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Aviation History
1941
1941 - 1165.PDF
MAY" 22ND, 1941. Twentieth of the Series \ FRIEND or FOE? Two Similar-looking R.A.F. Fighters with Distinctive Features Boulton Paul Defiant. Low-wing, pronounced taper andmoderate dihedral to outer panels ; fillets at roots. Long, pointed nose with air intake below. Radiator under centre-section. B.P. 4-gun turret behind cockpit. Tapering tail- plane, triangular fin and rudder. Bell Caribou. Low-wing, taper and dihedral from roots ;fillets at roots. Long, pointed nose. Exhaust aft of cock- pit from amidships engine. Retractable tricycle under-carriage ; streamlined cockpit cover. Tapering tailplane, almost triangular fin and rudder. PREVIOUS articles in this series have each describedone Allied and one enemy aircraft, but, as alreadyindicated, there are appreciably more types of British and American machines in actual service than enemy types.This week, therefore, a British fighter which lias no enemy counterpart and an American fighter which resembles it inplan but which has the distinctive constructional feature of an engine placed amidships, are dealt with. These arethe Boulton Paul Defiant two-seater fighter, now used most successfully as a night-fighter, and the Bell Caribou single-seater fighter, which is the R.A.F. version of the Airacobra. Although the Defiant is somewhat larger than theCaribou, having a span and a length nearly six feet in excess of the American machine, its general lines as seenin plan are very similar. Both have wings which taper to rounded tips'and with large fillets at the roots, a longpointed nose and a well-tapered tailplane with a "bite" in the centre of the trailing-edge where the elevators arecijc away to allow rudder Pavement. Their fins andraiders, too, are somewhat similar. The Defiant has acharacteristic triangular formation and that of theCaribou only differs from this in that the trailing-edge of the rudder is curved instead of straight—a difference which might be difficult to spot at anydistance. Where the two machinesdo obviously differ, of course, is in the 4-gun,power-operated Boulton Paul gun-turret fitted tothe Defiant. Although it does not affect the issuerom the spotter's point of iew, it is a point of in-terest that in its original design it was intended torely solely upon this 4-gun turret, but the advisability DEFIANT of also including fixed, forward-firing guns in the wingshas frequently been discussed. The Airacobra is said to have a shell-gun firing through the airscrew hub and fourmachine guns, but the Caribou armament is secret. Another difference between these two machines whichshows externally is the fixed tail-wheel of the Defiant. The Caribou has a fully retracting tricycle undercarriage, [nboth machines the main wheels retract inwards into the centre-section. When seen at such a height that smalldetails cannot be discerned with certainty, the plan of the Defiant wings will show hardly any taper at the centre-section but a pronounced taper on the trailing-edge of the outer panels. In contrast, the taper on the Caribou wingsis uniform from the roots. From a direct head-on view the machines can be distinguished by the fact that thefairly pronounced dihedral angle of the Defiant wings begins outboard of the wide centre-section, whereas that of theCaribou is from the wing-roots and is not very marked. The most strikingfeature of the Caribou, however, is not externallyobvious unless one can see the position of the exhaustjust aft of the pilot's cock- pit. Its engine—America'sonly example of the in- line, liquid-cooled unit inservice—is placed imme- diately behind the cock-pit (almost exactly amid- ships) and drives the'airscrew through a long extension shaft. Thetransparent cockpit cover with its curved and well-raked windscreen is a par- ticularly beautiful exampleof streamlining and imme- diately behind it a smallair-scoop projects from the top of the sleek, ovalfuselage. Next Week: The Fulmarand the Curtis Tomahawk. BELL CARIBOU
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