Dumbest show ever: Battle Field Detectives Battle of Britain

[WallyB]

...did the Spit get fuel injection earlier than the IX?

Not that I'm aware of; as early as the Mk.V the Bendix anti-g carburetor was fitted (Merlin 50) but a Mk.IX was the first;

Aircraft and Armament Experimental Establishment
Boscombe Down
31 March 1944

Spitfire LF Mk. IX MA.648
(Merlin 66)

Level speed trials with S.U. Mark II
single point fuel injection pump

SUMMARY

..................A Rolls Royce S.U. fuel injection pump, Mark II has been fitted to Spitfire LF Mk.IX MA.648 in place of the normal Bendix carburettor and level speed performance has been measured as part of the general schedule of tests including fuel consumption and behaviour under negative 'g'.

http://www.spitfireperformance.com/spitfire-IX.html

[The Inspector]

The RAF also used a progressive updating system. As aircraft rotated in for repair or overhaul, the latest and greatest updates were installed as an easy, relatively materials inexpensive method of keeping the sky full of airplanes. Usually engine/prop upgrades or uparmoring.

[bdk]

Can someone show me evidence where a Spitfire was EVER fitted with fuel injection in RAF service?

My understanding is that the later Spitfires were fitted with pressure carburetors, a similar system to that used on the P-51, and nobody says those are fuel injected.

[DC3R4DC47]

The Hurricane is as usual unsung, the Hurricane squadrons shot down more ME-109s,than the Spits did during the Battle,as well as more bombers, though outclassed as a front rank fighter by '41, in the late summer early fall 1940 it was the best fighter out there by the only metric that really counts, victories. and yes I know,there were more Hurris,than Spits, but still.

[shrike]

The Hurricane is as usual unsung, the Hurricane squadrons shot down more ME-109s,than the Spits did during the Battle,as well as more bombers, though outclassed as a front rank fighter by '41, in the late summer early fall 1940 it was the best fighter out there by the only metric that really counts, victories. and yes I know,there were more Hurris,than Spits, but still.

By some accounts the Hurricane was a better gun platform than a Spitfire, and that, as much as if not more than raw performance or aerobatic agility, makes a fighter effective.

[Russ Matthews]

I wasn't that crazy about the Battlefield Detectives episode on Pearl Harbor either. Their "simulation" on what if the U.S. Fleet had been warned and went to sea had one serious flaw -- they didn't account for the American ships shooting back and taking evasive maneuvers.

It also seems to me that they conveniently overlooked the potential contribution of American land-based airpower.

[SaxMan]

The Hurricane is as usual unsung, the Hurricane squadrons shot down more ME-109s,than the Spits did during the Battle,as well as more bombers, though outclassed as a front rank fighter by '41, in the late summer early fall 1940 it was the best fighter out there by the only metric that really counts, victories. and yes I know,there were more Hurris,than Spits, but still.

By some accounts the Hurricane was a better gun platform than a Spitfire, and that, as much as if not more than raw performance or aerobatic agility, makes a fighter effective.

The Hurricane really was the right airplane at the right time. It's fabric covered fuselage was difficult for cannon shell to seriously damage. The RAF maintenance crews in 1940 were more familiar with the Hurricane's more traditional construction than the Spitfire's monocoque design, so a damaged Hurricane was more likely to not only return to duty, but to do so faster than the Spitfire. It's wide track landing gear made it easy to handle on the grass strips that dominated the 11 Group area.

It's performance would eventually relegate it to secondary theaters and ground attack duties as more modern and better performing planes came into service, but during the summer of 1940, it was the right tool for the job, and as a team, "Hurry and Spit" could not be beat.

[David J Burke]

Red Baaron - regards the gas mileage of the Me109 and where the British were based . It's worth noting that whilst Kent was home to a number of fighters -they were also scattered around the country so German aircraft that took off in the Pas de Calais area might well be met by Duxford Spitfires for example that have flown the sixty miles to meet them. The Channel being twenty miles or so isn't that massive a factor.