54 Phan is right the discussion would go on long into the night. The Stirling was handicapped by its 100ft wingspan. It was believed this was due to the fact it had to fit into a hangar that size, when in fact the hangar in standard use was 112ft. Weight was the reason that the span was shortened and this was to be the achilles heel of the Stirling, which led to its low ceiling.
It was not all doom and gloom however, in that the Stirling was a very easy aircraft to fly, with characteristics like a fighter. Pilots called it a 'Gentlemans aircraft'.
There was a better version on the drawing board, which alleviated the wingspan issues, but the Air Ministry were not interested.
As for the belief that if they had not been flying Stirlings, they would have survived the war, I am afraid its not as clear cut as that.