(Revealing other aspects of our nerdiness can't hurt on a site like this, right?)
I've just finished re-viewing a terrific miniseries about an RAF squadron from the Phony war to the beginning of the Battle of London called "A Piece of Cake." It was aired on PBS in like 1989, hosted by the late Alistair Cooke (sad to say, his commentary is absent from the DVD--luckily we still had the VHS recordings to watch for those). Superb series, and I bet the book is pretty good, too.
Anyway, in reviews I have seen gripes about the series using Spitfires (six flyable ones, I think) rather than Hurricanes since there were so many more Hurricanes and they sort of "bore the brunt" of the war, so to speak.
Well my question is whether or not [Hornet Squadron] could have been real. I mean, respect to the Hurricane aside, I presume there was in fact an airplane called the Spitfire used in the Battle of Britain, and that some RAF squadrons were equipped only with Spits?
Whatever the case, I don't mind the producers' decision at all, considering the Spitfire's fame and the fact that it's one of the most beautiful airplanes ever built...
A spitfire was a great plane but I have to argue that the P-51 Mustang was the most beautiful flying machine of the WW2 age. Clasical good looks, powerful engine, enough firepower to knock anything out of the sky and destroy anything on the ground. A mustang is like a good woman, hot and ready for action.............sorry just love that plane.
A spitfire was a great plane but I have to argue that the P-51 Mustang was the most beautiful flying machine of the WW2 age. Clasical good looks, powerful engine, enough firepower to knock anything out of the sky and destroy anything on the ground. A mustang is like a good woman, hot and ready for action.............sorry just love that plane.
heh.. Anyone who's played BF1942 knows how good Mustang is :)
A spitfire was a great plane but I have to argue that the P-51 Mustang was the most beautiful flying machine of the WW2 age. Clasical good looks, powerful engine, enough firepower to knock anything out of the sky and destroy anything on the ground. A mustang is like a good woman, hot and ready for action.............sorry just love that plane.
Well for must brits, there was no P51 around to help them defend the UK in the early part of the war..that is why the spitfire and hurricane rule supreme.
Anyway, in reviews I have seen gripes about the series using Spitfires (six flyable ones, I think) rather than Hurricanes since there were so many more Hurricanes and they sort of "bore the brunt" of the war, so to speak.
I would suspect that since the Spitfire was the more famous plane, it was likely to be preserved and rennovated by enthustiats than the Hurricane..so the TV makers probably had little choice in using Spitfires.
LOL - I was just about to say that it looked like a Kittyhawk. The first model airplane I built.
Then I read the link.
They are actually one and the same. Kittyhawk is its other name, I think used more by the Brits. It was most famously used by the Flying Tigers in China, at least that's how it became so closely associated with the shark teeth painted on the nose. It was a British squadron in N. Africa, however, that first used shark teeth on its planes (either the first in history or the first with the P-40). Something like 113 Squadron...
Kind of a mediocre plane if you read about it, but it's got great looks and a boldness about it that I like.
Were doing the Battle of Britain right now in Canadian History Class. We learned that Spitfires and Huricanes were involved, but that was the extent of learning about planes.
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