The Second British Work Horse April 07 2016
After the Battle of Britain (from mid July to the end of October 1940) the Hurricane was replaced by the Spitfire as the backbone of the RAF. And another work horse the Spitfire ended up being as it too served on all major theaters and continued to be improved and produced throughout the war. At the end, the Spitfire ended up being the most produced (most units) British aircraft.
In the last posting it was noted that the Hurricane scored the most victories (60%) during the Battle of Britain, but it turns out that the Spitfires achieved a higher victory to loss ratio. If one keeps in mind that the plan called for Spitfires to go after the Bf-109 fighters as main targets, then that ratio becomes quite impressive.
There is also a link between the Spitfire and the P-51 Mustang. When the early Mustangs, powered by Allison engines, came out, their performance was such that they were not really used as air superiority fighters due to the low performance at high altitudes. It was only when the Mustang was mated to the Spitfire's Rolls Royce Merlin engine that the P-51 started performing at the level that is now known for.
