this lunchtime. A spitfire and hurricane from the Memorial Flight stopped off at my local airfield, North Weald, en route to a flypast over London marking Churchill's famous 'so few" speech.

 

 

 

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[wattsy]

Couple more.

 

 

[stuny]

Ian -

 

Lovely subject. The last image is strongest and terrific for composition, subject, detail and framing.

[andybarton]

It's the Hurricane I feel sorry for... The ugly duckling in the family, when the Spitfire is its sibling, yet had a better record during the Battle of Britain than the Spitfire.

 

We get the odd Spitfire flying overhead every now and again. The sound of the Merlin engine just sets the hairs on the back of the neck all perpendicular - and I was born 16 years after the end of the war. Along with Concorde, the Spitfire has to be in the top two of the most beautiful aeroplanes ever made

 

This is a terrific set and we should ALL remember the debt owed to so few, at this time.

[pauledell]

Ian,

 

A wonderful series with outstanding profiles of the great fighters of the WWII.

 

Paul

[David Monkhouse]

an excellent set, perfect composition

[biglouis]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

Darn, I was around that area yesterday, I wish I'd done more research and known! Great shots and a wonderful experience to get so close to these iconic aircraft.

[batmobile]

The Hurricane may have claimed more kills, but there were lots more of them and they were sent after the more vulnerable bombers with the Spits tying up the extremely capable German fighters and forcing them to survive as much as protect their bombers. This allowed the hurricanes to do their job of downing bombers.

 

Its often said that the Spit did not save the day, but I would argue that it did. Without the Spit, the 109s would have significantly outperformed the Hurricanes and, well, the bombers would have been under a lot pess pressure and the outcome might have been quite different. The Hurricane was a superb gun platform, but did not have the design pedigree to seriously challenge the 109s and this became more glaring as the war progressed. The Beautiful Spit remained an absolutely first rate fighter from the first to the last day of the war; something no other fighter on either side achieved.

 

While the Hurricane took less than half the time to make and cost far less (still a stressed canvas fuselage), the Spitfire's production problems eventually smoothed out and the shortage of trained pilots was more the limiting factor than the availability of airframes. Because Britain had mobilised a civilian war economy and employed women in the factories, Britain was outproducing Germany on aircraft by the end of the Battle of Britain (I think). They started out with an awful lot more though...

 

The story of the plane's design is remarkable. Mitchell died of cancer in 1937, after working doggedly to finish the plane against the advice of his doctors. He never saw the plane fly in anger and so never knew of the definitive contribution it made to the defence of the realm. It might sound simplistic (and in many respects is) but with a little conjecture I think it is possible to mark out RJ Mitchell's design of the Spitfire as an incredible example of one man's actions profoundly changing the course of world history. Had the Batttle of Britain been lost, the invasion of the British isles would likely have been a fait accomplis. The Royal Navy would have been forced into a suicidal defence of the south coast without air cover (madness), would likely have succumbed quite quickly as a result, and the invasion ultimately completed successfully. This would have left the US without a powerful naval ally with the resources of the British Empire for support in Africa, Italy and the far east and without a nearby island from which to mount the invasion of Europe. One can then speculate about the outcome of invasion of Russia, without huge numbers of German troops garrisonned in France... and subsequently the entire paradigm of the cold war might well have been different with an isolationist US and German Empire dominating Europe and Africa. Maybe.

 

The Spitfire, while not the knock out champion over the 109 at the time of its introduction, arguably tipped the balance just enough that the cascade of events described did not happen.

 

The above could all be argued against, but is one possible on the history and contribution of this most remarkable aircraft.

[c.poulton]

Lovely photos - I particularly like the second one of the set - the Hurricane. This works really well in B+W and could almost be a contemporary shot.

[soleforeal]

Beautiful, crisp and colorful shots.

[daveleo]

excellent set!

the overcast light helped as well.

great compositions all around.

[wattsy]

Thanks for all the comments. It's always a pleasure to see and hear a Spitfire or Hurricane. I'm fairly lucky in that there a number of historic aircraft - including possibly the last airworthy Vampire - based at the airfield only a few hundred yards away from where I live. It's not unusual to pop outside to see, hear (and feel if it's the Vampire taking off) something interesting flying around.

 

Friday's visit by the Memorial Flight was a particular treat because of its impromptu nature. My understanding is that the Spitfire and Hurricane were only meant to do a fly-past (as part of a tour of former RAF stations involved in the Battle of Britain) but weather conditions elsewhere led to them landing and remaining at the airfield for two or three hours. As such, there were only a handful of people there (airfield regulars, a few aircraft enthusiasts, villagers, etc.) and the atmosphere was very informal. The RAF pilots mingled with the enthusiasts drinking tea and eating chip butties from The Squadron café and everyone was free to wander over and look at the aircraft. It was a real breath of fresh air to be treated like adults and to have no interference from police, marshals or other petty officialdom. I doubt whether I'll ever get the opportunity again to stand literally a few yards from a Hurricane as its engine sparks into life and the plane taxies off the grass onto the runway.

 

The snap below showing the planes just about to leave will give you an idea of the informality of the occasion. (Incidentally, the other Hurricane and Spitfire are both airworthy and, I believe, part of one of the private collections at the airfield).

[zipper]

The Hurricane may have claimed more kills, but there were lots more of them and they were sent after the more vulnerable bombers with the Spits tying up the extremely capable German fighters and forcing them to survive as much as protect their bombers. This allowed the hurricanes to do their job of downing bombers.

 

Its often said that the Spit did not save the day, but I would argue that it did. Without the Spit, the 109s would have significantly outperformed the Hurricanes and, well, the bombers would have been under a lot pess pressure and the outcome might have been quite different. The Hurricane was a superb gun platform, but did not have the design pedigree to seriously challenge the 109s and this became more glaring as the war progressed. The Beautiful Spit remained an absolutely first rate fighter from the first to the last day of the war; something no other fighter on either side achieved.

 

While the Hurricane took less than half the time to make and cost far less (still a stressed canvas fuselage), the Spitfire's production problems eventually smoothed out and the shortage of trained pilots was more the limiting factor than the availability of airframes. Because Britain had mobilised a civilian war economy and employed women in the factories, Britain was outproducing Germany on aircraft by the end of the Battle of Britain (I think). They started out with an awful lot more though...

 

The story of the plane's design is remarkable. Mitchell died of cancer in 1937, after working doggedly to finish the plane against the advice of his doctors. He never saw the plane fly in anger and so never knew of the definitive contribution it made to the defence of the realm. It might sound simplistic (and in many respects is) but with a little conjecture I think it is possible to mark out RJ Mitchell's design of the Spitfire as an incredible example of one man's actions profoundly changing the course of world history. Had the Batttle of Britain been lost, the invasion of the British isles would likely have been a fait accomplis. The Royal Navy would have been forced into a suicidal defence of the south coast without air cover (madness), would likely have succumbed quite quickly as a result, and the invasion ultimately completed successfully. This would have left the US without a powerful naval ally with the resources of the British Empire for support in Africa, Italy and the far east and without a nearby island from which to mount the invasion of Europe. One can then speculate about the outcome of invasion of Russia, without huge numbers of German troops garrisonned in France... and subsequently the entire paradigm of the cold war might well have been different with an isolationist US and German Empire dominating Europe and Africa. Maybe.

 

The Spitfire, while not the knock out champion over the 109 at the time of its introduction, arguably tipped the balance just enough that the cascade of events described did not happen.

 

The above could all be argued against, but is one possible on the history and contribution of this most remarkable aircraft.

 

Great images (I especially like the composition in the CU) and this is a excellent synopsis, and I agree it was a team effort between the Spit' and the Hurri' . The Hurricane was very serviceable, probably more than the Spit', cost substantially less to make (read quicker to build?) and, I was told by an ex-ground crew, was very easy to patch up after bullet damage - a splash of dope and canvas and they were straight back into service the same day. Spitfires needed time in the metalwork shop. I disagree with the servicie life of the Spit though, it WAS matched by the 109, which went on to be licence built and was used by many airforces including Isreali for some years after the war ended. It's record was as good as the Spit: Erich Hartmann, the highest scoring ace of all time with a staggering 352 kills, flew a 109 throughout the entire war, until he was captured by U.S. forces and handed over to the Russians...

[batmobile]

Zipper,

 

I agree in part - certainly the 109 had an incredible record, but it started well before WWII in the Spanish Civil War and may well have bene longer than the Spitfire's in overall terms. Towards the end of WWII though, the 109 was significantly outmatched by the later marks of Spitfire and even the FW190, which had caused such casualties amongst Spit Mk Vs, found the Mk IX Spit had at least parity and later marks superiority; the 190 still remained a serious adversary though, particularly against the long range P51s which although fast and with great endurance, had trouble keeping up with the 190s in turning fights. The 109F & G and beyond got bigger engines and had good climb and dive rates, but their manoeverability left them at a serious disadvantage to later Spits if caught in a fight. The aircraft had huge wingloading (I think it is called) making it a pig to fly at these new performance levels and while they could bounce their foes, once caught up in a turning fight they were in dire trouble.

 

Hartmann was not the only ace with an incredible record, but its hard to match numbers from side to side when they fought in different theaters. A lot of the highest scoring US aces had many of their kills on the eastern front (against far inferior Soviet forces) and the criteria for counting kills differed from side to side (in terms fo confirmation etc. At many points the number of official confirmed kills attributed to Luftwaffe pilots during the Battle of Britain were 3-5 times higher than the real number as recorded by the Air Force. Some say Goering's huge optimism and a culture of invincibility (and healthy doses of propaganda for the home population) were contributory factors). Certainly the training many Luftwaffe pilots got in Spain gave them the combat experience to put them in good stead when facing much more capable adversaries than in Spain - when British and American pilots often lacked experience. German tactics were for the most part superior too and it would seem likely that they had the greatest aces of all, but I would not attribute that to the aircraft. As with WW1, they would form a fighting unit around aces, with those aces protected and able to pick of targets of choice. This tended to assist the accumulation of very large kill numbers for those individuals of course. Adolf Galland being another.

 

IMO the Bf109 never was beautiful, but screamed 'fighting machine' in the same way the Hurricane appeared 'steady/dependable.' I find it interesting how machinery often takes on a physical form that somehow reflects the culture of its creators... or perhaps we shape this perception afterward by association. The Spitfire looked remarkable and a thing of the air. Perhaps its no surprise that it could fly as well as it looked like it should!

[MEB]

I have always thought that the Spitfires were the most beautiful and graceful aircraft to ever fly. Thank you gentlemen for the interesting history lessons to go with these pictures.

 

Mark Blumer

[zipper]

Batmobile,

I saw 6 Spits in the air in formation at last years Goodwood Revival, an breath-taking sight. along with 'Old Crow' Bud Anderson's Mustang. I think the east - west theatre thing can be argued a little, the Russians had some extremely capable pilots and fighter planes, and conditions were appalling. An indication of potential, Hartmann claimed 3 Mustangs in one day on the Ploesti raid, in a 109. Sorry, can't resist playing the Devil's advocate a bit. Anyway, enough of that, the moderator we be on my back. Cheers, and thanks for the interesting chat!

[batmobile]

I'm looking to take my boys to an airshow later this year - fingers crossed for good weather! They have just completed Lancaster, 109E and Beaufighter models with a Spit and Hurricane still in their boxes! While the Xbox gets some of their attention, they are really getting into their models!

 

Good pilots can do a lot with a less than perfectly competitive machine, just as great photographers can do great work with a basic camera with a couple of $30 lenses! A brilliant marksman will also do fine work with a less than perfect rifle too! Some Hurricane pilots were very successful in shooting down superior fighters because they know what could and what could not be done with their planes...and therefore when to have a crack and when to stay clear.

 

Out of the photos here, the first one is the most evocative to me, although the lure of B&W is strong

[zipper]

I took some pictures of the Duxford (Aussie) Beaufighter (whispering death) they recovered from a jungle some years ago, and is nearing completion. Shot on Velvia 1/30 @ f2, it's quite dark in the maintenance hanger - I think I put it on Flickr. It would be great to see that flying, I had a model of this as a kid, and still think it is a handsome aircraft. Good to hear the boys are into Airfix and such and not just obsessed with Xbox, well done B!

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[LuxBob]

It's the Hurricane I feel sorry for....

Yes, agree about the Hurricane; least glamorous but did most of the hard work in 1940. After that when the P51 Mustang came in, the Spitfire was eclipsed and for me the sound and sight of a P51 swooping and diving is the top.

The Lancaster is the pinnacle of fine aircraft for me, closely followed by the Dakota and Mosquito.