(Courtesy of Bob Cossey, 74(F) Tiger Squadron Association), Freeborn did do the odd daft thing in the war, on one occasion buzzing two golfers on a local links course. However, as I have grown older, I have found myself preferring the Hurricane more with each passing year. In 1934, the RAF was once again looking for new aircraft. He was in poor health and lonely, so he enjoyed talking about old times. Number one attack. In 1939, Supermarine Aircraft, then a division of Vickers-Armstrong, listed the price for one Supermarine Spitifre at £12,604. Industry swiftly supplanted emotion as airmen and ground crews began to fill thousands of sandbags to create blast-proof dispersals for the squadron’s Supermarine Spitfires. I, dismissed them as “a lot of rubbish.” (Courtesy of Bob Cossey, 74(F) Tiger Squadron Association). Malan wasn’t liked. As such, there are several variants of both aircraft that were used throughout the war. Length: 31 ft. 4 in. Their collaboration bore fruit on August 11 when the squadron flew into combat four times between dawn and 1400, accounting for 23 enemy aircraft, one probable and 14 damaged. Written for Malan by some actor friend of his who wrote for films.”, Freeborn died in 2010, the last of 74 Squad­ron’s Battle of Britain aces. The total production numbers include 20334 Spitfire and additional 2556 Seafire in all versions. Had Flinders not intervened, Freeborn probably would have also shot down a Bristol Blenheim he believed to be a German bomber. 31 ft. 3 in. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 5,000 articles originally published in our various magazines. If you were interested in owning and operating a Hawker Hurricane (from WWII) you’d be looking at an aircraft that costs around £3,000 ($5,000) to operate per hour, including maintenance. But luck came into it, too, particularly in shooting down the enemy. “And if you had no money to lend him he would take it out of your pockets. We recently compared the P-51 Mustang and Spitfire, where we were inundated with requests for a Hurricane-Spitfire comparison. I can see to this day the old farmer who was alongside ploughing, and this 109 went on, straight through his cottage, and he’s shaking his fist at me.”, Having shot down one of his own pilots, it was a relief for Freeborn to dispatch an enemy for whom he felt no pity. Spitfire vs. Your selected aircraft are compared in side-by-side arrangement below. Gareth Seagull is a traveler and former Airbus A320 pilot. Combat reports, official documents and literature of the period are replete with accounts of pilots using +12 lbs. I first met John Freeborn in the summer of 2004, when I was writing a book about the Luftwaffe bombing of London. Whilst this role had been used during WWI, it had largely been forgotten about since then. Freeborn did. “I thought, ‘Bloody hell, I’ve got it all wrong,’ and I went between the hangars at 180 mph.”. these eight guns are weaker than the four used on the Hurricane. Freeborn soon mastered the Spitfire, but some of his fellow pilots were less easy to handle. (Imperial War Museum CH158). He was a bully.”. “A daft way to die,” reflected Freeborn of his best friend. Although Freeborn and Malan despised one another, they shared a mutual respect for their flying ability. Trainer variants discarded, all combat variants of both the aircraft require only one crew member- the pilot. Featured image courtesy of Kieren Pitts via Flickr. Hurricane vs Spitfire: Specs. Zero - by Greg_P Here is an original WII report from Clive "Killer" Caldwell about this very subject: Section 1: Fighter Tactics. Alberto Moravia, Italian novelist (The Conformist, Conjugal Love). Freeborn’s methods upset some of his fellow pilots. Weight: 7200 lbs. 3—followed. Instead, the inferior biplane Gloster Gladiator was accepted into service. “He wasn’t received very nicely,” said Freeborn of the prime minister. He was a brilliant pilot, but he was as evasive on the ground as he was in the air, a mix of showman and politician. As a kid, I spent much of my summer going to air shows and air museums, where the Spitfire was always my favorite. Today, this £4,000 is roughly the same as £260,000 ($350,000) today, which made it one of the cheaper aircraft of its time. A short while later he spotted what he took to be a Luftwaffe bomber and closed in for the kill. He soon acquired a reputation for ruthlessness. POWs Roger Bushell and Vincent “Paddy” Byrne flank a Luftwaffe guard at Luft Stalag III before the “Great Escape.” (Courtesy of Bob Cossey, 74(F) Tiger Squadron Association), Malan, who reportedly described Freeborn’s actions as “impetuous,” confirmed he had given the order to engage but also claimed that moments later, on realizing his mistake, he had called “friendly aircraft—break away!” Freeborn, Byrne and Flinders all said they never heard the counterorder. For most British people, they preferred the Spitfire, with the response being almost instantaneous. Although the Type 224 was the superior aircraft, RAF higher ups were skeptical of monoplane designs. I gave him a squirt or two and he hit a telegraph pole with his prop and it knocked him to pieces. “Practicing all the time,” he replied. loaded: Armament: Eight .303-cal. He was in B Flight, commanded by Treacy, as was another Irishman, Byrne. Both prior and during WWII, the Hurricane and Spitfire were immensely successful aircraft. He spent a year in the U.S., during which he fell in love with the P-51 Mustang, his favorite of all the aircraft he flew. Other Spitfire squadrons were placed strategically in the South of England. Perhaps the fairest assessment of what happened that September morning is to attribute it to the fog of war. As such, hawker privately funded a redesign, looking to make the P.V.3 a monoplane.