Battle of Britain Aircraft

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The most famous fighter aircraft used in the Battle of Britain were the British Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and the German Messerschmitt Bf-109E ('Emil'). Although nowadays the glamorous Spitfire is often thought of as the main British fighter, in fact the Hurricanes were at first more numerous (by a factor of about 5:3) and (especially in the early part of the battle), were responsible for most of the German losses.

The Spitfire and Bf-109E were well-matched in speed and agility, and both were somewhat faster than the Hurricane. The slightly larger Hurricane was regarded as less 'twitchy' and provided a more stable gun platform, as Luftwaffe bombers would later find out to their cost. The RAF's preferred tactic was if possible to deploy the Hurricane's awesome firepower against formations of less-agile bombers, and to pit the Spitfires against the fighter escorts waiting to pounce from higher altitude. The Spitfire’s one-piece sliding moulded canopy gave the best visibility, the pilot having a better chance of spotting an enemy over the Bf-109E and its heavy framed hinged hood. The Emil's main armament was two MG-17 (Maschinengewehr 17) 7.92 x 57 mm machine guns on the engine decking and two Oerlikon / Mauser MG FF 20 x 72RB mm autocannons in the wings. Although the explosive cannon shells had more destructive power, the FF's low muzzle velocity and limited ammunition carried meant the cannon was not markedly superior to the Hurricane and Spitfire's eight proven Browning .303 (7.7 x 56R mm) machine guns.

In terms of manoeuvrability, if flown by experienced pilots, the Bf-109E could out-turn the Hurricane and Spitfire at all heights. Most of the time though, the Spitfires and Hurricanes would out-turn the 109s because the BF-109Es pilots were afraid to push the plane to its limits due to the fact that the BF109E did not give the pilot any warning when it was about to stall, whereas the Spitfire and Hurricane shook violently at that point. The Spitfire's maximum speed was a little faster than the BF-109E, although both the Spitfire and Hurricane were slower in a power dive and had the drawback of being equipped with a float-type carburettor which cut out under negative 'g' forces. The Bf-109E on the other hand had direct fuel injection, which meant the Bf-109E's main evasive manoeuvre was a nose 'bunt' straight down, the RAF fighters losing ground rapidly as the petrol supply momentarily stopped to the engine and the power cut. (Spitfire and Hurricane pilots overcame this by half rolling prior to diving, 'pushing' fuel into the engine.)

The Emil was smaller than either RAF fighter, but its controllability was decidedly inferior to the 'pilot-friendly' Spitfire and Hurricane, particularly during take-off and landing, and on the ground, where taxiing accidents were common. At high speeds controls tightened considerably , and the Bf-109E needed more strength to throw around the air than either of its main opponents. Attempts to pull high 'g' meant the Bf-109E's leading edge wing slats flicked in and out, resulting in aileron snatching, making aiming at a target in a tight turn very difficult. The Hurricane was the toughest and most durable of the three, and serviceability rates of Hawker's less sophisticated fighter were always higher than the more complex and advanced Spitfire.

Both the RAF fighters were easy to fly and forgiving of both rough handling and novice pilots. The Hurricane was a superbly steady gun platform, and the closely clustered .303 machine guns in each wing proved very destructive. A drawback to the Hurricane was the presence of a fuel tank just behind the cockpit firewall, which could catch fire and within a few seconds severely burn the pilot before he managed to bale out.