Is Spitfire really the BEST British fighter???

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According to Spitfire: the History, the Mk XVIII could carry 3x 500lb GP bombs.
 
BountyHunter15 said:
The Spitfire had two 0.5in machine guns and two 20mm cannons. It was a great fighter. it really packed a punch.
Click to expand...

I'd rather have 6 x .50's. The Hispano was too prone to jamming until very late in the war, and if the 20mm on one side jammed, its mate on the other side was nearly useless in the Spitfire (unlike the .50's where the plane could be trimmed to handle it). This is one of the big reasons they decided to mount the two .50's on the later Spitfires - they didn't want to be toothless in battle.

See the attached doc below where the Hurc IIc suffers 3 of 4 gun jams.

=S=

Lunatic
 

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Thing is statistics are useful but not everything I know the for instance the Hurricane had a higher kill figure than the Spit but the discussion is which was the best fighter not the most successful so I'm still in favor of the spit as being the best meld of man and machine this is what made it the best "like wearing a glove" as one pilot said.
 
My point is that earlier in the war the 20mm cannon of all sides, except the ShVAK, were somewhat unreliable. As the war progressed they became increasingly reliable. By the end of the war the Hispano supposedly had a 1:1500 rounds fired stoppage rate, the MG151/20 was about the same, the BMG was about 1:4000 rounds. These stoppage rates do not include guns that froze.

=S=

Lunatic
 
a gun freezing over (although it's normally the lubricating oil that freezes i believe), is a pretty major promlem in the air though..............
 
no i mean if you're guns freeze over it's a proplem, no matter what you're altitude is, not that gun freezing is more likely at higher altitudes, although i know it is..............
 
I only pointed out that the stoppage rate figures I've given exclude cases where the guns froze, which was considered a different issue.

=S=

Lunatic
 
Hello:

In my opinion the Spitfire was obviously the best British figher - up to 1944. First half of 1944 its either Spit XIV or Tempest V, the choice is a matter of taste. Beginning June 1944 I'd have to go with the Mustang III with +25 boost; it had the best all around performance. I can't think of another period of time where the RAF had an aircraft with such an enormous quality advantage over the Lufwaffe as the highly boosted Mustang IIIs had during the summer of 1944.

p.s. nice site RG_Lunatic
 
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