Radar:
It has been said that radar has won the war for the Allies in WWII. During WWII, air raids and reconnaissance aircrafts were a constant threat. British radar sent out radio waves and the waves would bounce back off distant objects such as planes or ships revealing their location. Most of air and sea wars during WWII were fought with radars by both the British and the Americans. |
Spitfires:
The Supermarine Spitfire is one of the most legendary aircrafts during WWII and throughout history. It was designed by Reginald Mitchell “in response to a 1934 Air Ministry specification calling for a high-performance fighter with an armament of eight wing-mounted 0.303-inch (7.7-mm) machine guns.” (Guilmartin) It was powered by Rolls Royce’s Merlin engine which produced 1030 HP. The Merlin was later replaced by Rolls Royce’s new Griffon which produced more than 2000 horsepower which gave spitfires a higher flight altitude and speed. Even without the Griffon, old models were more advanced than their German counterpart Fw190. Spitfires were one of the most variated planes with over 20 variants at the end of the war. The first models with the merlins could reach about 580 km/h while the much more powerful Griffon equipped planes could reach about 710 km/h. One of the most notable battles fought by the Spitfire along with the Hurricane was the Battle of Britain. The spitfires absolutely annihilated German fighters where they came attacking from a higher altitude. The slower Hurricanes shot down the German Bombers. The Spitfire was used to aid air superiority in many places such as Sicily, Malta, and North Africa. The fighters were flown by the U.S. in Europe and sold to other countries such as the Soviet Union, Portugal, and Turkey. The Spitfire retired from serivce in the early 50s from the RAF. |