Hawker Hurricane

And in the hands of a pilot who understood its strengths, the Spitfire could match the 109 in a turning engagement at altitude and outlast it.

The doctrine that evolved was to use the Hawker Hurricane, more numerous and more rugged, to go after the German bomber formations.

Send the Spitfires up against the 109s.

The Hurricane pilots who flew the bomber intercepts will tell you they carried the fight.

Um, and I've always enjoyed designing and building.

And, um, I've done a couple of, of larger models, um, like a, a 60-inch Hawker Hurricane that looks like a giant free fl- free flying model.

Wow.

So stringers and, and it was covered in lightweight film at the time.

Paul Brickhill's biography Reach for the Sky, published in 1954, is the essential account and still holds up after seven decades.

The RAF Museum at Hendon has preserved Spitfires and Hurricanes from Bader's era that are worth the trip if you're ever in England.

RadioHangar.com, I'm Taildragger.

Fly like he flew.

It converted to a fighter squadron in 1942."

1942."In this capacity, it operated Hawker Hurricanes and North American Aviation Mustangs, of which Jan piloted both.

While with No. 309 Squadron, Jan flew Atlantic convoy escorts and fighter sweeps over Norway.

On the 20th of September 1944, Jan was rotated back to Blackpool before being transferred to No. 318 City of Gdansk Squadron in March 1945.

A formation of bombers is intercepted over the Firth of Forth in Scotland and two enemy aircraft are destroyed.

With Spitfire production still plagued by construction and supply problems, Hawker Hurricanes are reaching squadrons in far greater numbers, and it's Hurricanes and their pilots that are sent to support British troops in France.

Three days after the war was declared, they posted our squadron to France, along with three other Hurricane squadrons.

Initially, we didn't do much at all.

Where was the grand final? And, you know, who was there? What was there? What was there to see?

Well, it was the RAF Museum in Hendon in London, and as soon as you rock up, you're greeted by Spitfires and Hawker Hurricanes.

Nice.

And you go through the entrance-

The Buffalos in Commonwealth service did have some successes, mainly against Japanese bombers, and there were even a few aces.

But when sufficient Hawker Hurricanes arrived on the scene, the Buffalos were downgraded to training.

The Dutch had greater success with their Buffalos, as they were lighter than the British version, and after they decided to carry half fuel and half ammo loads, they could hold their own for a while.

And when that campaign ended, some were captured by the Japanese, painted up in their markings, and flight tested.

Against the darkness, the bombers were at their most vulnerable.

Flying his Hawker Hurricane alone and far inside enemy-controlled territory, Kutlovašer became known to the British press as the Night Reaper.

In a BBC recording made in 1944, he described one of those missions in his own words.

The first aircraft he encountered was a Junkers 88.