The Supermarine Spitfire and The Hawker Hurricane

During the battle of Britain, control of the British air was the key to victory for both Germany and Britain. Because of this, many resources were put into developing the best possible air defenses which at the time were planes. The RAF (Royal Air Force) was the branch of the British army which was tasked with defending the air, and this lead to the implementation of two of Britain's most infamous planes: The Supermarine Spitfire and The Hawker Hurricane.

The Hawker Hurricane:

The Hawker Hurricane was not created as an original idea, it was more of an evolution of fighter planes from Britain's past wars. Before the Hurricane, all RAF fighter planes were biplanes which means they had two sets of wings, the Hurricane however modernized this design and became the first monoplane in the RAF. While biplanes were much more agile in the air, monoplanes could go much faster and were harder to hit. The Hurricane could also go at a speed of 300 mph whereas the previous model (The Fury) could only get to 184 mph. The Hurricane had 4 Browning machine guns in each wing because this the British needed as much firepower as they could get to take down the German bombers.

The Supermarine Spitfire:

The Supermarine Spitfire was the a plane model designed by Reginald J. Mitchell, who worked at a firm called Supermarine Ltd. Supermarine Ltd had produced racing airplanes and sailing airplanes in the 1920s-1930s. Mitchell was known in the arial racing world for implementing streamlining into his planes. Mitchell was so successful in the racing world that when the RAF began looking for a new and innovative plane to replace the Bristol Bulldog, and the Gloster Gladiator, Mitchell was given the opportunity to create this plane. Initially, Mitchell's design was not a success. His plane could only get to 238 mph and this left Mitchell feeling unsatisfied as he knew he could do better. He gave his prototype thin elliptical wings, a larger engine, and an oxygen tank for the pilot. The RAF was impressed, but demanded that the plane had 8 machine guns. He was able to add 4 machine guns to each side because the elliptical wings allowed for more space.




Sources: https://www.historynet.com/supermarine-spitfires-and-hawker-hurricanes-world-war-ii-aircraft.htm