Hawker Typhoon
The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.
| Typhoon | |
|---|---|
| Typhoon Ib "Dirty Dora" of 175 Sqn. being armed with concrete practice bombs mimicking 500-lb ordnance in late 1943 at RAF Colerne, Wiltshire | |
| Role | Fighter-bomber |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Hawker Aircraft |
| Designer | Sydney Camm |
| Built by | Gloster Aircraft Company |
| First flight | 24 February 1940 |
| Introduction | 11 September 1941 |
| Retired | October 1945 |
| Primary users | Royal Air Force
|
| Produced | 1941–1945 |
| Number built | 3,317 |
| Developed into | Hawker Tempest |
The Typhoon was originally designed to mount twelve .303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and be powered by the latest 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) engines. Its service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the Luftwaffe brought the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor.
The Typhoon became established in roles such as night-time intruder and long-range fighter. From late 1942 the Typhoon was equipped with bombs, these bomb-carrying aircraft being nicknamed "Bomphoon" by the press. From late 1943 RP-3 rockets were added to its armoury. With those weapons and its four 20 mm Hispano autocannons, the Typhoon became one of the Second World War's most successful ground-attack aircraft.