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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0727.PDF
27 May 1955 725 Vokes air cleaner; and a large accumulator for electric startingfrom the cockpit. R.A.F. squadrons equipped with Gladiators (Mks I and/orII) were Nos. 3, 17, 33, 54, 56, 65, 72, 73, 80, 223 and 224. Auxiliary squadrons were Nos. 602 (City of Glasgow), 603 (Cityof Edinburgh), 607 (County of Durham), and 615 (County of Surrey). In all, 527 of these excellent fighters were built, ofwhich 216 were exported in the following quantities: Belgium 22, China 36, Greece 2, Finland 30, Iraq 15, Irish Free State 4,Latvia 26, Lithuania 14, Portugal 30, Norway 12, and Sweden 25. The last Gladiator II was completed early in 1940, and wasdelivered in April of that year. This was the final biplane fighter to be used on operations by the Royal Air Force. Sea Gladiator During 1938 a carrier-borne fleet-fighter versionof the Gladiator was designed, and eventually 60 such aircraft, with the name Sea Gladiator, were built. The engine was theMercury IX or VIIIA, and the principal modifications were the addition of an arrester hook and a dinghy (carried in a fairingbeneath the fuselage). Empty weigh was 3,745 lb, gross weight 5,420 lb, maximum speed 245 m.p.h. at 15,000ft, cruising speed212 m.p.h. at 15,500ft, service ceiling 32,000ft, and range 425 miles. Non-standard Sea Gladiators were Faith, Hope and Charity,heroic defenders of Malta, whose story is told at length in a book titled with their names. Therein it is related how ex-BlenheimMercuries, with variable-pitch airscrews, were pressed into service in these aircraft, how the throttle gate was opened to secure theultimate in performance, and how guns were mounted on the top wing. FJt/34 This was Gloster's first monoplane fighter, and was de-signed to the same specification—F.5/34—-as the Hurricane and Spitfire. Its armament was, therefore, eight O.3O3in Browningguns, mounted in the wings. Construction was entirely in metal, the fuselage being a light-alloy monocoque structure. The winghad hydraulically operated split flaps and fabric-covered Frise ailerons. Although the Dowry undercarriage was retractable (fold-ing backwards into the wings), a large segment of each wheel was left protruding, and it was so arranged that the wheels shouldtake the full weight of the machine in the event of a wheels- up landing. A portion of the tailwheel also was left protrudingfor the same purpose. Glosters admit that this arrangement may now seem to have been rather drastic, but at the time consideredit a small price to pay in performance for the measure of safety afforded. The engine of the F.5/34 was a Mercury IX, with along-chord cowling, leading-edge exhaust collector and adjust- able gills. The airscrew was a three-blade controllable-pitch deHavilLand. Span was 38ft 2in, length 32ft, wing area 230 sq ft, gross weight 5,400 lb, wing loading 23.4 lb/sq ft, maximumspeed 315 m.p.h. at 16,000ft, stalling speed 68 m.p.h., climb to 20,000ft 11 min, service ceiling 32,500ft. Although design studies had commenced as early as 1935, thefirst of two F.5/34s built, numbered K5604, did not appear until December 1937, due to the company's preoccupation withGauntlets and Gladiators. By that time, of course, the Hurricane and Spitfire were both in production and Glosters were notawarded a contract. The second machine was completed and flown in March 1938. F.9/37 (Taurus engines) During 1935 Glosters were design-ing, to Specification F.34/35, a twin-engined two-seat fighter, mounting a four-gun turret. As earlier specification, F.9/35,had called for a single-engined machine with similar armament, and when it was found that the Boulton Paul Defiant, designedto this requirement, promised to have a performance which would meet both specifications, the Gloster F.34/35 project was aban-doned. Some eighteen months later, however, another specifica- tion, F.9/37, was issued, calling for a twin-engined single-seatfighter with fixed armament, and to its requirements Glosters submitted a design based on their earlier project. The machinehaving been planned originally as a two-seater, performance suf- fered a slight handicap on that account, but when the first F.9/37(serial number L7999) flew on April 3rd, 1939, it was seen to be a fighter of great merit. Construction was all-metal and theengines were two Bristol Taurus TE/1 fourteen-cylinder radials. The pilot was seated in the very forefront of the fuselage, andthe armament was two 20 mm Hispano guns mounted in the nose, and four 0.303in Browning guns, installed aft of thecockpit and firing forward past the cockpit. Span was 50ft, length 37ft, wing area 386 sq ft, empty weight 8,826 lb, grossweight 11,615 lb, wing loading 30.1 lb/sq ft, power loading 6.5 lb/sq ft, fuel capacity 170 gallons, maximum speed 360m.p.h. at 15,000ft, rate of climb at 12,000ft 2,460ft/min, and service ceiling 30,000ft. The L7999 prototype completed early flight trials at Brockworthand was eventually delivered to the R.A.F. After suffering a landing accident, it was returned 10 Brockworth for rebuilding,and in the course of this work was re-engined with the lower- powered Taurus III engines (giving 900 h.p. whereas the Taurus Gladiator Sea Gladiator. F.5/34. F.9/37 (Taurus). F.9/37 (Peregrine). TE/1 gave 1,050 h.p.), which reduced the maximum speed to332 m.p-h. at 15,200ft. Trials were completed in July 1940. F.9/37 (Peregrine engines) The second F.9/37, number L8002,had two Rolls-Royce Peregrine liquid-cooled engines of 885 h.p. First flown in July 1940, it achieved a maximum speed of 330m.pJi. at 15,000ft. In common with the Taurus-engined machine, it was remarkably manoeuvrable and docile. /
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