It is mentioned in Invasion 1940 by Derek Robinson that the Hurricane cockpit was roomy compared to Spitfire´s. And as there was no cockpit heating this could turn deadly the higher you get as you could not put that much clothing on when flying the Spitfire and the cold could sap a pilot´s attention. But did this cause any real problems during the war? ANyone read about this being mentioned by the pilots?

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I don't think a real problem was caused by this as the Hurricane was never used for really high-altitude duties, and as with most front-engined aircraft, quite a lot of heat entered the cockpit. From Battle of Britain photos, the Spitfire was more often flown in 'shirt-sleeves' than the Hurricane, but there was much more room in the Hurricane cockpit to wear an Irvin sheepskin flying jacket.

I can add my own very modest experience by saying that I've sat in both types one after the other ; the Hurricane cockpit seems incredibly roomy compared to the confines of the Spitfire cockpit ; also the canopy of the Spitfire seals much more efficiently. But both are less cramped than the cockpit of the Bf109......

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Ok, thanx alot Martin! That helped alot!



Cockpit photos:

http://www.world-war-2-planes.com/co...-aircraft.html

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In the 1980's I looked into the cockpit of a Confederate Air Force CASA 109 and it is VERY cramped in there ! I am sure there had to be size limits put on the pilots assigned to them. If a pilot dropped his map or pencil or anything he would never be able to retrieve it in flight unless he rolled the plane and hoped it would fall back up.

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