Gladiators.. Faith, Hope and Charity.Defenders Of Malta 1940

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These outdated and outnumbered little aircraft and the valiant defence that they mounted truly has the stuff of legend about it, but the name stuck in the popular imagination. To this day the three longest-serving of the aircraft – N5520, N5519 and N5531 – have become known respectively as Faith, Hope and Charity.
Charity was shot down on 29 July 1940 and its pilot, Flying Officer Peter Hartley, was badly burned. Hope was destroyed in an air raid on 4 February 1941. By this time the surviving Faith had been joined by survivors from HMS Illustrious after she had limped, blazing, into port for emergency repairs in January 1941.
None of the aircraft remained completely intact, with much ‘bodging together’ of spare parts taken from damaged machines in order to keep the fittest survivors airworthy. Engines were sourced from Blenheim bombers, suitably modified, and fitted with three-blade propellers to try and boost their performance to get on terms with the Italian Fiat and Macchi fighters – and even keep up with the bombers.

Check out the Superb "Faith,Hope and Charity" Virtual Movie made with IL2-Sturmovik 1946 by Russell"EAF602/Joe90"Boyd and the crew at Wingman Productions..http://www.wingmenproductions.com/content/index.html

Theses would be great to use with Heinkel's excellent "Battle For Malta" Mission.










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