I found this while clearing up our library yesterday. While not able to bring the debate over which was the better gun platform to a conclusion, it adds a bit more to the fact that the Spitfire, while a superb aircraft, was not without its faults.
I would consider this chap to be an authority, he fought in both the Battle of France and Britain on Hurricanes and went on to be instrumental in testing the Typhoon and Tempest, which he took into battle with 609 Sqn. He was also part of the team that evaluated captured enemy aircraft and after the war he played a major part in developing the Lightning, Canberra, TSR2, Jaguar and Tornado. So I guess he knew something about aircraft.
Apart from the common faults, noted by most pilots who flew the Spitfire, i.e heavy ailerons at higher speeds, the poor forward view while taxying etc…. He also noted the following
The ailerons were pleasantly light at low combat speeds but all controls heavied up considerably above 300 mph, and with the prevailing turbulance and in sharp combat manoeuvring directional stability was marginal and seemed likely to interfere with gun-aiming.
Switching on the GM2 gunsight I picked out a target and made some attacking passes varying the speed from 220 to 320 mph, and this confirmed the very limited vision over the long nose and through the restricted windscreen, and also that directional damping was indeed poor and resulted in excessive wander of the gunsight aiming point around the target in the prevailing rough air.
Sign In
