Hawker Typhoon

fighter-bomber

At the end of 1936, after long discussions between the Air Ministry and the famous designer Sydney Camm, the requirements for a new fighter to replace the Hurricane and the Spitfire were determined. At that time, the basic British power unit was the Merlin - a brilliant work of specialists from Rolls Royce. This engine powered all the most important British planes during the Second World War: Hurricane, Spitfire, Mosquito. Lancaster .... However, S. Camm was looking for something stronger. The drawing boards showed engine designs twice the amount of Merlin's horsepower. As both the Rolls Royce and Napier engines were in the early stages of development, it was decided to develop the fighter in two versions: the "R" was to be equipped with a Rolls Royce power unit, and the "N" version with a Napier engine. The construction of the first two machines started in March 1938. The aircraft powered by the Rolls Royce Vulture engine was named TORNADO, the other with the Napier Saber engine was called the TYPHOON.

The outbreak of the war and the subsequent Battle of Britain became one of the reasons for delays in the implementation of many projects, but the main reason in the development of the TYPHOON prototype were problems with underdeveloped power units. The UK's defense production priorities focused on the proven Hurricanes and Spitfires. It was only in 1941 that brought a new look at the issues of priorities in the field of armaments. Britain withstood the massive Luftwaffe attacks and controlled the airspace over the Isles. However, the equipment was slowly becoming insufficient to fight the new German aircraft, especially the newest Focke Wulf Fw-190 fighter, exceeding the parameters of the Spitfires II and V, not to mention the Hurricane. Air Ministry realized that TYPHOON could be the cure and began to put pressure on Hawker to start production of a new fighter as soon as possible.

The first series-produced TYPHOON Mk IA plane flew on May 27, 1941. The armament of the Mk IA version consisted of 12 Browning 0.303 ”(7.7 mm) machine guns with 486 rounds of ammunition. There were 110 such planes armed with twelve Brownings. The planes of the later Mk IВ versions had four 20 mm Hispano cannons, mounted 2 on each wing. It was possible after refining the design of the ammunition feeder. The TYPHOON I В was the last produced version of this aircraft. The construction of version II was still planned, but the changes made to it were so significant that it was decided to change the designation to Tempest and, as a separate structure, the aircraft entered production later.

In 1941, when 150 TYPHOONs were already in service, information appeared about the insufficient strength of the final section of the aircraft, as a result of which the tail part of the aircraft broke off. This problem was solved by nosing around twenty metal plates in a flattened diamond shape around the fuselage, strengthening the bond. The real cause of this, however, was the poor mass-balance of the elevator, causing the entire tail to vibrate, which eventually fatigue the material of the fasteners and cut them off. Consequently, horizontal stabilizers from the Tempest aircraft with a larger area were used.

The south coast of Great Britain was harassed quite often by the Luftwaffe, which carried out attacks on ports and ships in the area. As long as the defense of the interior of the island was a priority, the Germans escaped with almost impunity. The Fw-190s met a worthy opponent for the first time at low altitudes, as the HurricaneVs were a bit dated and the Spitfires performed better at higher altitudes. There were times when the TYPHOONY did not even have to fire while fighting the Fw-190 at the seaside. Typhoons easily caught up with German planes and, flying over them, literally forced them into the sea. All this happened at very low altitudes, on the order of several meters, because the flight near the ground provided good protection against Spitfires. In the case of the pursuit by TYPHOON, this tactic was almost suicide. TYPHOON caught up with the victim and "ran over her like a train", each evasion usually ended with smashing to the surface of the water.

High speed at low altitude, rugged construction and in-flight stability made the TYPHOON an ideal candidate for a fighter-bomber or attack aircraft designed to attack ground targets. Thanks to their high speed, they could venture far over the enemy territory and in such flights destroy his vehicles, trains, plants, railway stations and smaller ships. Targets were set in Belgium, France and the Netherlands. From the end of 1943, one of the priority targets was the V-1 missile launchers.

TYPHOON's role as a fighter-bomber was further strengthened in late 1943, when unguided missiles were added to its armament arsenal. The missile version was used for the first time during the aforementioned attacks on V-1 launchers, as well as during missions against German radar installations on the French coast just before the invasion of Normandy. On August 7, 1944, in the Battle of Mortain TYPHOONs, German armored units were attacking the Allied forces in Normandy. Surprised by more than three hundred machines, the Germans then lost more than a hundred vehicles - according to reports "84 burning, 35 smoking and 21 damaged". Mortain, however, was only a prelude to the main part of the Battle of Falaise. Blocked there, strong German troops tried desperately to cross the Seine River, being constantly attacked by TYPHOONs from the 121st Wing. The difference to the Battle of Mortain was enormous. There, the advancing German troops were attacked, while a regular slaughterhouse took place near Falaise. TYPHOONs decimated the great concentrations of Nazi troops in the Avranches, thus opening the way to the liberation of France and Belgium.

The HAWKER TYPHOON was an all-metal, single-seat, low-wing, low-wing, retractable undercarriage. The airframe was made almost entirely as a half-shell structure, except for the rear part of the fuselage, where elements of the shell structure were used. The drive was a 24-cylinder in-line Napier Saber I engine with a capacity of 2,100 hp, located at the front of the fuselage and driving a three-bladed propeller. Beneath the fuselage, just behind the propeller cap, was the TYPHOON and TEMPEST's signature powerful radiator air intake. The pilot's cabin was covered with a drip cover with a "car" type door. The undercarriage was retracted into the wings and completely obstructed when retracted. The classic tail consisted of horizontal and vertical stabilizers with elevation and direction controls.

A total of 3,270 HAWKER TYPHOON aircraft of all versions were built.

TECHNICAL DATA
HAWKER TYPHOON IIВ - single-seat bomber fighter
SPAN - 12.67 m;
CREW -1 person;
LENGTH - 9.70 m;
UNLADEN WEIGHT - 3 992 kg;
TOTAL HEIGHT - 4.50 m;
STARTING WEIGHT -5 216 kg;
RANGE MAX - 820 km;
CEILING - 10 730 m;
MAX SPEED - 663 km / h at an altitude of 5,800 m;
DRIVE - 24-cylinder liquid-cooled Napier Saber I in-line engine with 1,540 kW (2,100 hp)
moving three-blade propeller, then Napier Saber HA, IIB or ПС with power of 1617 kW - 1661 kW
(2,200 - 2,260 hp) moving four-bladed propellers;
WEAPON - Four four 20mm Hispano cannons placed in the wings. Under the wings, it was possible to hang bombs or unguided missiles.