Combat aircraft. Typhoon after a hurricane or the third extra ... almost "Focke-Wulf"
The case when the third really could be superfluous. And the fault was Sydney Camm, an odious and ingenious personality at the same time. Yakovlev and Tupolev in one bottle, if such a comparison does not warp anyone.
Kamm's mind and desire to create for the good of his country resulted in the fact that work was being carried out on several projects at the same time. According to the recollections of Hawker's employees, sometimes "hell reigned in the offices ...".
The problem was that arguing with Camm was useless, you could either work on projects or run without looking back.
Sydney Camm, not sir yet
Camm created the Hurricane, that is, the Hurricane, which became the main force in the path of the German armada in the Battle of Britain. Yes, the plane was more than ambiguous, but it was.
And then the Spitfire came along. And Camm realized that the age of the Hurricane would be short-lived and already before the war began negotiations with the Ministry aviation that it will begin to develop a new aircraft to replace the Hurricane.
Camm's idea was well received in the Directorate for Technical Development. But when Camm and the representatives of the Air Ministry voiced their wishes, uniform battles began, since the visions of Camm and the representatives of the Directorate were somewhat different. More precisely, they differed very significantly.
Camm planned to create a massive universal fighter to replace the Hurricane, but the Department of Defense wanted to see an aircraft that would stand on a par with the Spitfire. Not replacing it, but supplementing it.
According to the plans of the British aviation leadership, a fighter-interceptor was required, an aircraft not focused on maneuverable combat, but intended for battles with bombers and heavy twin-engined escort fighters.
That is, instead of maneuverability - speed, altitude and heavy weapons.
By the way, the "Battle of Britain" that unfolded later confirmed these calculations: the maneuverable Bf 109s did not have the proper range, and the entire burden of protecting German bombers during air raids on British cities fell on the wings and machine guns of the Bf 110, which were just such, twin-engine and not intended for a "dump for dogs".
We know how the battles in the skies of Britain ended.
Well, the armament of the new aircraft would have to be different from the same "Hurricane".
Camm planned to install an eerie battery of 12 7,69 mm machine guns on the plane. But even then, the British Air Department understood that the future belonged to armored bombers and 7,69-mm machine guns would be frankly weak.
Actually, this is what happened in the future. But already in 1938, the Ministry of Aviation insisted that Camm revise the armament of the new aircraft in the direction of the cannon one. The guns seemed more real weapons against bombers.
Throughout the year, there were disputes over the role of the new aircraft, but in the end, officials from the ministry won: the aircraft was destined to become an interceptor fighter with very powerful cannon armament for that time.
Then the torments of creativity with engines, which have already become classics, began. Camm and the ministry decided that the plane should get the most powerful engine, with a capacity of about 2 hp. And it was very tempting to try something completely innovative and experimental.
For example, "Saber" from the company "Napier". It was a very interesting engine, an H-shaped, 24-cylinder water-cooled engine. The engine promised very high performance, despite the fact that, indeed, there were a lot of innovations in it. For example, valveless sleeve timing.
The second contender was Rolls-Royce's Walcher. There was also a very original design, an X-shaped motor, created by landing on one shaft two V-shaped Peregrine motors, which had long been mastered in production and promised at least reliability.
Both engines were in the process of being finalized, that is, they were very "raw", although promising.
As a result, work on the new aircraft proceeded at a fairly calm pace. Thunder struck on January 15, 1938, when ten aircraft manufacturers received an offer to participate in a competition to create an interceptor aircraft with clearly defined characteristics: fast, high-altitude, with a good climb rate and armed with four 20-mm cannons. Maneuverability was not a priority requirement.
The hell of creation began in Hawker, and already on April 22, the Ministry was offered TWO fighter-interceptor projects. The first was designated "Type R" and was powered by a Rolls-Royce Walcher engine, the second was named "Type N" and its heart was the Napier Saber.
The ministry liked the projects and Hawker ordered two prototypes for testing. The plane with "Walcher" was named "Tornado", with "Saber" - "Typhoon".
"Tornado"
"Typhoon"
In fact, it was one and the same project with a significantly altered nose section for engines. The planes retained the space frame made of steel tubes, like the Hurricane, but noticeably increased in size.
Unlike the Hurricane, the new aircraft were completely metal. The monocoque became completely metal, while the duralumin fenders took on some of the loads on the wing.
The planes turned out to be similar, only in the nose there were differences: the Typhoon had a characteristic "beard" from a water radiator, which was located under the engine, and the Tornado's radiator was placed in a similar fashion to the Hurricane, in an armored bath under the center section. And the exhaust pipes were removed in different ways: in the “Saber” in one row, in “Valcher” in two rows.
Since the ministry gave instructions to build two copies of each model, Camm decided to build aircraft with different types of weapons. Model A was armed with 12 machine guns, Model B - with four 20-mm Hispano cannons.
The glass anti-freeze system was implemented in an interesting way, which was very useful for long flights at high altitudes. The transparent panels of the cockpit glazing were made in double: the first was made of bulletproof glass with a thickness of 38 mm, the second was made of bulletproof glass with a thickness of 5 mm. Hot and dry air from the engine was supplied between them, which completely prevented icing of the windows.
The first to fly into the air was "Tornado". The Walcher engine was ready a little earlier than the Saber, plus the Typhoon under construction was badly damaged by a German bomb accidentally flown into the Kingston plant. In general, the Germans tried to bomb the nearby railway, but ended up in a well-disguised factory.
So the Tornado flew first. It happened on October 6, 1939. The flight characteristics of the aircraft turned out to be simply excellent, however, at high speeds over 650 km / h, the aerodynamic resistance increased strongly. The radiator bath was to blame, and the Tornado was equipped with a radiator like the Typhoon. Flight data has improved significantly.
The Typhoon took off on February 24, 1940. The plane was not bad, but it had to be returned to the factory and the tail unit was modified, as the prototype behaved unstably in flight.
They did the same with the plumage and on the "Tornado". As a result, the planes became even more similar to each other.
The Air Ministry had an interesting plan to build aircraft. It was planned to build about 1941 aircraft by September 1 in the following proportion: 000 Tornadoes, since Valcher seemed more reliable, 500 Typhoons, and 250 of the model that would be better in service. Typhoon and Tornado were to be assembled in parallel.
However, in May 1940, the British Air Department, through the mouth of the Minister Lord Beaverbrook, announced that a "program of five" was being introduced. That is, all industry efforts are focused on the production of Hurricane and Spitfire fighters and Wellington, Whitley and Blenheim bombers.
The production of Typhoon and Tornado was delayed almost until the end of Battle of Britain.
On May 5, 1940, the second Typhoon took off, and on December 5, the second experienced Tornado. Both planes were armed of the "B" type, that is, with cannons in the wings. The first prototypes were with machine guns. A practical test program has begun.
And as a result of these tests "Tornado" went out of the way. The engine let him down. Valcher never became the engine that could be considered reliable. Even the replacement of "Walcher II" with stronger "Walcher V" did not give the expected results.
As a result, Rolls-Royce, very busy with the modernization of the Merlin, became disillusioned with Valcher and stopped working on its debugging. Together with Walcher, the project of the Manchester bomber also left, which replaced the Lancaster with four Merlins.
Therefore, "Tornado" did not go beyond the prototype. In addition to prototypes, only one production aircraft was manufactured, which was used in bench tests. And the developments on the "Tornado", including experiments on the installation of various engines (Wright R-2800, Bristol "Centaur" and Fairey "Monarch") came in handy when working on the "Tempest". But this is already different story.
And "Typhoon" was also put off in a short, as it turned out, box. The interceptor order could easily be canceled, but the Germans helped. At the end of the summer of 1941, the Focke-Wulf FW.190A made its debut on the Western Front, which greatly complicated the lives of the Spitfire pilots. We won't even talk about the Hurricanes.
The Focke-Wulfs had to be opposed to something, and to do it immediately. And then they remembered the Typhoon in time. In the spring of 1941, serial construction of the aircraft began, and on May 27 the first serial Typhoon took off.
True, the aircraft's armament consisted of 12 machine guns. It was very prudent on Kamm's part to develop such a scheme, because it was not possible to arm the aircraft with cannons. There was a shortage of belt-type projectile feed mechanisms, which were produced in France, at Chatellerault, under license. The production of all the components for the Hispano cannons took a lot of time and effort.
In addition to machine guns, the first Typhoons had an opaque gargrot behind the cockpit and Saber I engines.
The engine did not pull. Yes, it was more reliable than the Walcher, but with the Saber the fighter could only accelerate to 620 km / h, while the calculations promised 750 km / h, and the ministry was not so optimistic and expected a speed of 645 km / h. Only by the very end of the series, after a series of improvements, the speed was raised to 663 km / h. The climb rate was also insufficient.
The engine became the Achilles' heel of the aircraft. "Saber" gave out a resource of no more than 25 hours. This is more than in the first tests, when the motor worked no more than 10 hours, but still, it is too little. But often "Sabers" went out of action, not even working 25 hours.
In flight, the Saber often overheated, and it jammed during the climb. It could have ignited on takeoff. Considering that there were highways from the gas tanks next to the pilot's seat, then finding that they were drawing smoke from under their feet, the pilots jumped out of the cabins at the start. Sometimes it was very, very justified.
Another headache in the literal sense of the word was the exhaust gases entering the cockpit through the partition between the engine and the cockpit. The pilots had the opportunity to poison themselves with exhaust gases. The gases were also passed through a manifold, which diverted them to heat the machine guns.
Work was carried out, the manifold and the bulkhead were sealed, the exhaust pipes were lengthened, but this partially solved the problems. Because of this, British pilots eventually got used to wearing an oxygen mask before starting the engine.
Another separate problem was flutter, which appeared at relatively low speeds.
However, in the air of World War II "Typhoon" was necessary, therefore, having quickly eliminated the main shortcomings, the British launched the aircraft into series and began to supply it to combat units.
The haste caused by necessity gave rise to a not very good perception of the aircraft in the units. The pilots were poisoned with carbon monoxide, burned, planes very often got into accidents and disasters. On account of the first 142 "Typhoons" in combat units, there were 135 accidents.
It cannot be said that everyone in the manufacturer looked at it calmly. Hawker sent all of its test pilots to the combat squadrons as instructors. Hawker and Gloucester, which also produced Typhoons, sent their factory brigades to the airfields for closer cooperation with the Air Force.
Yes, initially the flight crew were not at all happy with the new aircraft. The Typhoon was fast, but heavy and very unreliable. Not the Spitfire, which was well-deserved love among British pilots.
The commander of one of the squadrons rearmed with the Typhoons, R. Beaumont, expressed the opinion that the best role the Typhoon could play is not an interceptor, but an attack aircraft.
But the Typhoons were sent to serve in the south of Britain to counter German air raids. Including "Focke-Wulfam".
Success, frankly, did not come immediately. In late 1941 and early 1942, the Germans used infiltration tactics at ultra-low altitudes to avoid falling into the line of sight of the British radar system. At altitudes below 3000 meters, the Typhoon surpassed the Focke-Wulf in speed, but as soon as the aircraft climbed above 6000 meters, all the advantages of the Typhoon disappeared.
In the end, everyone came to the conclusion that the Typhoon was not very good as an interceptor. Plus, there are constant engine breakdowns. The Spitfire, especially the Model IX, coped with the interception of German aircraft just as well, and somewhere even better than the Typhoon.
Quite reasonably, the Ministry of Aviation wondered if the Typhoon was needed at all.
Meanwhile, the production of aircraft and equipping the flight units with them continued. And one of the options for using the plane was the proposal that Beaumont made. That is, the use of the Typhoon as a strike aircraft.
It was assumed that the Typhoon would replace the assault modifications of the Hurricane behind the Western Front, where the British had already begun to act on the communications of the Germans.
It turned out that the Typhoon possesses two qualities necessary for an attack aircraft: powerful weapons and good speed. That is, the plane could quickly enter the area of action, shoot at targets and just as quickly escape.
Four cannons with a decent rate of fire equally well carried everything that fell into their sights: river barges, boats, steam locomotives and trucks. In general, a kind of "Focke-Wulf" came out the other way around. With a plus sign.
By the summer of 609, the 1943th Squadron on Typhoons had reliably shot down more than a hundred steam locomotives in France and Belgium.
The powerful Saber, which was nevertheless brought to mind, allowed to work wonders. Attach additional 300 liter fuel tanks? No question, let's fly on. 227 kg bombs? Easy. American 454 kg? We puff, but we drag. Cassettes with small fragmentation bombs, smoke bombs, mines - "Typhoon" regularly dragged and dropped everything.
Camm, who went into a rage, tried to increase the number of guns to six, but they decided to regret the wing and not load it that way, fearing a deterioration in flight properties.
On the other hand, the missiles have taken root on the Typhoon. The same ones, with a caliber of 76 mm, which were used with the Mosquito, Beaufighter, Hurricane and Suardfish. The missiles did not differ in hitting accuracy, but they were cheap to manufacture and could be produced in the thousands.
Since 1943, all "Typhoons" were produced only in the cannon version, the barrels received fairings, the "car" doors of the "Aircobra" type gave way to the usual sliding lantern.
And "Typhoon" really started playing.
The stormtrooper's finest hour was 1944, when a few days before the Allied landings in Normandy, 22 Typhoon squadrons fired at German radar stations on the coast, making it much more difficult to detect ships with a landing party.
After the landing, the Typhoons did not stand idle. They were brought in to directly support the troops. In fact, they played the role of Il-2 in the Red Army Air Force. Typically "Typhoons" patrolled near the battlefield at an altitude of about 3000 m. At the command of the aircraft controller on the front line, they attacked armored vehicles, artillery positions, pillboxes and bunkers.
Of course, get hit by a rocket tank or a pillbox from a diving fighter was almost impossible, but it gave a strong moral effect, demoralizing the enemy. In addition, the Typhoon proved to be very tenacious, and withstood numerous hits of bullets and shells, although it did not possess particularly powerful armor protection.
Another part of the squadrons, armed with Typhoons, was engaged in the habitual hunt for German vehicles, paralyzing traffic in the front-line zone. The planes chased each car, sparing no shells. Couples and single fighters patrolled the railways and highways, firing at anything that moved.
Another very important target: motorcyclists. Messengers on motorcycles remained the most reliable way of transmitting data in conditions of communication disruptions, and the Typhoons also hunted them.
In June 1944, the Typhoons began to be replaced by the newer Tempest fighter-attack aircraft.
In fact, the Typhoon until the end of the war remained the main aircraft of direct support of the British troops. The single-seat attack aircraft earned the respect of the British soldier, as he was always ready to strike at the enemy.
Squadrons of Typhoons stormed German columns trying to escape from the Falaise "bag", destroyed trains with military supplies, and hunted for trucks.
The Germans "appreciated" the fighter, which became an attack aircraft. And they tried to destroy these planes as best they could. On January 1, 1945, the Luftwaffe launched a massive attack on front-line airfields. In one day, the British lost about 160 Typhoons, of which 141 - at the airfield in Eindhoven, where the Germans covered the entire wing of fighters at the time of takeoff.
But by that time the British industry could quite quickly compensate for the losses and the Typhoons continued their work.
This work was not always beautiful. On May 3, 1945, two Typhoon squadrons sank two large German ships, the Cap Arkona and the Deutschland, with missiles. The ships transported prisoners from German concentration camps, who almost all died. But this became known only after the war.
In addition to conventional fighters, about 60 close reconnaissance aircraft were manufactured during the war. The alteration consisted in the fact that two guns were removed, and a camera was installed in the right wing. These aircraft took the most direct part in the battles in Europe.
There was, released in a smaller series, about 20 cars, a modification when the guns were not removed, and two planned cameras were mounted in the fuselage in the rear.
An attempt was made to install the AI MK.IV radar on the Typhoon. Tests have shown that the pilot is unable to control the fighter and receive data from the radar. In addition, the flight range suffered, as the equipment was placed in overhead containers instead of tanks.
A total of 3 Typhoons were produced, the last of which hit the troops in November 317. Typhoons were not exported and fought exclusively in the Royal Air Force.
One car ended up in the USSR. It happened in July 1945, the car, which had undergone a major overhaul, was transferred to the disposal of Soviet specialists. The Typhoon was studied at the LII, TsAGI and the Air Force Research Institute. Our engineers were mainly interested in the Saber engine. Since we did not have such a motor at that time.
The rest of the Typhoon was of no interest, since jet aircraft were already on the doorstep. This would be the only time that the Typhoon fell into the possession of another country.
We should also say a few words about weapons. Placing 6 machine guns in the wing is not a joke, given that our beloved Browning 12,7 mm weighed 30 kg, and the Browning 7,69 mm "only" 10 kg. Yes, the weight is about the same, but the 7,69-mm Browning had to be “smeared” all over the wing. Plus, no one canceled the ammunition.
The wing had a hard time. More precisely, the designers who developed it. In order to accommodate this battery, the middle spar was reinforced in the wing, on which the main load from the carriages fell. Carriages for machine guns were cast, they were located in the middle of the armament compartment, and boxes with cartridges were placed to the right and left of the carriage, three pieces each.
In the wings, hatches were made for access to the rear mounts of machine guns in order to ensure the aiming of each barrel in the vertical and horizontal planes.
Since the Typhoon was planned for the role of a high-altitude interceptor, a heating system for machine guns was arranged. A stream of warm air was taken from the radiator and fed into the compartment with machine guns through the pipes laid behind the rear spar.
Cartridge boxes were installed on both sides of the gun carriage in three pieces. Two boxes in front, one behind. This placement was dictated by the wing profile. The capacity of the two front boxes was 460 rounds each, 500 pieces fit into the back one.
The situation with the cannons was almost the same, only the cannons were in individual carriages.
Ammunition boxes were installed on the outside of the guns, the capacity of the boxes was almost the same: the gun, which was closer to the root of the wing, had 145 rounds of ammunition, and the gun on the outside had 143 rounds.
Shooting casings and connecting links were thrown out through hatches in the lower surface of the wing. The firing was controlled by an electric button on the top of the control knob.
A photo-machine gun was installed on the aircraft. Its place was inside the radiator tunnel on the right side. The photo-machine gun was turned on in parallel with the opening of fire through the button on the control handle, it was possible to turn on the photo-machine gun separately.
The bomb load was attached under the wing of the aircraft using beams, which in turn were attached to hooks for hanging tanks. The Typhoon could take two 250 lb (113 kg) bombs or two 500 lb (227 kg) bombs.
The suspension of bombs weighing 1000 pounds (454 kg) was experimentally carried out, but the experiment was not widely used.
The missile launchers were installed in the same places as the bomb racks.
In addition to the standard radio equipment for that time, the Typhoon had a separate radio station R3003 for a "blind" landing.
LTH "Typhoon" Mk.IB
Wingspan, m: 12,67
Length, m: 9,65
Height, m: 4,50
Wing area, м2: 25,92
Weight, kg
- empty aircraft: 3 942
- normal takeoff: 5 340
- maximum take-off: 5 854
Engine: 1 x Napier "Saber" IIB x 2200 HP
Maximum speed km / h: 658
Cruising speed, km / h: 530
Practical range, km: 1 460
Rate of climb, m / min: 831
Practical ceiling, m: 10 300
Crew, prs: 1
Armament:
- four 20mm wing cannons
- 8 rockets or 2 bombs 227 kg or 2 bombs 454 kg
In general, the plane was very peculiar. And he could not go down in history at all, as a brother of the "tornado". But the war made it so that the Typhoon did not become a "third superfluous", but found application as a support aircraft and attack aircraft. It's better than anything.
We can say that Camm got a "Focke-Wulf" with a "plus" sign. The German aircraft was also created initially as a fighter, and during the war it became almost a bomber and attack aircraft. So is our character. Before the IL-2, of course, he clearly did not hold out, but he did his job.
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