I've been flicking through 'the library' finding all possible pictures of Defiants. One thing has become clear, you really can't pose the gun turret fairings wrong. They appear in all possible configurations, both in the air and on the ground!
I did find evidence of a trial flown by Squadron Leader Phillip Huntley, the second man to command No 264 Squadron, the results of which certainly surprised me.
To investigate how the Defiant could be handled against Luftwaffe fighters, Hunter arranged to fly a steady course between Northolt and White Waltham, while Fl. Off. Robert Stanford Tuck of No. 65 Squadron would attack how and when he liked in his Hurricane. In a turning fight which lasted ten minutes, Tuck did not use any of his cine-gun film, because he was never able to bring his guns to bear, but Hunter’s gunner used all of his, able to fire across the arc of a turn, and on one occasion Hunter was even able to get behind Tuck, and slightly below, so his gunner could fire forward and up into the Hurricane’s belly.
It seems many Defiant crews, even after a couple of defeats at the hands of the Luftwaffe, felt that the withdrawal of the Defiant was premature and that it could hold its own, even in contested skies.