The Supermarine Spitfire
The Air Ministry, in 1934, announced that it was looking for a new fighter.
Reginald J. Mitchell, whose company was now part of the Vickers Corporation,
came out with the new Supermarine Spitfire Mk. 1. The new spitfire had some
new features that were different from the seaplane that it was originally planned
to be. It had the same structure and aerodynamic lines, but it had a new engine,
the 1,030 hp Rolls Royce Merlin II and carried 8 machine-guns. The first spitfire
prototype flew on the 5th of March, in 1936 and flew at 350 mph (563 km/h) and
could ascend at approximately 2,500 ft (762 m) per minute. Because of its elliptical-plan
wings and its aerodynamic design it claimed to be the "smallest and cleanest
aircraft that could be constructed around a man and an engine." So impressed
with the performance of the aircraft that the RAF ordered 310 of this plane
in 1936. The supermarine went into production in 1937 and was operational by
1938. So high was the demand for the spitfire that the Vickers Corporation could
not keep up with the tremendous demand and most of the manufacturers in Britain
began producing spitfires. The Air Ministry ordered over 4,000 of these planes
by October of 1939. During the Battle of Britain the RAF had 32 Squadrons of
Hawker Hurricanes and 19 of them equipped with the Supermarine Spitfire. They
decided to use the Spitfire against the fighters of the Luftwaffe and the Hurricanes
against the massive bomber formations. When the Fock Wulf Fw 190 appeared in
July of 1941 it was superior, at the time, to the spitfire being used by the
RAF until they came out with the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. XIV. This new addition
to the RAF employed a Rolls-Royce Griffon 65, 12-cylinder, 2,050 hp engine,
it could reach a speed of 448 mph (721 km/h) and could reach a ceiling of 44,500
ft (13,560 m) and had a range of 460 miles (740 km). It had two 20 mm cannons;
four machine-guns; 1,000 lb (454 kg) of bombs. The RAF continued to constantly
improve the Spitfire throughout the Second World War. The Supermarine Spitfire
F.22 that was used in 1945 could fly at more than 450 mph (724 km/h) and could
ascend at twice the speed of the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. I. Production of the
Spitfire continued after the war and in October of 1947, 20,334 Spitfires had
been manufactured.
The Hawker Hurricane
An aircraft designer by the name of Sidney Camm, who was working for the Hawker
Company, began to work on the Hawker Hurricane in 1934. The Hawker Hurricane
prototype made its first flight on 6th November 1935. It reached a maximum speed
of more than 315 mph (506 km/h) at 16,500 ft (5,000 m). It was therefore the
first fighter plane to break the 300 mph barrier. Like the Supermarine Spitfire,
the aircraft used the 1,030 hp Rolls Royce Merlin II and carried 8 machine-guns.
The RAF ordered about 600 of these aircraft on June 3rd, and on October 1937
the first of these went into production. When the Second World War started there
were 497 Hurricanes in service at the time. Many of these were sent to France
to help against Germany's Western Offensive and the Luftwaffe destroyed large
numbers of these. By August 1940, a total of 2309 Hawker Hurricanes had been
delivered to the Royal Air Force and they formed the backbone of Fighter Command.
Statistics show that Hurricanes destroyed more German aircraft than all other
British types combined during the early stages of the war. Sydney Camm made
improvements to the Hurricane throughout the war. This included the Hawker Hurricane
Mk. II in 1940 which had the more powerful 1,280 hp Rolls Royce Merlin XX and
the Hawker Hurricane Mk D which carried two 20 mm cannons which were extremely
effective against tanks and were used chiefly in the Desert War. The red army
also received about 2,952. A total of 1,451 Hurricanes were made in Canada and
a total of 12,708 in Britain.
The Gloster Meteor
The Gloster Meteor Mk. I made its first flight on the 15th of May, 1941. It
had a maximum speed of 415 mph (667 km) and had a range of 1,340 miles (2,156
km). It was 41 ft 3 in (12.58 m) long with a wingspan of 43 ft (13.11 m) and
armed with four 20 mm cannons. In June of 1944 the RAF received the Gloster
Meteor and sent it up against the V1 Flying Bomb. When the Meteor first appeared
over Germany in June of 1945 it saw no action because by then the Luftwaffe
had virtually been destroyed so it never net the experienced German fighters.
