This chapter describes the main fighter types used by the R.A.F. during the Second World War
THE SPITFIRE, KING OF SINGLE-SEATER FIGHTERS. It is generally acknowledged that the Vickers-Armstrong Supermarine Spitfire, with its magnificent lines and handling qualities, is the finest single-seater fighter in service with any air force in the world during the Second World War. The Mk I version had an armament of eight machine guns, four in each wing, but later the Mk II and Mk V came into service armed with two 20-mm cannon and four machine guns. The Mk V, illustrated here, has been fitted with a more powerful engine than the earlier models. A later model, the Mk IX included further improvements.
THE design of fighters since the art of flying was turned to the purposes of war has undergone many changes. From frail, slow, poorly-armed contraptions they have evolved into sturdy, compact and deadly weapons of war with a terrific top speed and a huge fire power. They can ascend to heights of seven or eight miles, they can dive at speeds of more than six hundred miles an hour. The pilot can keep in constant communication with his base and with other members of his squadron, he is placed within visual distance of enemy aircraft by ground control, and he can land blind in fog or darkness by means of the radio beam, an important aeronautical development.
Fighter aircraft may be broadly classified under two headings. Those that operate by day and those designed specifically for night interception. When the war began, it was thought that the role of the fighter was purely defensive and that the fast single-seater aircraft which operated by day could also carry out such night defensive work as the limitations of weather conditions would permit. Very soon, however, both ideas had to be radically changed. Once the Battle of Britain was over and the Germans began to concentrate on night bombing, it was found that the attacking bomber had many advantages in the dark over a small fighter. A special night fighter had to be produced, while, with the R.A.F. reaching out towards France, the need for an offensive fighter arose and from that need came the development of the fighter-bomber and the low-level attacking machines which are used for the shooting up of troops and transport.
Even so, however, the day fighter is still chiefly an interceptor fighter with a comparatively short range in the neighbourhood of seven or eight hundred miles. This means that it can only stay in the air for short periods, about one and a half to two and a half hours. It has a very high top speed, a great rate of climb, a high service ceiling and, in comparison with its size, a devastating battery of guns. It is used first and foremost to intercept and destroy enemy bombers, although it is often employed for low-level attacks on enemy troop concentrations.
The interceptor has perforce to be a compromise between a number of ideal requirements, and in different nations different weight has been placed on these attributes. In Great Britain, for example, a very high degree of importance is placed on armament, speed, climb and manoeuvrability, in that order. Germany has put speed at the top of the list, with climb, armament and manoeuvrability following. Italy, on the other hand, put manoeuvrability first, followed by climb, speed and armament. These remarks are, of course, generalisations only and do not coincide exactly with the attributes of all the different types of fighter aircraft belonging to these nations.
All these qualities, however, cannot be included in maximum degree in a single aircraft. Speed, for example, depends on high wing loading. Wing loading is the gross weight of an aircraft divided by the area of the main planes and ailerons. As an example, the Gloster Gladiator, a biplane which was still in operational use when the war began, but which has long since been superseded by newer and faster types, has a wing area of 323 square feet and a loaded weight of 4,750 pounds, giving a wing loading of 14.7 pounds.
The higher the wing loading, however, the less the manoeuvrability, so the designer must decide at the outset whether his aircraft is to be extremely fast at the expense of manoeuvrability or less fast and more manoeuvrable. It is interesting to note in this connexion that the German Messerschmitt 109E with a wing loading of 31.4 pounds and a top speed of 354 miles per hour, usually came off second best when opposed to the more manoeuvrable Hurricane with its top speed of 335 miles per hour and wing loading of 23.3 pounds.
Now, as regards climb. Like manoeuvrability this can be improved with a low wing loading. Thus we get two factors, climb and manoeuvrability, both dependent upon low wing loading and a third, speed, dependent on a high wing loading, power being equal. We cannot here enter into a discussion as to the sort of balance that should be struck between these conflicting requirements, so we will content ourselves by pointing out some of the advantages.
The need for speed is obvious. A fighter is primarily designed to bring the enemy to combat, but if it cannot catch him it is clearly of little use except, possibly, to scare him away. Climb is important because the pilot who is above his foe always has an advantage for he can dive down on his enemy and take full advantage of the extra speed which such a dive will give him either to continue or to break away from the combat.
Manoeuvrability and Armament
Manoeuvrability in aerial combat is of considerable importance because the aircraft that can turn quicker, or dive or bank or zoom quicker, can bring its guns to bear on the target faster than its opponent, and that fact is all important in fighter combat.
Lastly, armament in a fighter aircraft must be powerful because, however fast or manoeuvrable the aircraft may be these attributes will avail little if, having manoeuvred his aircraft into the best position to administer the knockout blow, the pilot is prevented from doing so by inadequate gun power.
In their quest for speed aircraft designers have been helped considerably by the powerful engines that have been put into their hands. The latest aero engines develop enormous power for their weight, and this is responsible for the very high speeds that are common today.
THE WEAPONS OF FIGHTER COMMAND. Engine particulars and maximum speeds of six types of fighter aircraft in service with the R.A.F. They are all very heavily armed and, with the exception of the Defiant and Hurricane IIc, have cannon as well as machine guns. The Hurricane IIc has four 20-mm cannon only. The Mosquito is a powerful long-range and bomb-carrying fighter made entirely of wood.
Designers have for years been experimenting with devices to increase speed without affecting manoeuvrability, and one of the most successful means by which they have achieved this is streamlining. Modern fighters are so designed as to fly through the air with the minimum of resistance. All projections likely to increase air drag have, wherever possible, been eliminated; undercarriages have been made to retract into the wings; all rivets are countersunk, and the whole exterior of the aircraft is treated with special non-friction paint.
The retractable undercarriage is an ingenious mechanism. It is operated by hydraulic rams, and each leg with its wheel is made to retract either inwards, outwards or backwards into wells built into the wings to receive it. On one side of each leg is a fairing so that when the undercarriage is retracted the whole assembly fits flush with the wing and offers little or no resistance to the air. The pilot always retracts his undercarriage as soon as the aircraft is airborne so as not to retard acceleration. This is done by means of a lever in the cockpit, and a dial on the instrument panel tells him whether the wheels are up or down. In addition he has a warning buzzer which sounds should he attempt to land with the undercarriage not properly lowered. The Air Ministry insists that all such undercarriages have locks to fix them securely in the up and down positions.
A recent innovation in undercarriage design is the tricycle type. This is incorporated in several types of aircraft built by the U.S.A., notably the Bell Airacobra, the Lockheed Lightning and the Havoc. With this type there is no tail wheel. Instead a wheel is fixed in the nose. Aircraft fitted with such undercarriages, therefore, are in the flying position when standing on the ground, and amongst the advantages claimed for it are quicker take off, shorter landing run, and a considerable lessening of the danger of nosing over when landing.
TRICYCLE UNDERCARRIAGE OF A HAVOC. Some of the fighter aircraft supplied to the R.A.F. by the U.S.A. are fitted with tricycle undercarriages. With this type a nose wheel replaces the more conventional tail wheel. Such undercarriages are fitted to the Havoc, the Bell Airacobra, and to some bombers.
The armament of interceptor fighters consists of machine guns, shell-firing cannon, or a combination of both. In British types these guns are usually mounted in the wings outside the area swept by the airscrew, and so arranged that their fire converges some distance in front of and in line with the aircraft’s nose. In some enemy aircraft interrupter gear is fitted which enables the guns to fire through the airscrew, and in some cases the cannon is so arranged as to fire through the airscrew boss.
The number of fixed guns that can be carried in the wings is limited by the length of wing available outside the airscrew disc, by the structure of the wings, and by the space occupied by the undercarriage when in the retracted position.
The greatest number of machine guns to be carried by any interceptor aircraft today is twelve, and six of these guns are contained in each wing.
As we have said, Britain lays great stress on heavy armament. The earliest Spitfires and Hurricanes, for example, carried four machine guns in each wing. These had an effective range up to about three hundred yards, but their combined weight of fire was devastating. Later, however, cannon were fitted which had a longer range, but machine guns, although reduced in number, were still used. Later Spitfires carried two cannon and four machine guns, whilst the latest Typhoons carry either four cannon or twelve .303 machine guns.
The normal rate of fire of a single machine gun is about 1,200 rounds a minute, and some idea of what this means may be gathered from the fact that the twelve-gun Hurricane has a maximum rate of fire of 14,400 rounds a minute, giving a total weight of 360 pounds. The four cannon version has a maximum weight of fire of 600 pounds per minute.
Normally, the amount of ammunition carried by each gun in a single-seat fighter is about 300 rounds. It will be realized therefore, that with their tremendous rate of fire, the supply would run out in something like fifteen seconds’ continuous firing. This, to the layman, must sound inadequate, but it must be remembered that modern fighter combat consists of considerable periods of manoeuvre with only comparatively short bursts of firing. A two-second burst at the correct range is usually sufficient to send the enemy down in flames. It is for this very short period of firing that the whole design of the interceptor is directed: the speed, the climb, the manoeuvrability are only important in so far as they enable the aircraft to get into the position from which it can fire its guns at the enemy.
With modern machine guns placed as they are comparatively far away from the pilot, it is impossible for him to attempt to clear any stoppage in his guns. This was perhaps his biggest trouble during the war of 1914-1918 when the guns were placed well within his reach and frequently developed stoppages through overheating or other reasons. The pilot of today fires his guns by pressing a button on the control column and trusts to the skill of the armourers that they will not let him down. Fortunately, in spite of their tremendous rate of fire, they are extremely reliable. Types of aircraft machine guns are illustrated below.
BRITISH, GERMAN AND ITALIAN MACHINE GUNS. Top to bottom: Rifle-calibre Browning belt-fed gun, it has a rate of fire of approximately 1,200 rounds per minute; Vickers’ drum-fed observer’s gun; Rheinmettal-Borsig, Germany’s standard aircraft machine gun which has a rate of fire of approximately 1,000 rounds per minute; Breda belt-fed gun as used by the Italian air force.
The ammunition for the machine guns is carried on long belts inside the wings. That for the cannon is contained either in large drums or on belts.
When the modern fighter pilot attacks an enemy aircraft he actually aims his machine at his opponent and special sights have been evolved which are a great improvement on those used in the last war. In those days the pilot had to look through a wire graticule to get his foresight on the enemy. Later he looked through a long tube through which he would see his opponent against an etched graticule in a glass lens. Nowadays he has a reflector sight which throws up a reflected ring on to his windscreen and considerably simplifies his task of watching his enemy and, at the same time, avoiding collision with his friends in the heat of the action.
Another aid to firing is the use of tracer bullets and tracer shells. Normally, in machine guns at any rate, every fifth bullet is a tracer. These bullets are visible to the pilot during their flight and are of considerable assistance to him in determining whether his fire is hitting or missing the enemy.
Most modern fighters are of all-metal construction. The fuselage generally consists of a framework of aluminium alloy and steel with a stressed skin covering. The wings normally have high tensile steel spars with aluminium alloy ribs. Everything possible is done to keep the weight down to a minimum, and in recent years designers have been considerably helped by the metallurgist in attaining this end. By taking an ounce off here and a pennyweight off there, the designer has produced a machine which uses every single horse power of its engine to the best advantage. No unnecessary weight is carried, but strength is never sacrificed at the expense of safety. It is interesting to note that a comparatively heavy machine like the Hurricane, with all its equipment, has a power loading of seven and a half pounds per horse power, a remarkable tribute to the skill of its designers.
RE-LOADING A HURRICANE FIGHTER. Ammunition for the machine guns of fighter aircraft is carried on long, snakelike bets inside the wings. Here, a member of the Hurricane’s maintenance crew is seen loading up, whilst two more are replenishing the fuel tanks from a motor-driven tanker.
Fighters, like other aircraft, are subject to certain limitations when flying at great heights, and various devices are incorporated in their design to overcome these difficulties. These limitations are brought about by the drop in the density of the air as height increases, and besides affecting the pilot, it affects the engine also, so that most modern fighters must be fitted with at least two-stage superchargers in order that they can maintain the highest possible speed at the different heights at which action may be necessary.
Aids to Climbing
These superchargers come into operation at the selected height and tend to compress the air to the same pressure as is experienced at ground level, and maintain it at a greater density than the supporting air at all altitudes. Without them it would not be possible for aircraft to ascend to the very great heights, often in excess of seven miles, at which action is necessary in modern war.
Height also makes it necessary for fighters to carry oxygen equipment, for the rarefied air is not sufficient to support life and the pilot must be supplied with oxygen by artificial means. High pressure oxygen bottles are carried behind the pilot and the gas is inhaled through a mask. In some types of equipment the gas is inhaled through the mouth.
On account of the high wing loading of modern fighters and their consequent higher landing speed, they must be fitted with flaps. These are attached beneath the trailing edges of the wings, and are brought into operation by a lever in the pilot’s cockpit. Besides making slower landings possible, they also make the angle of glide steeper, a considerable advantage if a forced landing has to be made in a confined space.
Most fighters are fitted with trimming tabs which are adjusted at varying speeds. An increase or decrease in speed tends to raise or lower the nose of the aircraft. Unevenly disposed loads can also produce the same effect. To counteract this a pilot would have to exert pressure backwards, forwards or sideways on the control column if he had no trimming tabs. Therefore trimming tabs are mechanical aids to save the pilot undue exertion. These are fitted to the ailerons, rudder and elevator, and they take the weight of the aircraft off the controls so that the pilot can fly hands off.
LOADING 20-mm CANNON. Cannon shells are placed in belts which are rolled in drums. This illustration shows a four cannon Hurricane being loaded.
Then there is the adjustable-pitch airscrew which is fitted to most types of interceptors. In this type of airscrew the blades are constructed so as to swivel, and their grip on the air can thereby be adjusted. This is desirable so that the most efficient engine and airscrew revolutions can be obtained at the same time under varying conditions of flight. The variable-pitch airscrew solves this problem. It has been suggested that by reversing the pitch of the airscrew it would act as a brake, but this idea has not yet been adopted.
The question of having two airscrews on the same engine, each rotating in different directions, is being experimented with for use on fighter aircraft. It is claimed that such an airscrew will dispense with the inconvenient effect of torque, that is, the tendency of the aircraft to twist in the opposite direction to that in which the airscrew is rotating, that it will assist take-off and will allow of a reduction in the diameter of airscrews. It is claimed that the contra-rotating airscrew would also considerably increase the performance of fast aircraft at high altitudes.
The interceptor fighter nowadays has to carry a special type of short-range wireless transmitting and receiving set. This is a vital piece of apparatus through which the pilot can communicate with his squadron and with his base. In addition some nations fit their fighters with blind landing equipment that enables them to land in foggy weather on a radio beam. Some nations also fit their fighters with radio compasses which enable them to “home” on any radio station. Britain, however, does not adopt this device but relies upon the pilots obtaining their course as the result of a “fix” on a signal sent out by them and located by two or more ground stations. This will be explained in some detail in the chapter on navigation. All fighters, of course, have magnetic and gyro compasses.
TESTING 20-mm CANNON. The two cannon of a Spitfire fighter are seen undergoing test at an R.A.F. Range. Note the used ammunition piling up on the ground.
To look into the cockpit of a fighter and see the multiplicity of instruments which these devices entail, together with the various controls and instruments which enable the engine’s performance to be watched, gives one seriously to wonder how the pilot can find time to fly his aircraft, much less to fight the enemy.
Enough has been said to show what a complicated masterpiece of engineering and design the modern interceptor fighter is. It represents the result of years of experiment, and the fact that so much gear and equipment can be compressed into so small a space makes the achievement all the more wonderful.
PILOT’S COCKPIT OF A SPITFIRE. 1, gun sight; 2, gun-sight mounting; 3, artificial horizon; 4, rate of climb indicator; 5, revolution counter; 6, brake lever; 7, gun button; 8, control column; 9, air-speed indicator; 10, oil and fuel pressure gauges; 11, engine-boost gauge; 12, oil and radiator pressure gauges; 13, fuel gauges; 14, rudder bar; 15, light switch; 16, emergency pump for operating undercarriage if automatic mechanism fails to function; 17, undercarriage select lever; 18, pilot’s seat; 19, recognition lamp switch; 20, radiator-flap control.
Let us now take a look at some of the different types of interceptor fighters which have been, and are being, used by the R.A.F. and see how they compare.
We will start this survey with the Gloster Gladiator as it shows more than anything the change that has come about in fighter aircraft since the war began. It is a biplane and is now obsolete, but it was an extremely manoeuvrable little machine with a top speed of 250 miles per hour, a service ceiling of 32,800 feet and an armament of four machine guns. It operated in Norway in 1940 and although working under very difficult conditions, achieved success against Heinkels and Dorniers encountered. It also saw considerable service against the Italians and Germans in the North African campaign.
GLOSTER GLADIATOR FIGHTER. The Gladiator, last of Britain's biplane fighters, saw much service in Norway and Africa. It has a top speed of 250 miles per hour and a service ceiling of 32,800 feet.
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is probably the most versatile fighter in use by any country. Together with the Spitfire it was primarily responsible for the crushing defeat of the Luftwaffe in the autumn of 1940. The Mk I version has a top speed of 335 miles per hour, a ceiling of 31,000 feet, and an armament of eight machine guns firing through the leading edges of the wings clear of the airscrew. It is slightly slower than the German Messerschmitt 109, but considerably more manoeuvrable, especially in combat.
When small, light single-seat fighters open fire, unless the burst is a very short one, the effect of the guns firing makes it very difficult for the pilot to keep the target in his sights. The Hurricane, however, which is large for its class, is a very steady gun platform, a fact which contributes greatly to the destructive effect of its guns.
The Hurricane pilot has armour plate behind his head and back which gives him good protection from attack. The petrol tanks are self-sealing.
The Hurricane Mk IIb is a faster plane than the Mk I and has a better ceiling. It is armed with twelve machine guns. The Iic has four 20-mm. cannon only, which slightly reduce its top speed.
HAWKER HURRICANE MK 11c. This aircraft is armed with four 20-mm. shell-firing cannon mounted, as shown, in the wings. It has an inwards-retracting undercarriage, a central radiator, and straight tapered wings. Like the Spitfire, it is powered by a Rolls Royce Merlin liquid-cooled engine.
The IIc has made a speciality of attacking enemy coastal shipping and flak ships and its devastating weight of fire has been sufficient to sink or set fire to quite large ships. The Hurricane Mk IIb has also been used with marked success as a fighter-bomber. This version carries two 250-lb. bombs, one under each wing outboard of the undercarriage. These are fitted with delayed action fuzes and are dropped from a very low altitude.
The Supermarine Spitfire with its magnificent lines and handling qualities is almost certainly the world’s finest single-seat fighter. The original version, the Mk I, was armed with eight machine guns, but later the Mk II and Mk V came into service armed with two 20-mm. cannon and four machine guns. There is now a Mark IX which is a still greater improvement on the original model. The armour is just the same as that of the Hurricane.
SPITFIRE MARK V. This aircraft may be distinguished from the Hawker Hurricane by its elliptical wings. Other points of difference are its outwards-retracting undercarriage and radiator under the starboard wins. It is armed with two 20-mm. cannon and four machine guns, two in each wing.
The Mk I Spitfire had a speed of 370 miles per hour and a ceiling of about 36,000 feet. The later versions with their more powerful engines and other refinements have a better ceiling and a
maximum speed which is probably a good deal in excess of 400 m.p.h.
Another fighter which has been used with considerable success by the R.A.F., though it has not received the publicity accorded the Spitfire and the Hurricane, is the Westland Whirlwind. It is the only twin-engined single-seat fighter the R.A.F. has ever used to equip its squadrons. It has a longer range than the Spitfire and once a squadron of Whirlwinds acted as fighter escort to bombers as far as the Dutch coast. The two 850 horse-power Rolls Royce engines make the aircraft exceedingly fast. Four 20-mm. cannons are fitted in the nose and latterly two bombs have been carried outboard of the engines. The use of the Whirlwind has, however, been restricted to special purposes.
The Hawker Typhoon has also just come into operational use by the R.A.F. It is a larger, grown-up brother of the Hurricane and was designed by the same man, Mr. Sidney Camm. It is powered by the Napier 2,400 horse “Sabre” engine and is credited with a speed of more than four hundred miles an hour. It is said to be very sturdy in construction and a steady gun platform. It was first known that it had become operational after a daylight raid on southeast London by F.W. 190 fighter-bombers, when a squadron of Typhoons chased the raiders back to the coast and shot down five. It was then announced that Typhoons had also had a share in providing the air “umbrella” cover at the time of the Dieppe Commando raid.
HAWKER TYPHOON. The Hawker Typhoon is a recent recruit to the armoury of Fighter Command. It is powered by a 2,400 h.p. Napier Sabre engine and has a top speed of more than 400 miles an hour. Its powerful armament consists of four 20 mm. cannon or twelve machine guns. Under each wing is carried a 500 lb. bomb with thin casing, having twice the blasting power of ordinary bombs
In combat with British aircraft several characteristics are noticeable about the Messerschmitt 109E and 109F. The 109E seems to have difficulty in executing a climbing turn to the right. So a climbing turn to the right is often used by British bombers when attacked by these aircraft.
When attacked by fighters the 109E pilots invariably go into a steep dive because when the stick is pushed violently forward, the engines on aircraft fitted with carburettors will cut out for a second or two and then pick up again. Owing to their petrol injection device the engines of the 109E do not do so, and the extra second they gain by what might be termed their “crash dive” helps them considerably in their efforts to get away.
The 109F is a modified form of the 109E. The main differences in appearance are the lack of bracing struts on the tailplane and the extension to the wings which instead of having square tips are now elliptical in shape. The general appearance of the aircraft is now much more like the Hurricane. The power of the engine has been increased and the whole performance of the aircraft improved. Its top speed is about 370 miles per hour and the service ceiling 38,000 feet. Its performance now more nearly equals the latest version of the Spitfire, but these improvements have only been achieved by a reduction in fire power and the Spitfire Mk V with its two cannon and four machine guns has a big advantage.
The Focke-Wulf 190 was a surprise to the R.A.F. when it was first used by the Germans from their bases in Northern France. It has a radial air-cooled engine and it was thought to be a Curtis Hawk, supplied by America to the French Air Force and captured by the Germans when they occupied France. Its appearance in increasing numbers and closer acquaintance with it, however, soon disabused the British pilots and they found that it had a fine turn of speed and a good rate of climb. It was outmanoeuvred by the Spitfire in straight dog-fights all the same and the Germans began to use it more for diving on straggling fighters with reliance on its climbing abilities to get it out of trouble. A model was soon captured intact by the R.A.F., overhauled and flown by British test pilots. They found that it had a wing loading of 42·3 lbs., a climb rate of 3,200 feet at 17,500 feet and a speed of 375 miles an hour at 18,000 ft. The engine was a 14 cylinder BMW radial of 2,000 horse power. It was armed with four 20 mm. cannon and two machine guns of 7.92 calibre. The machine guns were arranged to fire through the nose. There was a bomb rack beneath the fuselage for a 250 lb. bomb, and latterly the aircraft has been used as a sneak night bomber.
To sum up briefly, the special qualities of the day interceptor are very high speed and rate of climb, high service ceiling and heavy armour. The day fighter vis-a-vis enemy fighters and not against bombers, requires a high standard of manoeuvrability as well. In such fighters the power to turn in a smaller circle than one’s enemy while maintaining height is of enormous importance. It enforces on the opponent the need to break off the combat because if the circling match is continued for long the aircraft with the smaller turning circle will inevitably get on the tail of its opponent.
Long Range Fighters
The long range aircraft whose duty it is to escort bombers and, on occasion, make surprise attacks on its own well behind the enemy lines on concentrations of transport and troops, to shoot up and bomb small bridges over rivers and viaducts carrying important railway lines is also a day fighter. This type of fighter tends to resemble the night fighter in its design and lay-out much more than does the simple interceptor. It is almost invariably a twin-engine machine so that it has power to counteract the extra weight that has to be carried to give it long range fuel supply. The pilot usually has a navigator or gunner flying with him, not so much for the purpose of firing the guns but to reload them and attend to all the many details of wireless and course finding, map reading and to give him an extra pair of eyes to pick out targets by day and search the blackness of the sky by night. In modern practice, the guns or cannon of a long range fighter are fixed so as to fire straight ahead of the machine as in an interceptor.
Long range fighters are also equipped with most of the devices of the interceptor, flaps, oxygen equipment, and so on, but in addition frequently carry direction finding apparatus as well. The retractable undercarriages, instead of folding into the wings, generally retract backwards into the engine nacelles, and the airscrews, in some cases, rotate in opposite directions in order to counteract the effect of torque. The speeds of these fighters, because of their design, were lower in the aircraft that did duty for the first year or so of the war than those of the interceptors, but modern machines such as the Beaufighter and, particularly, the Mosquito are incredibly fast.
SHORT-NOSE BLENHEIM. The Bristol Blenheim Mk I fighter-bomber. It is powered by two 840 h.p. Mercury engines, has a top speed of 285 miles per hour and a range of 1,125 miles. When used as a fighter it is armed with four additional machine guns under the fuselage and one machine gun in a Bristol power operated retractable turret on top of the fuselage. It carries a crew of three
The three long-range fighters of Britain, Germany and Italy which most closely corresponded when the war began were the Blenheim, the Junkers 88 and the Breda 88. These three aircraft each had their special characteristics in which they excelled each other. The Blenheim was the slowest, but had the longest range and was very manoeuvrable. It was used either as a day bomber or long range fighter and is still operational on some of the lesser fronts and for special purposes. There are two versions, the Mk I, which is known as the short-nosed Blenheim and the Mk IV, or long-nose version. The Mk I is ten miles per hour slower than the Mk IV, having a maximum speed of 285 miles an hour at 15,000 feet as compared with a so far undisclosed speed for the Mosquito, but one probably a hundred miles an hour faster. The ceiling for both versions of the Blenheim is about 27,280 feet. The Mk I version has a range of 1,125 miles, and the Mk IV, fitted with extra fuel tanks in the wings, a range of 1,900 miles.
The Blenheim was the first modern high speed bomber to be produced for Britain, and has certainly been one of the most useful aircraft. It has been used for almost every type of operation, coastal reconnaissance, long distance reconnaissance, attacks on shipping, day and night bombing, day escort fighting and night fighting, and it has fulfilled all these duties magnificently. These duties remain. Later types merely carry them out more efficiently, having been specially designed because of the lessons learned.
Here we will only deal with the Blenheim when it is employed as a fighter. Both long-and short-nose versions have been used for this purpose.
The Mk I carries a crew of three; pilot, navigator and air gunner, the last being in a semi-retractable power operated turret on the top of the fuselage. The Mark IV has extra petrol tanks fitted in the wings to give it extra range and carries a crew of three, the navigator’s position being in the extended portion of the nose. Besides the pilot there is also a wireless operator-rear gunner in the turret.
The armour and armament on both the versions are the same. The armour consists of an armoured bulkhead across the whole width of the fuselage behind the pilot and observer’s seats, and armour in the nose of the front of the pilot’s instrument panel. The armament consists of five fixed .303 machine guns, four in a mounting under the fuselage and one in the port wing outboard of the engine, and one or two free machine guns in the power operated turret. Remotely controlled guns fire rearward from a blister immediately under the nose.
The Blenheim is a very pleasant aircraft to fly and for its size one of the most manoeuvrable twin engined aircraft in the world. It can be flown quite comfortably on one engine and can take an almost unlimited amount of punishment.
BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER. The Beaufighter is a larger aircraft than the Blenheim, having a wing span of 58 feet and a length of 40 feet 11 inches. It is powered by two 1,400 h.p. Bristol Hercules engines and has a top speed in excess of 320 miles per hour. It is heavily armed with cannon and machine guns and carries a crew of two. It has achieved great success as a night fighter.
The Beaufighter is a product of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, and is in a class by itself because of its very heavy armament and high speed. It is a mid-wing monoplane powered by two Bristol Hercules radial engines which give it a top speed well in excess of 300 miles per hour. It is the most powerfully armed fighter at present on active service in the world, having four 20-mm. cannon mounted in the nose below the pilot and six machine guns in the wings outboard of the engines. The pilot has a selector switch and can fire either the machine guns or the cannon separately, or both at once. Plentiful supplies of ammunition are carried, and the loading is done by the second member of the crew who sits beneath an astrodome behind the pilot. The effect upon another aircraft of this terrific fire power has to be seen to be believed. No aircraft, however heavily armoured, can stand up to it, and with accurate shooting a target generally blows up or falls to pieces within a few seconds, often before the crew have had time to use their parachutes. More than one Beaufighter has come back to its base damaged after an engagement because it has been hit by flying debris from the machine it had attacked and “blown to pieces.”
The “Beau,” as it is called, is larger than the Blenheim and is easily recognizable by its short nose and unusually large, protruding engines. It is difficult to compare the “Beau” with any enemy aircraft. The nearest comparison would be a crpss between the Junkers 88 and the Me 110, but it is faster than the 88 and heavier than the 110.
Beaufighters have been used mainly for night fighting where they have done more damage than any other aircraft, but they have also been used with great success by Coastal Command and for long range fighting in the Middle East.
The Mosquito is operational both as a day bomber and fighter. It has bombed Berlin and Oslo as well as places in Holland, which gives some idea of its range. It is in operation as a long range fighter from Malta. It has a wing span of 54 feet 2 inches, a length of 40 feet 9½ inches and is armed with four 20 mm. cannon and four .303 machine guns. Its power and speed come from two of the latest type Rolls Royce engines. It is made entirely of wood, a reversion to earlier practice which came as a surprise when it was first announced. The use of wood had meant a great saving in weight and, curiously, wood does not burn so freely as the metal in some of the stretched skin constructions. Or, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it does not break up so quickly under the stress of furious heat. The Mosquito, designed and built by the de Havilland Company, is a development of the twin engined “Comet” which won the England to Australia race when piloted by C. W. A. Scott and T. Campbell Black. The pilot and observer sit side by side in the nose, where the cannon are carried.
The Germans have attempted to produce an aircraft equivalent to the Mosquito by developing the Me110 and bringing out the Me210. Its performance, however, falls short of that of the Mosquito. The Me210 is said to have a speed of 380 miles an hour at 18,000 feet, ten miles an hour faster than the Me109F. Its all up weight is 21,350 lbs. and it carries a bomb load of 2,200 lbs. The increased weight over the Me110 is accounted for by 900 lbs. of armour plating. It carries six guns, two fixed 7.9 mm. two Mauser 20 mm. and two 13 mm. guns controlled by the rear gunner, who is also wireless operator. The bomb compartment is in the nose of the fuselage underneath the pilot’s cockpit. Very considerable quantities of ammunition are carried. For dive bombing, the Me210 uses hydraulically operated dive-brakes which ingeniously fold flush into the top and bottom surfaces of each wing during normal flight. Wing span is 53 ft. 9 ins., length 40 ft. 3 ins. It has two Daimler-Benz 601-F1 engines which are an improvement on those in the Me110.
Until recently Britain used extensively one type of fighter which was unique. This was the Boulton and Paul Defiant single engine, two-seater fighter. It is a low wing, cantilever monoplane, powered, like the Spitfire and the Hurricane, by a Rolls Royce Merlin engine. It was one of the few single engine, two-seater fighters in use with the R.A.F. It first became prominent over Dunkirk, then did good work in the Battle of Britain and subsequently, throughout the long months of the night “blitzes” it was used with great success as a night fighter. Squadrons equipped with Defiants not only took part in the defence of London at that time, but of many of the great industrial centres of the Midlands and the North, and shared with Beaufighters the honour of forcing the Germans to give up concentrated, heavy night attacks. They are now, however, becoming obsolete.
The pilot of the Defiant sits in an enclosed cockpit on the forward part of the wing with his gunner in a Boulton Paul power operated turret immediately behind him. The turret contains four .300 calibre Browning machine guns and has a 360 degrees’ traverse. An interrupter gear is fitted which prevents the gunner from hitting any part of his own aircraft. The fuselage decking behind the turret retracts to allow the turret to rotate.
BOULTON PAUL DEFIANT. The Defiant is a single-engined two-seater fighter with an armament of four machine guns in a power operated turret. It was used with very marked success as a night fighter.
Comparison with other fighters is difficult as the tactics employed by the Defiant are entirely different from those of normal fixed-gun fighters. Full details of its performance are not available, but it is thought the maximum speed is in the neighbourhood of 300 miles per hour.
No mention is made in this chapter of the many types of interceptor and twin-engine fighters which have been supplied to Britain by the United States of America. These include the Bell Airacobra, the Curtiss Tomahawk and Kittyhawk, the Mustang, Lockheed Lightning and the Havoc. They are fully described in the chapter “American Help for the R.A.F.”.
Before the war there was quite a discussion as to whether stressed-skin metal wings would stand up to the fire of the modern machine gun or the modern shell gun, and there was also some reason to doubt whether they would stand up to the effect of anti-aircraft fire. Many experts said the fabric would stand the racket better. However, the stressed-skin has fully proved itself and has shown that aircraft built in this way can stand very heavy punishment. Even so, as previously explained, one of the most successful aircraft yet designed and produced by Britain, the Mosquito, is of wooden construction.
A new development which may favourably affect the speed of production of aircraft in the near future is the use of plastic material, experiments on which are now intensively taking place. There is apparently a promise that this type of structure will not only prove easier and quicker in manufacture, but will also stand up against weather and enemy fire, equally well with, or perhaps better than, the stressed-skin metal structures. It is also claimed that these new plastic materials, especially when based on a wood foundation, will actually prove considerably stronger, weight for weight, than equivalent metal structures.
The development of fighter aircraft under the stimulus of war proceeds at a terrifying pace. The race for aerial supremacy is a grim one. Speeds are continually increasing, and each new aircraft flies higher than its predecessor. Guns become yet more deadly and more accurate. How far can such progress, if progress it can be called, go? When will the human factor call it to a halt? These are questions that only the future can answer.
DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO. The famous Mosquito twin-engined long range fighter or bomber. Constructed of wood, it has a maximum speed of well over 400 miles per hour. Its wing span is 54 feet 2 inches and its length is 40 feet 9', inches. It is powered by two Rolls Royce Merlin engines and its offensive armament usually consists of four 20 mm. cannon and four .303 machine guns.
n their quest for speed aircraft designers have been helped considerably by the powerful engines that have been put into their hands. The latest aero engines develop enormous power for their weight, and this is responsible for the very high speeds that are common today.
he Hurricane Mk IIb is a faster plane than the Mk I and has a better ceiling. It is armed with twelve machine guns. The Iic has four 20-
The Supermarine Spitfire with its magnificent lines and handling qualities is almost certainly the world’s finest single-
