Battle of Britain
Pilot's Guide

Battle of Britain: Summer 1940

A fast, arcade-style air-combat game set over south-east England and the Channel in 1940. Fly for the Royal Air Force or the Luftwaffe in eight aircraft, from the Spitfire and Hurricane to the Bf 109, the Stuka and the He 111. Your sorties include convoy patrols, airfield scrambles, a U-boat hunt, Stuka escort, dive-bombing and a night raid on London. You can even leave the controls and man a bomber's guns yourself.

Start here Controls Mission guide

Your first ten minutes

  1. Launch Battle of Britain from the Start menu or your desktop shortcut.
  2. In the mission list, pick Channel Patrol and press Enter. On the next screen, choose the Spitfire Mk I and press Enter again.
  3. Fly with W A S D. W pulls the nose up and S pushes it down. Space fires the guns.
  4. Nothing attacks you on Channel Patrol. Fly over the convoy, look at the white cliffs, and get used to the aircraft. When you're ready, go back to the menu with Esc and fly Convoy Patrol, your first real fight.
  5. Press F1 at any time to see the controls in the game, and F4 for tips on shooting and tactics.

Tip. The RAF fighters carry only about fifteen seconds of ammunition. Before your first combat mission, practise firing short bursts of one or two seconds. Hold the trigger down and you'll be empty before the first Stuka has pulled out of its dive.

What's in this guide

Getting Started

Launching the game, the menus, choosing a mission and aircraft, Recon, joystick setup and Safe Mode.

Controls

Every key: flying, weapons, crew stations, views, the bombsight, replay and joystick actions.

Flying & Combat

Reading the HUD, gunnery and convergence, attacking bombers, manning a gun, bombing, depth charges, night raids and the enemy AI.

Aircraft

All eight aircraft with their roles, performance, guns and gunners, and how each one matches up against the others.

Missions

Every RAF and Luftwaffe mission: the briefing, the timeline of raids, the objectives, and tips for winning.

FAQ & Troubleshooting

Screenshots, where files are kept, performance, joysticks, and what to do if the game won't start.

The game at a glance

Two sides
Missions are either Royal Air Force or Luftwaffe. When you pick a mission, the aircraft list only shows planes from that side, and usually only the type of aircraft the mission calls for.
Real places
The maps are built from real 1940 geography: the Channel from the Thames Estuary to Cap Gris-Nez, and Kent, Surrey and London, with real towns, airfields, radar stations and the London docks.
Scripted raids
Each mission is a timed sequence of raids that arrive from a set direction and height. Radar warns you when a new raid appears. Learn the timeline and you can be in the right place, at the right height, before it arrives.
Bombers shoot back
Every German bomber has gunners, each covering its own arc. How you attack a formation matters as much as how well you shoot.
Objectives decide the outcome
You win by completing every objective in the Objectives panel, such as keeping enough ships afloat or shooting down enough raiders. You lose if you're shot down or crash, or if the enemy does more damage than the mission allows.

Recommended order

The missions increase in difficulty roughly in this order:

  1. Channel Patrol or London Tour: free flying with no enemies.
  2. Gunnery Practice (Luftwaffe): man a He 111's guns against attacking fighters, with unlimited ammunition.
  3. Convoy Patrol: your first real fight, against Stukas and Dorniers with 109 escorts.
  4. Stuka Escort: the same convoy battle from the German side, in a Bf 109.
  5. Scramble over Biggin Hill: take off into a low-level raid, then climb for a big one.
  6. Hit the Airfield: dive-bomb parked Hurricanes in a Stuka.
  7. Coastal Command: U-boat Hunt: a long, patient search in a Sunderland flying boat.
  8. London Burning: a night raid on the docks in a He 111, through searchlights and flak.