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Hawker Typhoon Wingleader Photo Archive #21 Part 2 – Summer 1943 to early 1944 Wingleader Publications In the design process even before the Hurricane reached squadron service, the Typhoon was initially intended to be a direct replacement for its older stable mate, but with development scope to take advantage of the upcoming circa 2,000hp piston engines that would be near the pinnacle of propeller powered flight. Initial problems were overcome, although there was a shortage of working Sabre power-plants initially, and the early razorback design was amended to a bubble canopy that gave the pilot a vastly improved view of the sky around him. A larger, strengthened tail was added following a near disaster, and a change from 12 machine guns to four wing-mounted 20mm cannon also improved the aircraft's offensive ability. The initial airframes had the car door canopy, which had a forward-opening door in the side of the canopy that was reminiscent of a car door – hence the nickname. It was never fully developed into a medium altitude fighter, but it did find a role nearer the ground, especially in countering the Fw.190 that was playing havoc with the Mk.V Spitfires at the time. It was a big stable aircraft with masses of power, which made it ideally suited to low level flight and naturally lent itself to ground attack. Fitted with unguided rockets or 1,000lb bombs under each wing, it became a feared sight by enemy ground troops and panzer crews with good reason. Although the rockets were difficult to aim well, they had a massive effect on enemy morale, and played a large part in halting the advances made by German troops in the Battle of the Bulge once the heavy clouds parted, flying hundreds of ground attack sorties using rockets, bombs and cannon to great effect. Like any successful aircraft of WWII the list of improvements is long, and deletion of the car door canopy was one of the early upgrades with the new canopy giving the pilot far greater situational awareness and reducing weight, although they took some time to filter through the production lines due to the complex nature of the changes needed. It was the Tempest that really made the most inroads into solving the Typhoon's shortcomings however, and the original Typhoon was soon withdrawn after WWII ended, lasting only a few months of peacetime. The Book This twenty-first volume in the series covers the activities of the Typhoon from the summer of ’43 to spring ’44, during which period it provided sterling service. It begins with the so-called Car-Door Typhoons that look somewhat claustrophobic with the pilots in-situ, as they are for some of the photos. As the experience with the aircraft and technology developed, the canopy morphed into the bubble-top, which was called a slider by aircrew and in their log-books, later adding long-range 40gal fuel tanks that had been re-used from under the wings of Hurricanes, plus bombs and eventually rockets to its repertoire in due course that improved its destructive capabilities against ground targets. Interleaved between the pages of photos are sheets devoted to particular examples of the type, pointing out parts and colours specific to that individual airframe that will assist the modeller, as well as points of conjecture where appropriate. The photo pages are filled with large crisp pictures within the constraints of the quality of the original medium, some of which are even in colour, which is a rare treat, and as usual there are interesting captions that are sometimes accompanied by arrows or letters to help the reader identify the subject in question, whether it is a particular exhaust on the sides of the cockpit, or the length of the tropical filters behind the chin intake on the aircraft bound for hot, dusty climates. Some of the photos are staged of course, but there are also a large number of candid shots, a precious few of which are in colour, and some nearer the end of the book are of battle-damaged and weather-beaten aircraft, one upended in a ditch due to an overshoot caused by a stuck throttle, and another flat on the deck with heavily bent prop blades after a text-book belly landing at one of the testing facilities. The photos of the pilots who flew these aircraft and were subsequently lost in later sorties are poignant as always, and the various stripes and markings are interesting, showing how the squadrons and even the pilots individualised their personal aircraft. Conclusion Yet another visually impressive book with plenty of reading material into the bargain that will have you coming back to it again and again, especially if you have more than one Typhoon in your stash, which is highly likely thanks to the car-door and bubble-top slider variants. I look forward to each new volume of this series, and as promised, I’ve become a firm adherent to them, waiting impatiently until they are published. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi all, I was looking through one of my old reference books (Camouflage & Markings) and came across this photo of bomb carrying Typhoons; The image stirred up a memory of seeing this photo, possibly on the internet, and a story about a Typhoon's bomb falling off shortly after the photo was taken... with catastrophic results. I just cannot remember where I saw the picture or exact details of the incident, it may have been a different photo altogether, or maybe I imagined it (I am getting older...). Does anyone have information on this? Thanks, Charlie