Aircraft

At a glance

Top speed, armour, ammunition and ordnance also appear on the Select Aircraft screen. Firepower is the damage per second of a continuous burst that hits, so it's useful for comparing aircraft. Fire time is how long the guns you fire yourself last with the trigger held down. Roll is the roll rate in degrees per second, and a higher figure means the aircraft changes direction more quickly.

Stall speed is in km/h. The number after bombs or depth charges is the damage each one does. The Do 17 and He 111 have no guns for the pilot. All their guns are gunner positions, which you can man yourself.

RAF aircraft

Spitfire Mk I

Light and beautifully balanced. It's the fastest aircraft in the game, it has the best roll rate, and it turns inside a 109. Its eight Brownings hit hard at the right range but run dry in under sixteen seconds, and it's lightly armoured. Use the turn: a 109 that tries to dogfight you will lose. Don't follow one into a steep dive or climb, where the 109 is better.

Hurricane Mk I

Slower than the Spitfire, but rugged and steady. It turns tighter still, has the lowest stall speed in the game, and is a very stable gun platform with a little more ammunition. It's the aircraft for going after bomber formations: it can take some return fire, and it holds its aim steady during a firing pass. Against 109s it needs to turn and make them come to it.

Sunderland Mk I

Coastal Command's big four-engined flying boat, and the heaviest aircraft in the game. It's slow and ponderous, but it has the endurance to hunt far out over the sea. It carries six depth charges and an early ASV radar that can pick out a surfaced U-boat in poor visibility. The pilot fires a single Vickers gun in the nose. Gunners man four Brownings in the tail turret and a gun at each beam window, which is why the Germans called it the "flying porcupine".

Luftwaffe aircraft

Bf 109 E-4

The Messerschmitt "Emil". It out-climbs and out-dives the RAF fighters, and it has fuel injection, so it can push straight over into a dive. It carries two machine guns in the cowling with plenty of ammunition, and two slow-firing 20 mm cannon in the wings with just 60 rounds each, about seven seconds of fire. The cannon hit very hard, so save them for a sure shot. Fight in the vertical: dive, shoot, and zoom back up. Never try to out-turn a Spitfire or Hurricane.

Bf 110 C-4

The twin-engined Zerstörer. It has the heaviest forward firepower in the game, four machine guns and two cannon in the nose, and a rear gunner. It's tough, but it can't turn with single-engined fighters and has the highest stall speed in the game. Dive and zoom. In the missions it's an enemy you meet, and you can only fly it yourself in London Tour.

Ju 87 B Stuka

Terrifyingly accurate in a near-vertical dive, and fatally slow and vulnerable pulling out of it. It carries one heavy bomb, two forward machine guns and a rear gunner. It's slow and draggy, so height is everything: arrive high, dive steeply, and pull out early.

Do 17 Z

The Dornier "Flying Pencil". It's fast for a bomber, and it was often used for low-level attacks. It carries four bombs. Five hand-held MG 15s in the nose, dorsal, ventral and beam positions cover most angles, except dead astern and below.

He 111 H

The Luftwaffe's main medium bomber, and the toughest target in the sky after the Sunderland. It carries eight bombs, which it drops in a stick along the target, and five MG 15s in the nose, dorsal position, ventral gondola and both beam windows. It's slow and heavy on the controls. Fly it straight and level on the bomb run, and use the cloud when fighters find you.

Matchups