A lot of the characteristics that make the 190 a deadly fighter are difficult to quantify. It's not the planes speed, maneuverability or any other easy to measure performance standard. In fact, for most of the war, it's performance was only about average as compared with other front line fighters. What made the 190 special was the designer Kurt Tank's design philosophy which was unusual at the time.
Developed privately as the Gloster SS.37, it was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.
The Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during the Second World War, with a large number of air forces, some of them on the Axis side. The RAF used it in France, Norway, Greece, the defence of Malta, the Middle East, and the brief Anglo-Iraqi War (during which the Royal Iraqi Air Force was similarly equipped). Other countries deploying the Gladiator included China against Japan, beginning in 1938; Finland (along with Swedish volunteers) against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War; Sweden as a neutral non-combatant (although Swedish volunteers fought for Finland against USSR as stated above); and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their respective lands.
The South African pilot Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle was the top Gladiator ace with 15 victories with the type.
Between 1936 and 1944, 14,231 Hawker Hurricanes were built of which about 20 remain. This is the story of the restoration of the oldest and rarest, the only surviving Sea Hurricane out of 700 converted during WWII.
