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Britain's Hawker Typhoon ("Tiffy") fighter^1,3
Hawker Typhoon fighter²

Hawker Typhoon fighter:

Hawker Typhoon Mk IB fighter, No 175 Squadron²:

Hawker Typhoon fighter:

Hawker Typhoon Mk I fighter, cockpit:

Hawker Typhoon Mk I B fighter:

Hawker Typhoon fighter over France:

Hawker Typhoon fighter, RCAF, Netherlands, April 2, 1945:

Design

Originally designed to be a fighter to combat the Focke Wulf Fw 190, but it wasn't as agile as its opponents.^1,3 The Typhoon was also to be the replacement for the Hawker Hurricane.² The design was started in 1937.²

The Tornado was designed as the same time as the Typhoon and had a Rolls-Royce Vulture engine.¹

The Typhoon was found to excel at being a close support aircraft.^1,3

Canopy

Had a sliding bulletproof bubble canopy that allowed for excellent visibility.¹

Engine

The Napier Sabre was very powerful but had reliability problems.^1,3 Engine life could be as low as 20 hours.¹

Undercarriage

The Typhoons undercarriage was wide and allowed for use from rough airstrips.¹

Wings

The wing was very strong, allowing for large bomb loads and to dive at almost 500 mph / 800 kph.¹

Tail

The Typhoon had tail flutter and it was solved by fitting "fish plates" to strengthen tail.^1,3

Prototype

The Typhoon prototype first flew on February 24, 1940.^1,2,3

Production

The first production aircraft flew in May 1941.³ Production lasted until November 1945.³

• Total: 3,330^2,3
  • Hawker: 15³
  • Gloster: 3,315³

Variants

• Typhoon Mk IA: Had twelve 7.7 mm guns.²
• Typhoon Mk IB: Had four 20 mm cannons.²

Usage

Britain, Canada, and New Zealand used the Typhoon.³

Typhoons shot down 246 Luftwaffe planes.¹ The top Typhoon ace was J.R. Baldwin with 15 enemy aircraft shot down.¹

First Usage

The No 56 and No 609 Squadron were equipped with Typhoons in September 1941.^1,2

Mistaken Identity

On some occasions the Typhoon was mistaken for a Focke Wulf Fw 190 and shot down by friendly planes.¹

Royal Air Force (RAF)

By mid 1944 there were 26 Typhoon equipped squadrons.³ By the end of the war there were a total of 32 squadrons were equipped with Typhoons.²

Tank Destroyer

On a single day in August 1944 Typhoons destroyed 135 tanks.³

	Hawker Typhoon3	Hawker Typhoon Mk IA3	Hawker Typhoon Mk IB1,2,3
Type	Fighter-bomber3		Fighter-bomber1,2
Crew	13		11
Engine (Type)	Napier Sabre IIA3		Napier Sabre II piston2 Napier Sabre IIA piston1
OR	Napier Sabre IIB3
OR	Napier Sabre IIC3
Cylinders	"H" 243		Inline1,2
Cooling
HP	IIA: 2,1803 IIB: 2,2003 IIC: 2,2603		2,1801,2
Propeller blades	3 or 43		31
Dimensions
Span	41' 7"3 12.67 m3		41' 7"1,2 12.67 m1,2
Length	31' 11"3 9.73 m3		31' 11"1,2 9.73 m1, 9.74 m2
Height	15' 3.5"3 4.66 m3		14' 10"1, 15' 3.5"2 4.52 m1, 4.67 m2
Wing area			279 ft2 1,2 25.9 m2 1 , 25.92 m2 2
Weight
Empty			8,800 lb1,2, 8,840 lb3 3,992 kg1,2, 4,010 kg3
Loaded			13,250 lb1, 13,980 lb2,3 6,010 kg1, 6,341 kg2,3
Performance
Speed @ 5,500' / 1,676 m			374 mph3 602 kph3
Speed @ 18,000' / 5,485 m			405 mph2 652 kph2
Speed @ 18,000' / 5,486 m			412 mph3 663 kph3
Speed @ 19,685' / 6,000 m			413 mph1 664 kph1
Climb			3,000'/minute3 914 m/minute3
Climb to 15,000 ' / 4,570 m			6.2 minutes2
Climb to 15,000' / 4,572 m			5.9 minutes3
Service ceiling			31,800'3, 34,000'2, 35,100'1 9,693 m3, 10,365 m2, 10,700 m1
Range			606 miles1, 610 miles3 975 km1, 982 km3
Range with drop tanks			932 miles1, 980 miles3 1,500 km1, 1,577 km3
Range with bombs 2: 1,000 lb / 454 kg			510 miles2 821 km2
Armament
Wings		12: 0.303" MG3	4: 20 mm Hispano1 4: 20 mm2,3
Rounds			140 each1
Bombs			2: 1,000 lb1,2,3 2: 454 kg1,2,3
OR			2: 500 lb3 2: 227 kg3
OR
Rockets			8 or 12: 60 lb1 8: 3" / 60 lb2,3 8 or 12: 27 kg1 8: 76.2 mm / 27.2 kg2 8: 76.2 mm / 27 kg3
OR
Drop tanks			2: 45 gallon1 2: 205 liter1

Sources:

1. Aircraft of WWII, General Editor: Jim Winchester, 2004
2. Fighting Aircraft of World War II, Editor: Karen Leverington, 1995
3. Aircraft of WWII, Stewart Wilson, 1998

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