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This remarkable piece of color from May 1938 gives an idea of how Royal Air Force fighter pilots were being transitioned from the biplane
Gloster Gladiator to the monoplane Hawker Hurricane. To give the pilots some experience with monoplanes that had retractable landing
gear and other “modern” features, Fairey Battle light bombers were utilized. Photographed at Biggin Hill, pilots of No. 3 Squadron were
receiving transition training in the lumbering Battle Mk. I K7581. The three-seat Battle proved to be a disaster in the opening days of the
invasion of France and the majority were quickly withdrawn from combat.