Thread: Tactics for Cliffs of Dover.
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Old 01-21-2011, 07:30 PM
6S.Manu 6S.Manu is offline
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Originally Posted by kimosabi View Post
If I remember correctly, Geoffrey Wellum mentioned in his book "First Light", that the Spitfire had a lower maximum ceiling than the 109. All the way up until the MKV.

*edit* I think I must have remembered wrong. LOL According to this site and data, the Spit mkI had 34700ft ceiling and the 109E had 33792ft.
Steinhilper agrees with Wellum. The SpitfireII was to worry because the higher ceiling, not the SpitfireI.
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A whole generation of pilots learned to treasure the Spitfire for its delightful response to aerobatic manoeuvres and its handiness as a dogfighter. Iit is odd that they had continued to esteem these qualities over those of other fighters in spite of the fact that they were of only secondary importance tactically.Thus it is doubly ironic that the Spitfire’s reputation would habitually be established by reference to archaic, non-tactical criteria.
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