When most of us think of the Battle of Britain, we default to the Spitfire and its role. In fact, the Hawker Hurricane shot down the majority of enemy aircraft, even when faced with the Messerschmidt Bf 109. It could, in fact, out-turn the German fighter. Its simplicity of construction and maintenance (fabric with dope covering over wooden slats on much of the fuselage) combined with a strong wing structure allowed it be repaired at squadron level without having specialized metal shop support. The weapons suite mounted in the wings was up to 12 x .303 Browning MGs or 4 x 20 mm cannon or 2 x 40 mm cannon. It operated in every theater of the war, from the Arctic to the tropics to the desert with success. An informative 25 minute video if you enjoy the stories of relatively under-appreciated weapons systems.

always was a fan of the Hurricane. For those that watch the Grand Tour on prime, James May gives a nice mini rant about how the Hurricane was the real winner of the battle of britain but how the spitfire gets the credit.

The 1940 Mk1 with metal wings and a constant speed propeller did most of the damage. Much improved.

74OA said:

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The 1940 Mk1 with metal wings and a constant speed propeller did most of the damage. Much improved.

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And the engine improvement to prevent cutout---Miss Tilly's Diaphragm was its name from my recollection.

This the plane that Douglas Bader crashed and lost his legs. Note: he eventually healed shot down in Germany, pow but kept trying to escape so the Germans took his artificial legs away.

One problem with the Hurricane was apparently the placement of a fuel tank just in front of the pilot. This was partially addressed in developing a self sealing fuel tank. Additionally, in the video one pilot describes landing and using 87 octane fuel to get airborne again.

BQ78 said:

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Not unlike the B-17 vs B-24 and the P-47 vs P-51 the less famous plane did more of the heavy lifting but just wasn't as glamorous.

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My theory, at least on the B-24:

B-24s were used on the really long runs, such as North Africa to Romania, or in the South Pacific. B-17s were much more common in England.

Where did all the reporters hang out?

Not in North Africa or in Bumfook Island, South Pacific.

And you have to admit, the Spit, the Fortress, and the Mustang were prettier planes.

CanyonAg77 said:

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B-24s were used on the really long runs, such as North Africa to Romania, or in the South Pacific. B-17s were much more common in England.

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There were nearly 20 B-24 equipped bombardment groups that flew out of England, but with their longer range they flew out of bases that were further away from London than the B-17 groups ... B-24s with the 15th Air Force flew out of southern Italy, too ...

There were no B-17's in the Pacific after March 1943.

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And you have to admit, the Spit, the Fortress, and the Mustang were prettier planes.

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I don't know, I always loved the P-47 with the elliptical wing and that big fat beautiful radial engine.

pagerman @ work said:

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And you have to admit, the Spit, the Fortress, and the Mustang were prettier planes.

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I don't know, I always loved the P-47 with the elliptical wing and that big fat beautiful radial engine.

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And 8 x .50 caliber MGs.

The Hurricane was a somewhat like other Allied fighters of the time, namely the P-40 Warhawk and the F4F Wildcat, in that it was outclassed by Axis aircraft like the Bf109 and the Mitsubishi A6M Zero, but it had to hold its own until newer designs arrived.

The Hurricane was a good warbird, but with the Spitfire more closely matching the Bf109, the Hurricane was able to focus on "easier" targets such as the Luftwaffe bombers like the He111 or Do17, or the Bf110 or Ju87 Stuka. As noted above, the Hurricane was quite a simple aircraft that could easily be repaired.

Personally, give me a P-38 Lightning, an F4U Corsair, an F6F Hellcat, and a P-47 Thunderbolt, and I'm good. Although I will admit that the Spitfire is quite simply one of the most gorgeous aircraft designs ever produced.

Spore Ag said:

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This the plane that Douglas Bader crashed and lost his legs. Note: he eventually healed shot down in Germany, pow but kept trying to escape so the Germans took his artificial legs away.

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Bader was shot down over France, but he lost one of his artificial legs in the crash, it was stuck in the plane and he had to bail without it.

The Germans (approved by Goering) allowed the British to air drop a new leg that was given to Bader. He did try to escape many times and the Germans threatened to take his legs, but didn't. Instead, they sent him to Colditz. He remained in Colditz for the remainder of the war.

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an F6F Hellcat

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Heck yeah...tough as nails and capable of dogfighting or ground attack.