Thursday, February 29, 2024

RAF Pilot with a Hawker Typhoon, Second World War

 


9 comments:

  1. Those pilots had testicles made of brass...

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  2. The Hawker Typhoon was the best fighter-bomber of WWII. It could carry eight 60lb rockets or 2 1,000lb bombs and was one of the fastest aircraft below 20,000ft. The engine made almost 2,180hp (700hp more than the Mustang's Merlin) but it was phenomenally complicated to make as it had 24 sleeve valve cylinders. Imagine two 12 cylinder opposed engines stacked above each other with both crankshafts driving the propeller gear.
    Al_in_Ottawa

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    1. had some problems with exhaust in the cockpit IIRC.

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    2. yep - for the mechanically inclined, yall look at a cutaway of the Sabre engine, it is a work of art.

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  3. From the Royal Canadian Air Force's Facebook:
    “Flying Officer J.C. Uhthoff took his Typhoon fighter-bomber into the air to take part in one of the first sweeps over the invasion area after the initial [D-Day] landings were made. He flies in an RCAF Squadron.”

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  4. There was allegedly German unhappiness about calling the (then) new Eurofighter the Typhoon because the name had unhappy memories for them! They must have been outvoted, though: the name is in use.

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    1. I would think the Germans could name their fighter whatever they want.

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  5. Since the *Eurofighter* is more of a collectivist venture, Germany is not all that matters. Teutonic butthurt is well earned and the lasting sting serves as a lesson even unto the latter days.

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