P3 633 squadron Battle of Britain Dam Busters Music Cardboard wings (9 boys) Each boy comes in to hall in turn and a little about each plane is read out, then they all return together. During the second world war many young men where sent to fight in the skies over Britain and France in the RAF. It was due to their bravery skill and sacrifice that Germany never felt able to invade Britain. Here at Anchors we have been looking at some of the Aircraft which they flew, contrary to popular belief they weren’t all spitfires. Planes Fighters Miles M20 Emergency fighter, designed for quick production should the RAF have a shortage of fighters. The M-20 was an all-wood monoplane with fixed landing gear, using many parts of the Master trainer. It was designed and built in only 65 days and had good performance, but the R.A.F. did not need the M.20. Later the M.20 was considered as an expendable shipboard fighter. Farley Firefly Two-seat reconaissance fighter. It was a low-wing monoplane with a wide-track undercarriage, smaller than the Fulmar that preceded it, and provided with a more powerful engine. The design was deliberately conventional, to bring it into service quickly. Early Fireflies had a deep 'beard' radiator, later models had wing leading root intakes. The concept of the two-seat fighter may have been mistaken, but the Firefly was a versatile aircraft, taking part not only in WWII but also in the Korean war. The last of the 1702 built was delivered in 1956. The Firefly ended its career as a target drone. Fairey Fulmur Two-seat reconnaissance fighter, a development of the P.4/34 light bomber. The Fulmar was inferior to modern single-seat fighters, but it was a reliable, sturdy aircraft with long range. At least it provided the RN with a monoplane fighter. Supermarine Spitfire An uncompromised, fast and manoeuvrable fighter. The remarkable thin elliptical wing made the Spitfire capable of very high speeds, but it had to be reinforced several times to retain aileron effectiveness. The Spitfire served as first-line fighter throughout WWII in increasingly fast and powerful versions, first with the Merlin, later with the Griffon engine. The Spitfire was continuously changed to meet all kinds of threats and demands, as low- and high altitude fighter, tropicalized, navalized, or equipped as unarmed photo-reconnaissance aircraft. Probably the most famous military aircraft ever. Hawker Hurricane The Hurricane was the first monoplane fighter produced by Hawker, and was available in substantial numbers at the beginning of World War II. Hurricanes played a decisive role in the Battle of Britain and went on to fly on more fronts than any other British fighter. Canadian Car and Foundry manufactured 1 451 Hurricanes between 1938 and 1943. With increasingly heavy armament, Hurricanes served to the end of the war. Hurricanes were used in Canada for training and coastal patrols. Hawker Typhoon The so-called 'N type' fighter (developed in parallel with the Tornado) was powered by a 2,180 HP Napier Sabre engine. This powerful engine gave the Typhoon exceptional low-altitude performance, but it had a lot of teething troubles. Another problem was the conservative wing design, with a thickness of 18%, which was resulted in serious compressibility problems. A bad high-altitude performance and problems with the tail structure (finally traced back to a failure of the elevator balance weight causing flutter) sealed its failure as an all-round fighter. The Typhoon then earned fame as ground attack aircraft. Hawker Tempest Development of the Typhoon with a new, thinner wing, a longer fuselage, and an all- round vision canopy. Finding a satisfactory engine proved to be a problem, but some 400 Tempest Mk. Vs were built with a Napier Sabre II engine before the war ended, and these proved to be excellent all-round fighters. The Tempest II (Bristol Centaurus) and Tempest VI (Sabre VI) were post-war developments. Gloster G.41 Meteor The first allied jet fighter. Its combat use in WWII was limited to intercepting V-1's. The Meteor was of conventional layout, with engines in mid-wing nacelles, and it was capable of accepting many types of engine. The flexible design allowed a long development history after the war, and the Meteor introduced jet engines to many airforces. Hawker Fury Monoplane fighter, using the wing of the Tempest, but smaller and lighter. The wing panels were joined on the centreline rather than bolted to a centre section, reducing span. Production aircraft had a Bristol Centaurus engine, but the Napier Sabre and R.R. Griffon were also tested. The RAF was already committed to the jet engine, and showed no interest, but Iraq bought 57. The RN used the naval version, the Sea Fury, for some time Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant Two-seat fighter with the four-gun armament concentrated in a powered turret. The Defiant was a fine aircraft, but the tactical concept was bad and the weight of the gun turret detoriated performance. After the initial success heavy losses followed; it was then used as a night fighter for some time and later as a target tug. .