Typhoon most underrated fighter below 20,000 feet?

[the lancaster kicks ass]

you don't think rocket armed tiffys could take out a tank??

[cheddar cheese]

Maybe they didnt...not saying they couldnt

[Gemhorse]

I think you'll find RAF 6 Sqn. was the main 'Tankbusting Sqn.', using Hurricane II's with 2x 40mm's in the desert....Typhoon Sqn.'s rocketed and bombed anything considered fair-game, in the drive into Europe, and as Lanc said, they didn't keep score really of those things, except in combat-reports...They kept score of aircraft shot down, including V-1's, making aces just knocking them down...Both Typhoons and Tempests were very deadly fighters, but not quite like Spitfires were...Spits cruise was 1800 rpm., max at 2800 rpm...The cruising speed of the Tiffy/Temps were 3400 rpm., very high, not much less than their top speed rpm. of 3750 rpm., therefore in combat they were hard to get a bead-on initially, and near impossible when they accelerated, which WAS impressive...like their climb-ability. - So, guzzling 3 gallons of fuel a minute, they were GO from lift-off, until landing...The Tempest was more refined than the Typhoon, their thinner high-lift wings gave greater manoevrability, although they gave trouble with the slimmer version of 20mm's they had to install...They even scored against 262's [occasionally]...But they had success against Tanks, and they certainly took care of trains, ships and motor transport, aiming the aircraft to aim the rockets was the tricky bit, due to their high speed and the need to get-in low, shoot, and get-out OK, as by then, German AA was in 'plague-proportions'...- The Germans became very adept at setting 'flak-traps' for them, such was the damage & nuisance Tiffy's & Tempests created...- The Typhoons 'teething-problems' really stemmed from the fact that they were rushed into service as a foil to counter the Fw-190's...Alot of the parts were subcontracted-out, and the quality wasn't up to scratch, and once Hawker got everything done in-house, all the problems of both aircraft were smoothed-out. During the War, spreading the factories out eliminated vital industries being bombed-out, but after the Blitz when Air Defence gained Air Superiority, it settled down...The tragedy was the number of good pilots lost to these 'gremlin-problems'.....

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but you can see why they wanted to get the fighters made quickly.................

[Gemhorse]

To further reply to Les's question of Typhoon Tankbusting...

Bill Gunston [OBE, FRAeS; a noted Author on the Airwar,] wrote a book called 'Day of the Typhoon', in which he states...'The Typhoon Squadrons suffered the highest casualty rate of any force in the War, with the single exception of the German U-boats.'[I haven't yet read the book, but... ]

...In a tribute to John Golley, a former 245 Typhoon Sqn. pilot, [in the Feb. 2001 issue of 'Aeroplane' magazine,]... he mentions a day in mid-August 1944 when the 6th SS Panzer Division was caught on a road in daylight. Every 'Tiffy' in the 2nd TAF was called-up. The tanks occupied more than 6 miles of road, and fought back with 88mm and more than a hundred 20mm guns, but by late afternoon the entire Division was a shambles of wrecked and burning vehicles...

- Next to the DH Mosquito, the Typhoon had to be the ultimate Ground-attack aircraft - They were both very fast, but the Mossie had two engines, so I figure they had more chance of getting home shot-up and damaged, with the ' in-line ' engines and all, plus they had the 4 extra .303 guns ....

[GermansRGeniuses]

Damn, I really want that bloody Tempest in AEP/PF!

The Spit Mk.XIV, too...


Those four Hispanos will blow nearly anything to ****...


The Temp's rockets will be fun, too...

[GermansRGeniuses]

Those "Car Door" Typhoons sure do look strange...

[Maestro]

Yeah. Personnally, I prefer the Typhoon with a "Tear Drop Canopy".

[GermansRGeniuses]

I hear ya...


(My, I feel strangely spammy today...)

[cheddar cheese]

Originally Posted by GermansRGeniuses

Those "Car Door" Typhoons sure do look strange...

Hey hey, the top image has my initials 'DT' on it

[the lancaster kicks ass]

but you don't loike the tiffy do you??

[cheddar cheese]

Yeah, not my favourite of planes but I like it...

[Gemhorse]

The 'Car door' caused some problems for pilots bailing-out, being a cramped situation with all the clobber on, especially if hit when diving, as their dive speed was 600 mph... Pulling-out was a delicate affair anyway, too much throttle and they could stall... - It's a recorded 'relief' RAF pilots felt, when the bubble canopies came on line....

[Andrew]

According to a Book called "Typhoon Attack" by Norman Franks, which I have just finished reading, Tiffy Squadrons were given 3 Seperate roles, these were Dive Bombing, Rocket Attack and Escort Fighter, and Tiffy Squadrons specialised in doing one of these jobs only, squadrons being allocated specific tasks dependant upon the training the pilots had received. although in situations like the Falaise Pocket, all the Tiffy Squadrons bombed, fired rockets and just generally shot up anything that they could find.

Apparently the Tiffy was also fitted with experimental Rocket Rails, which had 2 Tiers, so instead of 8 Rockets being carried, they could carry up to 16, these were soon dispensed with as they could set off the Rockets which were mounted above them.

[cheddar cheese]

Wow

Nice to see you back Andrew, you aint been around for a while