Typhoon most underrated fighter below 20,000 feet?

airwar1943 · 10-22-2004, 04:15 PM

After reading Osprey's Typhoon/Tempest Aces of WW2, I am wondering if the Allies best low to medium altitude fighter of '41, '42, and '43 was the Typhoon. Only a Griffin Spitfire could keep up with Typhoon at lower altitudes.

lesofprimus · 10-22-2004, 06:05 PM

Speed wasnt everything in a serious dogfight... There were many parameters that made up a great fighter... Speed is one of many...

Unfortunatly, the Tiffy wasnt really all that.... Certain specific mission parameters, and this plane was the perfect choice....

There were several aces in the Tiffy, so it wasnt all that bad...

Gemhorse · 10-22-2004, 10:09 PM

Quite frankly, the Typhoon Sqn's did an enormous job in paving the Allies path into Germany's demise...a fact that is thanklessly forgotten when it comes to Historical Aviation....Typhoons were originally intended to eradicate the Fw-190's dominance, but as stated, they were only good under 20,000 ft.....But they made up for this by being the main Fighter/Bomber of 'Cruiser Broadside' capability, especially in the Ground/Sea Attack role...Their 'Brother-in-Arms' were the Beaufighter/Mosquito FB's, all doing the same work....The Typhoons also engaged the V-1's and clocked-up a good score....I think the Tempest took over the Fighter role more successfully....I've posted this before, but you can check-out about Typhoons at... http://www.198sqn-raf.co.uk

Maestro · 10-22-2004, 11:26 PM

There was many problem with the early models of Typhoon. Here are some examples :

1 - The hull was crap.
2 - Due to the lack of ventilation, pilots needed to permanently keep their gas mask on.
3 - The hand used for the landing gears was the same used for the broomstick... giving bad time to the pilot when taking-off.

Translated from the book "Le grand Cirque" ("The Great Show", in English) from Pierre H. Clostermann :

"[...] I light up the dash' lights. I set the gas "stick" - opened at 5/8 inches (no more, otherwise I'll drown the carburettor and get a back-fire). [...]

I put a cartringe in the starter. (That's the Koffman system, wich use the expansion of highly explosive gas to sart the engine up. Missing out the start-up isn't funny, because once the engine full of petrol, we have 90 chances out of 100 to take fire.) I start up the system [...] The noise is approximately five times louder than the Spitfire. [...] The engine' noise and it's vibrations seems a little weird to me. I'm nervous. What the hell am I doing here ?

Those thought lasted a while, because when I raised my head, I saw the mechanics a bit amazed who are waiting my signal to take the chocks off. I start to roll - a little too fast. Attention, don't use excessively the brakes wich warm up fast. A hot break lose all his grip.

This engine ! We're rolling blind, going his way like a crab, breaking right then left, alternatively to free my line of sight. [...] The tower officer looks like a guy who doesn't want to give me the green light. I get my head out of the cockpit, at the risk of receiving a drop of boiling oil in the eye. Always a red light. Damm, I should have forgotten something - and my damned engine is starting to warm up. [...] God damn ! That's the radio ! Quickly, I plug it and call : "Hullo Skydoor, Skydoor. Typhie 28 calling. May I Scramble ?" The tower officer fanally answer by giving me the green light. [...]

At the middle of the airstrip, my right wheel touch the lawn. With this plane, if I get off the road I'm gonna overturn. Too hell with that, I climb. This plane is awfully literally instable. I still drift away and I don't want to low down my left wing too much, with those dammed flaps wich only grip over 200 Km/h.

Fortunately, because of such accidents, they tore down the Hangar "F". I still pass very close of the Hangar "E". I get my gears up, but I forget to put the breaks on. A strong vibration shake the plane from the tail to the nose, reminding me that the wheels entered their holes spinning. I hope I didn't blew my tires.

I was really well behind my High-Command desk..."

Phew... long translation...

Gemhorse · 10-23-2004, 02:05 AM

Yes, the Typhoon was known for it's 'teething troubles'...Diving a 7 ton fighter at up 550 mph and releasing your rockets at 800 ft. was scary, and if you pulled-out too quick, they'd go into a high-speed stall...They lost some from that, or their own explosions, being so low, and a bullet, flak or shrapnel into the 24 cylinder, liquid-cooled engine was deadly too...the engine seized-up within seconds...They initially suffered structural failures, the tail coming off, they had carbon monoxide poisoning; - they were very thirsty, so fuel was critical, and if combat was happening, they had to drop fuel tanks and rockets - they weren't as manoevrable with rocket-loads....

They lost a lot of good pilots flying the Typhoon, and their courage to KEEP going off and dealing to their targets, deserves much more credit in the annals of Aviation History than they've had...But they had their Aces too, I've read Closterman's book, years ago, a bloody good read !

I believe Typhoon pilots had real balls, they were a handful of aircraft to fly, and knowing that, the losses they were incurring, and that most of their work was going in low in the face of flak, and only having that one huge engine, that was brave.... but hey, they could deliver some punch....!![/u]

the lancaster kicks ass · 10-23-2004, 12:17 PM

that's the thing i love about the tiffy, it was designed as a fighter, and it was ok at low lever but the part i love is that after it was discovered it wasn't the fighter they wanted it to be, insted of scrapping the idea, they gave it a new lease in life as a fighter-bomber, and what a FB it was.....................

Maestro · 10-23-2004, 10:54 PM

Yeah... The Typhoon was a great fighter-bomber.

But it needed a dammed good pilot to make it take-off !

the lancaster kicks ass · 10-24-2004, 05:54 AM

i like the tempest and the fury too, both derived from the tiffy................

cheddar cheese · 10-24-2004, 06:56 AM

Hell I love the Tempest. In fact I like all of Hawker's aircraft during the war.

the lancaster kicks ass · 10-24-2004, 06:57 AM

even their bi-planes??

lesofprimus · 10-24-2004, 06:57 AM

I think most would agree with u, but the fact remains that, besides the Hurricane in the early part of the war, none of them could really dogfight with the Luftwaffe very well at all.....