Vintage Aircraft

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Shuttleworth, of course.

Regards, David
 
Bill58 said:
But which one did the Germans fear most? The P47. . It had more kills than any other allied aircraft.
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Well, the Mustang was a later generation aircraft, specified half a decade later at a time of fast-driven evolution (by the British Air Ministry, as it happens, needing to take the action a longer range at that stage in the war.) The Spitfire (and the Hurricane) did the job at the time when it was really 's**t or bust' :cool:.
[EDIT] Oops, senior moment, got my Pnumbers mixed up:eek: . I was thinking Mustang as it's more an apples to apples comparison with the Spitfire.
 
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Bill58 said:
But which one did the Germans fear most? The P47. It had more kills than any other allied aircraft.
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Well, that isn't true, the USAAF P47 Thunderbolt shot down 3752 German planes. The USAAF P51 Mustang shot down 4950 German planes. The P51 influenced the German Ta 152 version of the FW 190.

But still, the Spitfire is sexier, did you see those curves on the wings? :cool:
 
.... when Bob Stanford-Tuck first flew it in 1940 he was told it was 1/3d a day extra. He wrote home to his dad for the money thinking he had to pay the RAF for the privilege of flying it

(one shilling and thruppence)
 
citizen99 said:
... [EDIT] Oops, senior moment, got my Pnumbers mixed up:eek: . I was thinking Mustang as it's more an apples to apples comparison with the Spitfire.
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If we're considering radial-engined fighters, for 'sexiness' i would nominate the Hawker Sea Fury. And, FWIW they had success against the MIG 15 in Korea.
 
Considering functionality rather than 'sexiness', it really boils down to the fact that different aircraft were designed for different operational purposes, at different times, in different theatres, against different opposition. I've come across this thread, which makes interesting reading - quite some good old 'ding-dongs' :D. Despite the specific title, the discussion ranged over practically every known warbird.
 
Hi,

The Spitfire was a 'plane designed in the early to mid 30's that was upgraded as time went by but not completely redesigned, the Mustang came much later and has to thank the RR engine for its performance.

The Spitfire was also designed as an interceptor which is a lot different from a long range bomber escort.

Anyway, I like the Hurricane which did a lot more work because it could be patched up and repaired and fighting again quickly. The best tribute to it was from a German who said that you could attack and hit one and bits would fly off and all over the place but it would go on fighting. It was seen as almost indestructible. Spitfires were more high tech and repairs took longer and were seldom done outside the factory.

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Looking at the kill figures I wonder how many of each plane were in service; that would make it meaningful.

BTW, as a kid during the war I can remember aircraft wings on lorries being delivered to a (? carpenter's) workshop behind the local shops for repairs. I guess now that they were from Hurricanes.

Regards, David
 
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