really? why wouldnt they let them go over enmey lines to engage enemy?
and yeah i did see the new Me-262 being build in america, i think i post the link a long time ago
really? why wouldnt they let them go over enmey lines to engage enemy?
and yeah i did see the new Me-262 being build in america, i think i post the link a long time ago[/quote]
I dont know about the Meteor not being able to cross enemy lines, it will be interesting to know. The Meteor built to combat the Me-262, however they never met in combat. Too bad they didnt meet, it will be an interesting battle.
As a member of a commonwealth Country it is fairly common to serve in The UK armed forces. Where I work I am on shift with 2 South African Guys and we have Canadians,Australians etc.
You may not like the Commonwealth Country stuff but it is not Britain attempting to start it’s Empire again but a plain fact,And is more a group of countries who look after each others interests.
Some information about the Meteor can be found here
http://www.redtwo.demon.co.uk/616/jets.htm
A site by a guy on one of the other forums I frequent.
Is a site I mentioned before but it has a fair number of Enthusiasts who know their stuff.If you do visit you may see my post about recent events 
This was the source of all of the arguing in this thread. Because I was a new member, you attacked my opinion and posted an argumentative one immediately after I voiced my opinion. You did not do this behind any of the other people’s opinions, only mine. Just so you know.
This was the source of all of the arguing in this thread. Because I was a new member, you attacked my opinion and posted an argumentative one immediately after I voiced my opinion. You did not do this behind any of the other people’s opinions, only mine. Just so you know.[/quote]
Not true, I voice my opinion whenever I feel that something is not historically correct, or what I think that the person is arguing is not entirely true, usually I back my opinions with info.
After all it is like a debate, so dont take it personal.
Gone for Britain, Spitfire was a better fighter than the Mustang (just), Lightning and Thunderbolt (IMO)
For any new comers who havent seen this topic yet, please vote and state why. I will like to continue the debate.
The mustang because it was the fastest plane and won the airwalt.
Sorry no I would go with the Hawker Hurricane for all round robust duty and the ability to destroy german bombers by fling into them! and a huge armament.
Maybe the Mosquito night fighter.
hmmmmm or the tweaked mustang that we made when we gave it a decent engine that could actually fly at altitude and made it into an escort fighter as opposed to a ground attack like the yanks wanted to use it for, with an underpowered normally aspirated engine.
(hang fire on normally aspirated)
IRONMAN wrote:
You said in these forums that you are in the RAF. How could that be if you are a citizen of South Africa,
[quote]wildboar wrote
As a member of a commonwealth Country it is fairly common to serve in The UK armed forces. Where I work I am on shift with 2 South African Guys and we have Canadians,Australians etc.
You may not like the Commonwealth Country stuff but it is not Britain attempting to start it’s Empire again but a plain fact,And is more a group of countries who look after each others interests.
[/quote]
Wasn’t one of the crew to the Tornado that the patriot shot down a Kiwi. I also remember something about taking on a lot of the RAAF pilots who were being made redundant.
If you go to the RAF memorial overlooking Runningmead you will see the name of all the air crew who died in WW2. they are listed in date order. They also have a section for commonwealth squadrons. If a commonwealth citizen was serving with a RAF squadron he is shown under day of death if serving in a commonwealth squadron he will appear in that countries list by date order.
If you ever get the chance go see it, it is very moving. Try for a cold clear day, as the views over London and Windsor are remarkable.
Runnymede Memorial
The Runnymede Memorial is situated at Englefield Green, near Egham, Surrey, 32 kilometres west of London. Its design is original and striking. On the crest of Cooper’s Hill, overlooking the Thames, a square tower dominates a cloister, in the centre of which rests the Stone of Remembrance. The cloistered walks terminate in two lookouts, one facing towards Windsor, and the other towards London. The names of the dead are inscribed on the stone reveals of the narrow windows in the cloisters and the lookouts.Above the three-arched entrance to the cloister is a great stone eagle with the Royal Air Force motto, “Per Ardua ad Astra”. On each side is the inscription:
IN THIS CLOISTER ARE RECORDED THE NAMES OF TWENTY THOUSAND AIRMEN WHO HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE. THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM IN RAID AND SORTIE OVER THE BRITISH ISLES AND THE LANDS AND SEAS OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPE.
In the tower a vaulted shrine, which provides a quiet place for contemplation, contains illuminated verses by Paul H. Scott, from whom the following extract has been taken:
“Here, at the heart of England, half-way between Royal Windsor and lordly London: looking down, Here, where the trees troop down to Runnymede, Meadow of Magna Carta, field of freedom, Never saw you so fitting a memorial, Proof that the principles established here Are still dear to the hearts of men.”
Saw the Runnymede memorial a few times when I was posted to Windsor - very moving and beautiful views.
Think one of the aircrew on the SF Herc that came down was a Kiwi - no idea about the Tornado that the Patriot got though.
I always thought that it was funny that the Spitfire is the most remember plane of the RAF. But the Hurricane was the real savior of Britain. I believe it was 4/7th or 5/7th of enemy planes were shot down by Hurricanes during the Battle of Britian. Or the BoB as some like to call it. 
Hurricane got into production first and was easier to make GS, that’s why we had more of them. There were a lot of problems setting up a “shadow production line” in Castle Bromwich for the Spitfire, which meant that it was in use in smaller numbers in early 1940 - they managed to turn out 20,000 odd of them by the time they were retired well after the end of the war.
The Hurricane was the mainstay of the BofB, but if we could have built the Spitfire quicker we would have equipped more squadrons with it and it would have been the major player in the Battle - it was a far superior plane to the Hurri (and the Bf-109E) and would have made the Battle far less of a closely run affair (IMO).
edit - Stella induced spelling
The best plane of the war IMO was probably the Mosquito. Although used alot as a bomber it was very effective in dogfights as well. I just think this was the best all around plane of the war. Although I have to say that the Americans had much better bombers in the end than the British. Not saying yours were bad but the American bombers were more forerunner for the modern heavy bombers. Today most planes are considered tactical so therefore the mosquito would be a good example of that do to its all around effectivness. This is about fighter so I wont get to off topic about bombers.
Debate about bombers, MADE
IIRC it was 70% of all enemy shot down in the Battle Of Britain was done so by Hawker Hurricanes.
I think the British Spitfires and Hurricanes were the best planes of WWII on the Allied side. They had more visibility from around the cockpit then that of a German Messerschmitt. They had, I believe 2, .50 Browning Automatic guns mounted on the wings. Though the .50 cals were no match for the amazing firepower that the Messerschmitt could put out. Overall though, I think that the British had the most inovative fighter design and that their Spitfires and Hurricanes played a large role in leading the Allies to victory.
OK, where do we start…
-
The hurricane was very obsolete by mid-war, and was a dead-end of development, since its construction was a bit old-school (the fuselage was fabric over a tube skeleton). Even at the time of the Battle of Britain, its performance could not match the Bf109. The Spitfire continued to be developped until the end of the war.
-
Armament at the start of the war was 8 .303" Browning aircraft guns, with a rate of fire of 1100rpm each. One version of the Hurricane mounted 12 .303" machine guns. Later in the war, the armament was 2 20mm cannon & 4 .303" machine guns, along with other configurations.
-
The firepower of the Messerschmitt was not that great - the cannon had a rather low rate of fire & curved trajectory, so were not so good against fast-moving fighters, and 2x7.92mm MGs (as per early in the war) was not as good as 8 Brownings for this. When used in combination, the difference in ballistics between the MGs & the cannon dispersed the shot pattern both vertically & horizontally at anything other than optimum range, whilst the British 8-gun pattern remained more concentrated, since it was only dispersed horizontally at anything other than convergence range.
But the skeleton construction of the Hurricane meant that she could absorb a lot of punishment and could easily be repaired on the frontline bases, compared to the stressed semi monocoque design of the Spitfire, which required more advanced repairs. As a result the Hurricanes were
a) easier to manufacture and
b) faster back in combat after repairs.
As a result more German planes got shot down by Hurricanes than Spitfires during the Battle of Britain.
Jan
That is true - there were also significantly more hurricanes than spitfires in the RAF at the time, but it was a dead-end design for weight & thus performance reasons - there’s only so far you can push an airframe of that construction.
That’s true. I think the biggest obstacle was the fabric covering. It limits Vne, because beyond a certain speed no matter how good your rib stitching is, the low pressure area above the wing will rip the fabric off the wings. If you want to go faster, you´ll need a semimonocoque design, out of metal, or composites, even plywood, as on the Mossie.
Jan