Iconic British Fighter Planes in World War 2
Iconic British Fighter Planes in World War 2
World War 2 was a turn point in history for mankind history in many ways. One of them being in the world of Aviation, especially for ones that are directly involved in it earlier and that is the British. World War 2 for British did not go as well as most people think, especially since that they were still recovering from World War 1 about two decades earlier. However, these technicalities did not stop their progress, as this war has proven that Aviation has become an important asset in the war. Despite the many technological advancement that they made with many planes they have, not all of them however see extensive service, or even see any service at all, but they are ones that made their mark in the British Military Aviation History, making them the most iconic Fighter Planes that they have. These planes are as follows: Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, de Havilland Mosquito and Gloster Meteor.
The Hawker Hurricane is a single seated, single engined, monoplane Fighter designed to replace the Hawker Fury Biplane from the early 1930s, made its maiden flight in 1935, and entered production in 1937, two years before World War 2. Although overshadowed by the Supermarine Spitfire, this plane saw extensive service throughout the war for the Royal Air Force, being one of their backbones in multiple theatres in World War 2 from the Battle of France, Battle of Britain as the one that inflict the most damage to the Nazi Germany Air Force, and North Africa campaign. Throughout its production time being from 1937 to 1944, there are 14,487 units in total making it the second most produced plane by the British Royal Air Force.
The Supermarine Spitfire is a single seated, single engined, monoplane Fighter/Interceptor, designed around the same time with the Hawker Hurricane and went into production a year after the Hurricane. It was one of the most popular World War 2 plane in the world due to its performance and service in the war to the point it extends even after the war when aviation has entered the Jet Era. The Spitfire saw service in most if not all theatres of the war from the beginning until the end. They extend from Europe, Mediterranean, Pacific, and South-East Asia, one of the planes that faced all the Axis nations Air Force. It is also the most produced plane for the British with 20,351 of total units produced making it into one of the most produced planes in World War 2 from all factions.
The de Havilland Mosquito is a double seated, twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft. It was designed in mid-1930s, entered its maiden flight in 1940 and produced throughout 1940 to 1950. It was an unusual design seeing that the construction of the plane was primarily made out of wood, but this does help a lot in terms of its overall speed due to the lesser weight wood has. Despite that the plane was saw many services throughout the war and throughout many theatres, ranging from Europe, Mediterranean, Italian and some service in South East Asia in the Pacific by the Royal Australian Air Force. The planes many roles throughout the war were tactical bomber, night bomber, path finder, day and night fighter, fighter-bomber, maritime strike and photo-reconnaissance. They also flew in special raids for precision strikes to military facilities deep in enemy territories. Despite its low amount of production being 7,781 total units, this plane served many services in the war and gain a lot of popularity in both the Allies side and Axis side. One of its famous exploits would be in the 10th anniversary of the Nazis' seizure of power, a morning Mosquito attack knocked out the main Berlin broadcasting station while Hermann Göring was speaking, taking his speech off the air. He even made remarks of how jealous he was that the British made a plane as fast as the Mosquito out of wood despite being able to afford aluminum better than them.
Lastly would be the Gloster Meteor, single seated, twin-engined, Jet Fighter. The first Jet Fighter the British ever made and the only Jet Fighter the Allies has that achieved combat operations in World War 2, albeit with very limited action. The Meteor alongside the Nazi Germany’s Messerschmitt Me-262 was the two Jet Fighter that changed both Military Aviation and Aviation history as a whole at the time, being the two planes that used Jet Engines that saw mass production. Although the engine was developed from 1936, the development of the aircraft begins in 1940 and it made its maiden flight in 1943 and is the first civilian-registered Jet Aircraft in the world. Most of its service time in World War 2 was mostly near the British Isles intercepting the V-1 Flying Bomb as the British do not want the Aircraft to operate too deep in enemy territory in fear of it being shot down and salvaged for research. It was also used for research and development purposes to break aviation records. It saw some service after the World War 2 in Korean War but losses out in favor of other Jets later on being the Hawker Hunter which has better performance.
While the British has made many more planes in World War 2 than these planes alone, not all of them see the light of day in terms of service history, usage or even didn’t even get used at all due to many technicalities being impractical, late production or not cost efficient and became mostly prototype beds of future aircrafts. These planes however have made their mark in military aviation history for the British, making them without a doubt famous and iconic British Fighters in World War 2.
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