Boulton Paul Defiant; Il-2 Cliffs Of Dover Aircraft 3

[OverDhill]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJa7uLfbW-c#t=101

[DD_Brando]

Actually, they have things a bit arsey-versey in the film. There's no record of Defiants going up against Bf-110s, and there aren't any Spits in the mix either. Combat patrols usually mixed the two, as the Defiants' weaknesses were recognised early on by the RAF at squadron level. As the 110s demonstrated in the Battle of Britain, in a defence the Defiants would have formed a Lufberry circle, and the pilots would have manoeuvred their kites rather better than a CloD AI.  

 

Once a few 109 pilots had made the mistake of thinking they were Hurricanes and getting a faceful of .303" for their pains, they discovered that a head-on pass was the killer stroke. It was all over quickly after that, though several dozen crew were to die before the orders came to transfer the Defiant to a night interceptor role.

 

I think the Germans had a better plane in the 110, yet it also suffered from having a low top speed compared to the other sides top single seaters.

[Jabo]

In point of fact although the Spitfire was significantly faster and more maneuverable than the 110 there are documented cases of 110s being able to get away from Hurricanes in a shallow dive (although much depends on the individual start points of the chase). I had the chance to try this during Fruitbat's 'Nine Lives' mission and my results seem to bear that out as my 110 was able to gradually pull away from a chasing Hurri (I was never in gun range) and once I got over land on the other side of the Channel he broke away to head for home.