Were you fortunate enough to see, and hear, the Spitfire and Hurricane flypast over Brigg at about 4.50pm on Saturday afternoon? These WW2 fighters from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight at RAF Coningsby are always a magnificent sight, as is the wonderful Lancaster and the Dakota. We were just about to get in the car in Spring's Parade when we heard the engines, glanced skyward and saw the fighters overhead. Just as well they came back for another "pass" over Brigg, giving us time to get the camera on standby. The flypast was for the Glanford Boat Club regatta, on which we will be posting in the near future (with pix).
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3 comments:
Problem with aircraft identification!
The Hurricane is above the Spitfire.
Notes -
Both are magnificent aircraft - although the Spitfire was, for its time, a revolutionary all-metal design. while the Hurricane is often described as a 1930's biplane (see for reference the RAF's Hawker Hart) with only one wing - constructed from wood, fabric with metal around the cockpit and engine.
During the Battle of Britain the Hurricane squadrons brought down more enemy aircraft than the Spitfire - albeit that the Hurricanes tended to attack the bombers, while the Spitfire took on the German fighters.
Comparing the two - the Hurricane is much bigger.
Throughout WW2, the Spitfire was constantly upgraded - for example, the Mk 1's (the Mark that flew in the BofB - 1940) airspeed was just over 300 mph, while later Marks achieved max speeds nearing and perhaps, over 500mph.
Nevertheless, the Hurricane was often re-modelled as a ground-attack fighter. It solid airframe was an excellent platform for a tank-busting cannon. In this role is was second to none and is famous for attacking and taking out Rommel's tanks in the North African Desert War.
Correction - just checking my notes - in 1944, a Mk Xl Spitfire (with a more powerful Griffon engine) achieved an airspeed of 606 mph - although the aircraft suffered some damage.
One disadvantage of the early Spitfires was their engine carb instead of a direct feed. Flying upside down, or going into a steep dive (causing negative 'g') resulted in fuel starvation - in such situations, the Merlin engine gave a distinctive splutter.
German fighters took advantage of this inherent weakness and could escape by power diving.
Later, modified carbs with pressurised fuel lines cured the problem.
The first operational sortie for the Hawker Hurricane was in October, 1939 - from RAF North Coates - near Cleethorpes - when a squadron of Hurricanes attacked German bombers approaching the Humber.
With the little digital "box brownie" we felt quick proud to get them in shot. The Lanc is much easier, being that much slower. Just as well we didn't have a big camera in a bag in the back of the car, Ken, they'd have been halfway back to Coningsby before we get it set up! SEE YOU SOON.
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