brewerjerry Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 (edited) Hi I tried googling, (and i dont think i have asked here before ) K8310 was in summer 1940, fitted with a 20mm cannon in its turret. anyone seen any photos ? thinking of options for my defiant builds cheers jerry Edited April 16, 2016 by brewerjerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XV107 Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 http://www.airpages.ru/uk/defiant_k8310_2.jpg Claims to show what you're after. (Rather large photo when open, hence link rather than embedding for the moment) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted April 15, 2016 Author Share Posted April 15, 2016 Hi Thanks, i didnt find that one cheers jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBaron Posted April 15, 2016 Share Posted April 15, 2016 P.62 of 'British Aircraft Armament Vol.1' by R Wallace Clarke has a line drawing of what the author says was the only completed cannon armed Defiant. Clarke indicates it was a 20mm Oerlikon in the turret but states there are no photos in existence, which XV107s link seems to contradict. He says it was fitted in the first Defiant prototype if that helps narrow it down. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpie22 Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 http://www.airpages.ru/uk/defiant_k8310_2.jpg Claims to show what you're after. (Rather large photo when open, hence link rather than embedding for the moment) That photo appears to be a scan of the one appearing on p.63 of Tim Mason's 'The Secret Years'. It clearly carried the day-fighter camouflage at that time.The caption states that it is at A&AEE in September 1939. Further trials were carried out at the Gunnery Research Unit. The text states that K8310 was fitted with the cannon turret in August 1940. Alec Brew states in 'Boulton Paul Aircraft Since 1915', that K8310 was tested with the cannon turret at A&AEE in July 1939. He further states that, 'in the days after Dunkirk', K8310 was 'sprayed in 'standard day-fighter camouflage', had the turret removed and was fitted with four .303 mg in each wing as a stop-gap single seat fighter. These references are contradictory. Magpie 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 Hi Many thanks for the replies, my interest is with it in august 1940, when it arrived at the GRU at Exeter for trials. The photo does seem to show ' standard day fighter camo' cheers jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cossack52 Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 how about the proposed single seater?the defiant prototype was converted to this configuration to assess performance,and it was quite good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Depends what you mean by "quite good". It was larger and heavier than the alternatives with a higher wingloading, so unavoidably inferior in speed, climb, ceiling and maneouvrability. Better than a Defiant with a turret, yes, but not a single-seater to choose. It was a small and neat design for carrying a turret, but wouldn't have made a good single-seater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 how about the proposed single seater?the defiant prototype was converted to this configuration to assess performance,and it was quite good Hi This could be the option for my 1:48 airfix one, it overcomes the poor quality clear part problem it has cheers jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveCromie Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 Oh yummy! That image is in the vault now and makes a great excuse to buy another Airfix 1/72 Defiant DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brewerjerry Posted April 16, 2016 Author Share Posted April 16, 2016 (edited) Oh yummy! That image is in the vault now and makes a great excuse to buy another Airfix 1/72 Defiant DC Hi here is another excuse for you http://www.ejection-history.org.uk/disclaimer.htm cheers jerry Edited April 16, 2016 by brewerjerry 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyL Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 The ejection seat test bed was a Mk II, serial DR944 and performed five ejections in 1945 before Meteors were used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilneBay Posted April 16, 2016 Share Posted April 16, 2016 I bet many a Defiant turret gunner wished he had one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cossack52 Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 what?an ejection seat or a meteor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilneBay Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Ejection seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 (edited) A Meteor with a Defiant turret would make a curious WIF... or WTF? Edited April 17, 2016 by Graham Boak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 (edited) Haha. Add a 20mm cannon turret *and* a bang seat and the Defiant gunner would probably be safe from everything except crashing through the upwind hedge at the end of the failed take-off run. Graham, yes, I could quite image a good Meteor NF what-if with a couple of 20mm in some sort of turret operated by the back-seater. For extra baroqueness let's make it a Trent turboprop. Edited April 17, 2016 by Work In Progress Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonM Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Haha. Add a 20mm cannon turret *and* a bang seat and the Defiant gunner would probably be safe from everything except crashing through the upwind hedge at the end of the failed take-off run. Graham, yes, I could quite image a good Meteor NF what-if with a couple of 20mm in some sort of turret operated by the back-seater. For extra baroqueness let's make it a Trent turboprop. With a Prone Pilot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Prone piloting was mainly thought attractive for high-energy visual dogfighting, not really that suitable for night/instrument flying or longer patrol flights, so I'm not sure it's a great fit with the idea of a multi-occupant turret fighter. But if you want to built one that way then it's your model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveCromie Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Jerry thank you for that image - also now tucked away in the vault for a future project! Andy L thank you for pre-empting my next question - what is the serial no of that intriguing beast? And also confirming my suspicion that it was a Mk II....time to acquire another Special Hobby Mk II Defiant I think....unless Mr Airfix does one first? I love this forum - knowledge everywhere and shared freely to boot :thumbsup: DC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GordonM Posted April 17, 2016 Share Posted April 17, 2016 Prone piloting was mainly thought attractive for high-energy visual dogfighting, not really that suitable for night/instrument flying or longer patrol flights, so I'm not sure it's a great fit with the idea of a multi-occupant turret fighter. But if you want to built one that way then it's your model. I wasn't planning on building any version, I was merely joining in with extra baroqueness! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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