Battle Of Britain
- August 21st, 2010
- Posted by EUEditor
Pilots from the Battle of Britain paraded in London on the 70th anniversary (20.8.10) of Winston Churchill’s speech in parliament commemorating “the fewâ€.
HEROES
The air defence of the United Kingdom in the Summer of 1940 was a major set-back to the Axis war machine and inspired a beleaguered public
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few”, said the Prime Minister of the day.
AEROPLANES
Other heroes were the celebrated aircraft, the Hurricanes and Spitfires, a few of which have been devotedly preserved, and were airborne this week.
The Supermarine Spitfire was an advanced all-metal aircraft with very powerful engine, the fastest of its era.
Records show different aircraft in use through into the 1950s, by 36 countries including Australia, the United States, and, presumably captured, by Nazi Germany.
The Hawker Hurricane as a simpler design could be rushed into production, as it was, the first version built with fabric wing covering.
According to legend the Hawker company, to side-step short-sightedness among the military community of the day, pretended to design it as a bi-plane — removing the “top wing†when the time came to honour the contract and produce a modern fighter.
Reference
Wikipedia, “Supermarine Spitfire”, “Hawker Hurricane”, www.wikipedia.org, (21.8.10).
Images
airmuseumuk,org, ww2aircraft.net, aces.safarihovi.org, videolife.tk