Why do Spitfires turn better than Hurricanes?!

[617Squadron]

I was watching an episode of the documentary 'Spitfire Ace' today and during the interviews with veteran WW2 Spitfire pilots, some of them said that they had the chance to fly both the Spitfire and Hurricane and their opinion, the early versions of the two aircraft didn't have much between them in terms of turn rates when it came to a dogfight. At higher speeds, the Spitfire was actually slower in terms of rate of turn, as the ailerons became heavier to use and the wing loading increased. The Hurricane's higher wing aspect ratio helped turn rates at higher speeds due to the increased lift created.

Some veterans on the programme did remark that the Spitfire was a lot easier to throw around the sky, as it was designed as a thoroughbred fighter By Reginald Mitchell, unlike the Hurricane, that was derived as a monoplane version of the Hawker Fury by Sidney Camm; in fact, the Hurricane was originally called the 'Fury Monoplane' until it was renamed the Hurricane. The Spitfire was originally called the 'Shrew', until somebody at the RAF renamed it after a nickname for one of his daughters. Not the most romantic name for a classic fighter....

The veteran pilots also remarked that the Hurricane was far more robust, could suffer more damage and keep flying and was a more stable gun platform, hence the reason it was sent after the bombers, although the numerical superiority of the Hurricane compared to the available Spitfires in 1940 also had a lot to do with it. The Spitfire was left to deal with the fighter escorts on more equal terms of numbers.

Here's a link to the series on Youtube, if you want to hear it for yourselves..... from people who were actually there and flew them....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQVnV0pm5TA

Episode 1, with links to the other episodes.....

[TomcatViP]

Originally Posted by 617Squadron

The Hurricane's higher wing aspect ratio helped turn rates at higher speeds due to the increased lift created.

Yup... But don't forget to add the effect of thicker of the airfoil that generate more lift at lower speed (less AoA) -> smaller turn radius

Good post by the way - Thx

As (I think) Viper had said previously the pilot's account have to be taken with a tiny bit of grain of salt.

The thick winks of the Hurry in itself may have produced more lift but also more drag. In fact what is interesting to know for turn rates is the angle of attack needed for the turn rate and the drag it produces and finally the engine power and weight.

The engine power vs drag will overall determine the speed at which the ac will travel through air.

The lift generated vs. current airspeed and weight will determine the ability to change direction = turn rate.

The more engine power I have I may pull more angle of attack without loss of speed and the higher the lift will be. It is the lift that will cause my ac to turn. At the same time for same engine the less drag angle of attack produces the better I turn.