Gloster Gladiator

Gloster Gladiator

About the video: Another 8mm film never seen before, showing the Gladiator circa
1959 when at Brockworth just before it was donated to the Shuttleworth
Collection. Film kindly permitted to be uploaded by the Bellamy family.

Note the fuselage guns...they fired thru the cowling!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Gladiator

The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) is a British-built biplane fighter. It
was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) (as the Sea
Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the
late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered
obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though
often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second
World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.

The Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during the Second World War,
with a large number of air forces, some of them on the Axis side. The RAF used
it in France, Norway, Greece, the defence of Malta, the Middle East, and the
brief Anglo-Iraqi War (during which the Royal Iraqi Air Force was similarly
equipped). Other countries deploying the Gladiator included China against Japan,
beginning in 1938; Finland (along with Swedish volunteers) against the Soviet
Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War; Sweden as a neutral
non-combatant (although Swedish volunteers fought for Finland against USSR as
stated above); and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their
respective lands.

The South African pilot Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle was the top Gladiator ace with 15
victories with the type.

The first version, the Gladiator Mk I, was delivered from July 1936, becoming
operational in January 1937. The Mk II soon followed, the main differences being
a slightly more powerful Mercury VIIIAS engine with Hobson mixture control boxes
and a partly automatic boost control carburettor, driving a Fairey fixed-pitch
three-blade metal propeller, instead of the two-blade wooden one of the Mark I.
All MK II Gladiators also carried Browning 0.303-inch machine guns
(licence-manufactured by the BSA company in Birmingham) in place of the
Vickers-Lewis combination of the MK I. A modified Mk II, the Sea Gladiator, was
developed for the Fleet Air Arm (FAA), with an arrestor hook, catapult
attachment points, a strengthened airframe and an underbelly fairing for a
dinghy lifeboat, all for operations aboard aircraft carriers. Of the 98 aircraft
built as, or converted to, Sea Gladiators, 54 were still in service by the
outbreak of the Second World War.

The Gladiator was to be the last British biplane fighter to be manufactured, and
the first to feature an enclosed cockpit. It possessed a top speed of about 257
mph (414 km/h; 223 kn) yet, even as the Gladiator was introduced, it was already
being eclipsed by new-generation monoplane fighters, such as the RAF Hawker
Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire, and the Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109. A
total of 747 aircraft were built (483 RAF, 98 RN); 216 were exported to 13
countries, some of these were from the total allotted to the RAF. Gladiators
were sold to Belgium, China, Egypt, Finland, Free France, Greece, Iraq, Ireland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden.


Role
Fighter

Manufacturer
Gloster Aircraft Company, Ltd.

Designer
Henry Phillip Folland

First flight
12 September 1934

Introduction
23 February 1937

Retired
1953 (Portugal)

Primary users
Royal Air Force

Fleet Air Arm
Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Finnish Air Force
Norwegian Army Air Service


Number built
747

Developed from
Gloster Gauntlet

In February 1937, No. 72 Squadron based at Tangmere became the first squadron to
be equipped with the Gladiator; No. 72 would go on to operate the type until
April 1939, longer than any other home-based frontline unit. Between March and
April 1937, No. 3 Squadron at Kenley would also receive Gladiators from the
remainder of the first production batch, replacing their obsolete Bristol
Bulldogs. Initial service with the type proved the Vickers guns to be
problematic; the Gladiator was quickly armed with .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning
machine guns, which were substantially more popular, leading to the other guns
often only being resorted to if deemed necessary. On 27 March 1937, No. 54
Squadron at Hornchurch became the first unit to receive Browning-armed
Gladiators.

By September 1937, all eight Gladiator squadrons had achieved operational status
and had formed the spearhead of London's air defences. Difficulties with
introducing the type had been experienced. Although the Gladiator was typically
well liked by pilots, the accident rate encountered during operational training
for the type were so numerous that a small replacement batch of 28 Gladiator Mk
IIs was hurriedly produced. Most accidents were caused by pilots being caught
out by the fighter’s increased wing loading and many aviators had little
experience in landing aircraft with such a wide flap area. The aircraft had a
tendency to stall more abruptly, frequently dropping a wing while doing so. The
Gladiator proved even easier to enter a flat spin with and great skill was
needed to recover.

During 1938, the RAF had begun to receive its first deliveries of the Hurricane
and Spitfire monoplanes; an emphasis was soon placed on quickly reequipping half
of the Gladiator squadrons with either of these monoplane types. By the outbreak
of the Second World War, the Gladiator had largely been replaced by the
Hurricane and Spitfire in frontline RAF service. The introduction of these
aircraft had been eased by the presence of the Gladiator, squadrons that had
operated Gladiators prior to converting to the monoplane types experienced a
noticeably improved accident record than those who converted from older types
such as the Gauntlet. Experiences such as operating the Gladiator's landing
flaps and familiarisation with its sliding hood have been attributed as having
favourably impacted pilot conversion.

Specifications (Gloster Gladiator Mk I)

General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)
Wing area: 323 ft2 (30.0 m2)
Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)
Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Mercury IX radial engine, 830 hp (619 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)
Cruise speed: 210 mph
Stall speed: 53 mph (46 knots, 85 km/h)
Endurance: 2 hours
Service ceiling: 32,800 ft (10,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,300 ft/min (11.7 m/s)
Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Armament

Guns:
Initially; Two synchronised .303 in Vickers machine guns in fuselage sides, two
..303 in Lewis machine guns; one beneath each lower wing.
Later aircraft; Four .303 calibre M1919 Browning machine guns; two synchronised
guns in fuselage sides and one beneath each lower wing.

In at least some Sea Gladiators, provision existed for a pair of Brownings to be
fitted under the upper wings as well, bringing the total to six. Official
service release trials were not completed before the Sea Gladiators were
replaced by later types – but some upper wing Brownings may have been fitted in
the field, in particular in Malta.




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