Interesting article: a few years ago I bought a collection of back copies of Aeroplane Monthly; in February 1994 Roland Beamont wrote an article about
the Hurricane
http://www.theaviationindex.com/publ...ricane-testing in which he wrote:
"The Spitfire was about 30 mph faster at all altitudes, but its Vne was the same at 400 mph IAS - though with a significant difference. A Hurricane could be "corkscrew" dived at full bore, vertically and with full aileron (still responsive to the limit) and nothing would break....In this manœuvre there was a strong likelyhood of pulling the wings off a Spitfire....The Hurricane's gun-platform stability was much superior to the Spitfire's...whose low directional damping tended to result in "hosing" rather than precision shots." He then went on to describe a mock combat he flew against a Spitfire in which he was able to stay on the tail of the Spitfire no matter what the Spitfire pilot tried to do.
This article caused a bit of a stink prompting Spitfire test pilot Alex Henshaw to respond in September '95
http://www.theaviationindex.com/publ...pilots-defence:
First Henshaw described a typical demonstration flight at Castle Bromwich
"...The Spitfire would then continue with a series of loops and half-rolls to gain height over the airfield to between 4,000 and 5,000ft. Depending on the precise position of the aircraft in relation to the airfield, the usual procedure was to dive to 450-470 mph in front of the flight shed and then pull out and complete an upward roll to the left, one to the right and a half-roll left. This manoeuvre might be repeated or continued with a vertical dive with aileron turns...Considering how often this was demonstrated with all marks of Spitfires I am surprised that it should ever be suspected that wings might suffer structural fialure in such a situation when excessive aileron loads were used in high-speed dives. There was certainly never any fear of a Hurricane losing its wings in a similar situation, as its speed would be much lower."
"It is generally accepted that the Hurricane made a better gun platform than the Spitfire. I have never fired the guns of a Hurricane, but those top-scoring pilots with whom I have discussed the subject all say that the marvlous feature of the Spitfire was the speed at which the guns could be brought to bear on the target. Their reply to the accusation of "hosing' was that the pilot concerned was a poor shot."
"Bee quotes a number of performance figure on both the Spitfire and the Hurricane in a surprisingly loose manner. As every reputable test pilot knows literally hundreds of hours are spent endevouring to obtain the most precise performance figures for every aspect of flight, power, altitude and configuration or modification....From the Mk I Spitfire up until the Mk 21 the Vne was set by the Supermarine technical department at 470 mph IAS at a height assumed to be between 5,000 and 10,000 feet....At no time did the Supermarine test pilots reduce the Vne from 470 mph to 450 mph....If ever any doubts existed within our own test pilots as to the structural risks of diving the Spitfire they were dispelled when reports were received from combat units to the effect that some of their pilots complained of excessive engine revs when diving under extreme conditions....The basic pitch setting of the de Havilland propeller was set to give 3,000 rpm at 9lb boost on take-off, and would remain in the constant speed range up to full power and not exceed 3,000 rpm up to its Vne of 470 mph...it was decided to investigate the problem to its limits.
A standard Mk V without calibrated instruments or modifications was taken up to 37,000 ft. A maximum speed run at full power with engine revs at 3,000 was carried out for 2 minutes before peeling off with a half-roll to dive down to near ground level. Up to the Vne of 470 mph the propeller constant speeded with engine revs at 3,000, and then as the speed increased the propeller came up against its basic pitch setting stop and engine revs climbed rapidly. The ASI indicated what might be assumed to be some degree of accuracy within the normal range, but as the speed progressed beyond the these limits the needle climbed so far into the region beyond the 450 mark that it was obvious that no further notice should be taken of it. We were not certain that the machine had in fact reached its terminal velocity point...it was decide to carry out another dive with greater concentration on the rev counter....This final dive proved two factors. With the single-stage blower Merlin, the Spitfire could not be dived faster, and at 3,700-3,800 rpm in those conditions the basic pitch setting should be readjusted."
"There is never any pleasure or satisfaction in questioning the statements or opinions made by friends or associates of long standing, any more than enjoyment can be gained by denigrating an honoured old warhorse."