Best Battle of Britain Aircraft

[Nonskimmer]

Nut.

[plan_D]

Why wouldn't you be so confident if they were all Spitfires? They were better aircraft and had the same armament. So, bombers wouldn't be a problem nor would fighters.

[cheddar cheese]

Originally Posted by Nonskimmer

Nut.

How many times have you called me that?

[Nonskimmer]

Three so far.

[cheddar cheese]

Oh...I thought it was more

[DerRotenTeufel]

The Hurricane shot down more enemy aircraft in the BoB.

The Spitfire is probably the prettiest airplane ever.

But taking Fighter v Fighter combat losses the Bf109E comes out the clear winner.

219 Spitfires v 180 Bf109s
272 Hurricanes v 153 Bf109s

So the 109 is the best. Plus its the most purposeful looking killing machine in aviation history

Dave

[the lancaster kicks ass]

the 109 isn't the best because it shot down more, oh no, it had shockingly little fuel, and what those figures don't show is the number of bombers both planes took out (although the hurricane moreso), the hurricane was the best as it shot down around 80% of all planes shot down by all british defences (including AA fire)..................

[mosquitoman]

If Fighter Command was all Spits, we could have lost simply because of the comparitive difficulty in producing a Spit to a Hurricane. Also, not as many Spits would make it back with the amaount of damage that Hurricanes could take

[DerRotenTeufel]

Yes the 109 had 'shockingly little fuel' and it still shot down more of its primary target . The reason the 109 shot down fewer bombers in the BoB was because there wasn't that many RAF bombers around to shoot at, was there.
The Jagdfliegers primary task was shoot down fighters. This they did with gusto. And when Bomber Command did decide to pay a visit, the 109 also whipped them - Battle of the Bight?
So what constitutes the best aircraft then in your mind?

Most Technologically Advanced?
Hurricane - Still used dope & linen.
109 - Leading edge slats, Direct Fuel Injection, SuperCharger etc

Racyist Colour Schemes?
Hurricane/Spit - Brown & Green
109 - As many colors as possible preferably on the same plane

Individual Highest Scoring Pilot?
RAF/PAF Jozef Frantiszek - 17 (Hurricane)
Luftwaffe Helmut Wick - 56 (109) all but 4 of them fighters.

Or something else????

[mosquitoman]

In some ways I agree, the 109 did well in Freie Jagd covering the retreat of the bombers and in general escort duties but once they were told to stick with the bombers, all it's advantages were lost

[BombTaxi]

The Hurri gets my vote...it was tough, and the tighter grouping of guns in the wing allowed it to hit harder than the Spit with the same armament. And it wasnt bad looking either...

[mosquitoman]

Could soak up the damage aswell, not like the flimsy Spitfire

[Nonskimmer]

Hey!

[mosquitoman]

I like the Spit aswell, I'm just pointing out one of it's weaknesses

[Nonskimmer]

It's impolite to point!