What was the better WWII Fighter P51 Mustang or F4U Corsair? (1 Viewer)

[Harper (aka Spitfrnd)]

Very well said Al, it's why we won the Battle of Britain.

Rob

The RAF and allied pilots that fought in the BoB deserve the highest respect. That said, their skill set, overall, was not up to the level of their German counterparts, which frankly makes their success all the more impressive. The reasons why Britain won the BoB are varied and certainly include the determination and dedication of its aircrews, as well as the manuevering superiority of its fighters and its command and control infrastructure.

 

[Rob]

The RAF and allied pilots that fought in the BoB deserve the highest respect. That said, their skill set, overall, was not up to the level of their German counterparts, which frankly makes their success all the more impressive. The reasons why Britain won the BoB are varied and certainly include the determination and dedication of its aircrews, as well as the manuevering superiority of its fighters and its command and control infrastructure.

The RAF pilots also had one other weapon/advantage, they had the desire to win, to be free and to protect their families and their way of life, this helped fill them with an agressive determination to drive the invader from the skies above Britain. The Germans for all their air power also failed to destroy enough fighters on the ground in their protective fighter pens which proved vital. By the height of the Battle the RAF were also repairing aircraft at a greater rate than the Germans, they had systems in place that were more slick than in France/Germany for repairing and recovering aircraft. Of course another big help was the fact that any pilot bailing out from an RAF aircraft was over friendly country and if not injured could be in the air again in hours.

Finally there was a psychological element. Some Luftwaffe pilots also suffered from a form of depression/stress after many missions, they were highly stressed and lacked the emotional drive the RAF pilots had. They simply did not want to invade Britain as much as the RAF pilots wanted to defend it, whatever the deluded and removed Goering said.The word Spitfire held a dread for them beyond even its legend, the 109 did not have this.

So all this contributed to victory, but it was the RAF pilots that climbed into their aircraft and with skill bravery and courage inflicted the first real reverse on Hitler.

Rob