IFR, it was great to find out that the BoBMF will be going for another 50 years. The USAF B-52's will still be in service as well! Imagine flying a plane in service that your grandfather flew.
Good points earlier regarding the Bomber Command losses. My dad was an F/E on Halifaxes 1944-45 and lost a lot of friends.
On a slightly different tack, could the invasion have taken place even with air superiority? The invasion fleet predominantly consisted of towed river barges. The Home Fleet may have taken terrible losses, but 3 or 4 capital ships ploughing through that lot would have sent thousands of soldiers to the bottom of the channel without having to fire their guns. Throw in a few cruisers and destroyers as well and it would have been chaos. Remember, the German navy at that point was not large whereas ours was in the top 3 in terms of size. Compare the German fleet with the Allied fleet of 1944, specialist amphibious craft, landing craft for troops and amoured vehicles and more capital ships than you could shake a stick at. Plus their rear areas had been pounded by medium and heavy bombers in the day before 6th June. Admittedly, the Allies were going against a much more heavily fortified coast that the Germans would have had to attack but there is still one hell of a discrepancy in levels of preparation and equipment. This is not meant to decry the efforts of the RAF pilots of all nationalities who daily gave more than anybody should ever have to. I am just wondering how critical to Britain's ultimate survival the Battle really was.
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When the wheels stop turning you're high enuff. CubTrek. To slowly go...