^
one of the better films, still full of propaganda..
Yes, Adolf Galland had really said that, to Goering.
Galland also wrote in his book that it was not the hardware though, or the german pilots, but the strategy. The Spitfire and Messerschmidt types were not so different (yes, curving, radius, weight, wing-loading, i read it all, but after all the differences were small and evenly distributed). Carburettors here, injection and turbocharger there, better curving for the ME at high altitude but not at lower where most fighting took place in the end, and so on.
1st main problem was the fights did take place at lower altitudes, where Hurricanes and Spitfires were a worthy opponent. Bombers flew at lower altitudes and the hunters
were ordered to accompany them at that altitude. Big mistake. Galland wrote the fighters should alway have freedom of movement and tactics, the orders given to them removed their main advantage.
2nd problem was the fuel load. The german fighters had around 10 minutes of time to fight, until they had to return to make it to France.
3rd problem was that ejecting pilots landed on english soil, and some of course in the channel. But every surviving english pilot was able to fight the other day, while german pilots were either dead, or taken prisoner.
When Germany switched from attacking aircraft production and military targets to bombing cities for retaliation, the english commanders could not believe their luck. It gave them the time to rebuild enough planes to counter the attacks.
B.t.w. the main defense was done by the Hurricane,
not the Spitfire.