COLLECTORS’ ARCHIVE British Fighters of World War 2 Contemporary cutaways and archive images 5 9 . 7 £ INTRODUCTION 3 FOLLOWING OUR FIRST edition of Aeroplane Collectors’ Archive, The most challenging photography was air-to-air, easy from the back British Bombers of World War Two, we now focus on the fi ghters, end of a Beverley or side door of a Lancaster, but very diffi cult in the bringing you some of The Aeroplane’s fi nest images from the war years confi nes of a Hunter while wearing heavy clothing, and oxygen mask etc along with period cutaway drawings. and with plates crammed into the pockets, the left for exposed and right It must be emphasised that it is not the intention to give full details of for unexposed. every type, these have been covered in many books, so only basic data for CUTAWAY ARTWORK early models of each type is given. Most of the images come from our archive Much of the artwork featured here was painstakingly drawn by one artist, of over 40,000 fi ve-inch glass-plate negatives, others are from 50,000 35mm James (Jimmy) Clark, who began producing cutaways in the mid-1930s strips, taken by Flight and The Aeroplane photographers, sister magazines and continued into the 1960s. At fi rst, they were small and relatively during the 1970s and 1980s, and to supplement these we have added others uncomplicated, but as aircraft and engine design developed the cutaway from the fi les which are interesting. A large proportion of the archive dating became ever more detailed. Rivalry between Clark and Flight’s artist Max from 1909 to the 1960s was gifted from Flight to The Aeroplane. The fi nal Millar may have helped produce ever more complicated and thorough pages contain a selection of fi ghters which were under development and had cutaways! fl own between 1939 and 1945 but for various reasons did not enter service. Production of a cutaway could involve hundreds of hours. Clark would It is interesting to see that the fi rst aircraft covered, the Gloster Gladiator, often spend a week in a factory sketching detail drawings of aircraft parts, was the RAF’s last biplane fi ghter while the last, also from Gloster, was the with reference to engineering drawings, sometimes emerging with a Meteor, the RAF’s fi rst jet fi ghter. completed drawing, others needing weeks of additional work to bring PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ARTISTS everything together. Although sometimes criticised for lack of perspective The Aeroplane had a very talented staff of photographers including Charles in his work, it could be said that Clark often used it to accentuate a key Sims, Alf Long and Maurice Rowe to name a few. Their standard equipment part, and maybe his work, in some cases with minor faults, should be in the early days was the First World War vintage Van Neck VN Press camera, viewed as aviation art. and Maurice Rowe recalls his memories. Starting at the bottom, he learned Some of the illustrations here have been produced by other artists to make up chemicals, dry photographic prints on rotary glazing drums and including Roy Cross, Frank Munger and Mike Badrocke, and we are grateful how to operate a large camera on rails. Eventually becoming a photographer to Flight Global for the use of some of the cutaways from the Flight for Temple Press, he says it was very much a do-it-yourself operation, as if a International archive. Together, these sources have enabled us to produce a large number of photographs were needed slides had to be reloaded, so on more complete selection of aircraft. Mike Hooks an overnight assignment one struggled in a wardrobe in the bedroom to do this, ensuring the door was tightly closed! Editor These two aircraft from the RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight illustrate one of the oldest Spitfi re survivors, P7350, and also the last Hurricane built, PZ865 Aeroplane Collectors’ Archive British Fighters of WW2 Editor Mike Hooks • Researcher John Donaldson • Editorial Consultant Philip Garrett • Production Editor Steve Wright • Advertising Sue Keiley Digital Image Manager Rebecca Gibbs • Scanning assitant Ellis Fergar • Image restoration Paul Sanderson Published by Kelsey Publishing Group, Cudham Tithe Barn, Berry’s Hill, Cudham, Kent TN16 3AG. Telephone 01959 541444 Fax 01959 541400 www.kelsey.co.uk Printed by William Gibbons & Sons Ltd., Willenhall, West Midlands. © 2012 all rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is forbidden except with prior permission in writing from the publisher. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for errors in articles or advertisements. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Editor or Publisher. ISBN 978-1-907426-23-0 British Fighters of World War 2 6 GLOSTER GLADIATOR Last of the RAF’s biplane fi ghters 12 SUPERMARINE SPITFIRE Iconic Merlin and Griff on-powered fi ghter 2244 RROOLLLLSS--RROOYYCCEE GGRRIIFFFFOONN EENNGGIINNEE 26 HAWKER HURRICANE 28 The RAF’s fi rst monoplane fi ghter 36 HAWKER TYPHOON Ground-attack fi ghter 81 41 HAWKER TEMPEST The logical development of the Typhoon 46 NAPIER SABRE ENGINE 50 CENTRE PAGE SPREAD Airfi x artwork illustration by Adam Tooby showing de Havilland Mosquitos during the Amiens raid 52 BOULTON PAUL DEFIANT Day and night-fi ghter and target-tug 70 58 BRISTOL BEAUFIGHTER Night-fi ghter, torpedo and strike aircraft 65 BRISTOL HERCULES ENGINE 58 70 DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO Versatile, fast fi ghter/night-fi ghter/strike aircraft 81 WESTLAND WHIRLWIND The RAF’s fi rst single-seat twin-engined fi ghter 88 GLOSTER METEOR Britain’s fi rst jet fi ghter 91 ROLLS-ROYCE DERWENT ENGINE CCoonntteennttss 6 WAITING IN THE WINGS Many more fi ghters under development failed to see active service for one reason or another. We highlight some of them here 94 BOULTON PAUL P.92/2 Half-scale fl ying model of a proposed three-seat twin- engined fi ghter which was not built 94 HAWKER TORNADO Rolls-Royce Vulture-powered single-seat fi ghter, similar to the Typhoon 9955 WESTLAND WELKIN T Twwiinn--eennggiinneedd ttwwoo--sseeaatt hhiigghh--aallttiittuuddee fifi gghhtteerr,, llaatteerr night-fi ghter 9955 GLOSTER F.9/37 T Twwiinn--eennggiinneedd ssiinnggllee--sseeaatt fifi gghhtteerr wwhhiicchh lloosstt oouutt ttoo tthhee Bristol Beaufi ghter 9966 SUPERMARINE SPITEFUL S Siinnggllee--sseeaatt fifi gghhtteerr ttoo ssuucccceeeedd tthhee SSppiittfifi rree,, bbuutt wwhhiicchh arrived too late – the jets were coming 9966 VICKERS 432 H Hiigghh--aallttiittuuddee fifi gghhtteerr wwiitthh pprreessssuurree ccaabbiinn,, bbuutt hhaadd 36 engine and handling problems 9977 MARTIN-BAKER M.B.5 A A ssuuppeerrbb ssiinnggllee--sseeaatt fifi gghhtteerr nnoott rrddeerreedd bbeeccaauussee ooff tthhee imminent arrival of jets 97 MILES M.20/2 Cleverly-designed wooden single-seat fi ghter with excellent view for the pilot, no orders 9988 SSUURRVVIIVVOORRSS 12 Contents 41 6 Gloster Gladiator THE GLADIATOR PROTOTYPE, designated SS.37, was constructed using a modified Gauntlet fuselage and flew on September 12, 1934, becoming K5200. Named Gladiator on July 1, 1935 it was soon in production and deliveries to the RAF began on February 16, 1937, with No 72 Squadron at Tangmere being the first recipient. The type eventually served with 19 RAF squadrons in the UK and 15 overseas, while others of the 490 delivered equipped various Flights. Two squadrons were with the Advanced Air Striking Force in France in 1940, and during the Battle of Britain No 247 Squadron’s Gladiators defended Plymouth dockyards while others operated from frozen lakes in Norway. The Fleet Air Arm received 60 specially-built Sea Gladiators and 38 converted from RAF stocks. These served The Gloster SS.37 K5200 to Specification F.7/30 for a four-gun fighter taxies out at in 15 squadrons and four became famous in the defence of the SBAC Flying Display on July 1, 1935, when the name Gladiator was bestowed. It Malta. The last operational Gladiators were withdrawn in had a 530 hp Bristol Mercury IV engine initially, later a 830 hp Mercury and was the September 1941, but others served in RAF roles, notably RAF’s last biplane fighter Meteorological Reconnaissance, until 1945. The fourth production Gladiator, K6132, had the more powerful 830 hp Mercury IX engine giving an increase in speed of 17 mph to 253 mph and a ceiling up from 10,000 ft to 14,500 ft. The cantilever undercarriage featured Dowty internally-sprung wheels gloster gladiator 7 Above: another view of the fourth production Gladiator, K6132, which was delivered to No 72 Squadron at Tangmere on February 22, 1937, while pictured below is a Gladiator cockpit 8 Early Gladiators were fitted with a two-bladed wooden propeller, while later models had three-bladed metal props. Clearly visible here are the flaps on top and bottom wings Port wingtip navigation light Faired exhaust collector ring Reflector gunsight Drop-down cockpit door Whip aerial Two-bladed Watts Pitot head wooden propeller First aid compartment Carburettor air intake Port fuselage-mounted Machine-gun 0.303in Browning Underwing housing blast trough machine-gun for 0.303in Browning machine-gun Pilot’s access step Dowty internally- Squadron markings sprung wheels of 73 Sqn, RAF gloster gladiator 9 Reproduced with kind permission from Flight Global Formation light Horn-balanced rudder Fabric-covered rear fuselage Rudder cables emerging from fuselage gloster gladiator eNgiNe: one 830hp Bristol Mercury iX WiNg sPaN: 32ft 3in leNgtH: 27ft 5in HeigHt: 10ft 4in loaded WeigHt: 4,750 lb Rear navigation Castoring tailwheel and light MaX sPeed: 253 mph shock-absorbing strut 10 The Royal Navy received several ex-RAF Gladiators before two batches of Sea Gladiators totalling 110. This is N5525, delivered to No 36 MU in March 1939 and sent to Malta the following month. Serving with No 802 Squadron on HMS Glorious, it was lost when the carrier was sunk by the Scharnhorst and Gniesnau on June 8, 1940 and the squadron ceased to exist A fully-equipped pilot must have had difficulty in entering a Gladiator cockpit, as shown here with a No 72 Squadron aircraft. Note the underwing Browning guns Gladiators of No 54 Squadron, Hornchurch, delivered in May 1937, two having their pilot’s gear on the tailplane. The dark coloured fin on K7923 implies this has just been painted in a flight leader’s colour