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169-663: The Gloster Gladiator is a British 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. Developed privately as the Gloster SS.37 , it was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft, and was rendered obsolescent by newer monoplane designs even as it

338-632: A Dornier Do 18 flying boat ('8L+DK' of 2.KuFlGr 606), on the North Sea. On 10 April 1941, 804 NAS took off from Hatston , in Orkney , to intercept a group of approaching German aircraft. Lt Cdr J. C. Cockburn was credited with one destroyed and Blue Section with a "damaged". The Norwegian Campaign saw both Norwegian and British Gladiators battling the Luftwaffe, with the Norwegian Jagevingen fighting in

507-460: A cantilever main undercarriage, which incorporated Dowty internally sprung wheels, allowing for more simple rigid landing gear struts. In spring 1934, Gloster embarked on the construction of a single SS.37 prototype. On 12 September 1934, the SS.37 prototype conducted its maiden flight , piloted by Gloster chief test pilot Gerry Sayer . Initially powered by a 530 hp (400 kW) Mercury IV engine,

676-411: A monoplane is its ability to combine greater stiffness with lower weight. Stiffness requires structural depth and where early monoplanes had to have this provided with external bracing, the biplane naturally has a deep structure and is therefore easier to make both light and strong. Rigging wires on non-cantilevered monoplanes are at a much sharper angle, thus providing less tension to ensure stiffness of

845-411: A 14-cylinder twin-row version of the firm's 80 hp Lambda single-row seven-cylinder rotary, however reliability and cooling problems limited its success. Two-row designs began to appear in large numbers during the 1930s, when aircraft size and weight grew to the point where single-row engines of the required power were simply too large to be practical. Two-row designs often had cooling problems with

1014-447: A 9-cylinder 980 cubic inch (16.06 litre) displacement diesel radial aircraft engine, the 225 horsepower (168 kW) DR-980 , in 1928. On 28 May 1931, a DR-980 powered Bellanca CH-300 , with 481 gallons of fuel, piloted by Walter Edwin Lees and Frederick Brossy set a record for staying aloft for 84 hours and 32 minutes without being refueled. This record stood for 55 years until broken by

1183-660: A 9-cylinder radial diesel aero engine, was used in the M1A1E1 , while the Continental R975 saw service in the M4 Sherman , M7 Priest , M18 Hellcat tank destroyer , and the M44 self propelled howitzer . A number of companies continue to build radials today. Vedeneyev produces the M-14P radial of 360–450 hp (270–340 kW) as used on Yakovlev and Sukhoi aerobatic aircraft. The M-14P

1352-550: A British formation of nine Blenheims that was attacking Bardia, and was in turn reportedly attacked by 15 Gladiators. The five Gladiators of 33 Squadron claimed four CR.42s destroyed. On 4 August 1940, Fiat biplanes from 160 Squadriglia of Capitano Duilio Fanali intercepted four Gladiators commanded by Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle (eventually to become one of the top-scoring Allied aces with approximately 50 claims) that were attacking Breda Ba.65s while they were strafing British armoured vehicles. The battle became confused. Initially it

1521-571: A CR.32 and a CR.42, therefore air superiority was finally achieved by Gladiators and the Hurricanes. The Gladiator's last air combat with an Italian fighter was on 24 October 1941, with the CR.42 of Tenente Malavolti (or, according to historian Håkan Gustavsson, sottotenente Malavolta ). The Italian pilot took off to strafe British airfields at Dabat and Adi Arcai . According to the Italian historian Nico Sgarlato,

1690-478: A Luftwaffe bombing raid destroyed many of the BEF's Gladiators and Hurricanes on the ground at Vitry-en-Artois , shortly after which the BEF's withdrawal to Dunkirk for evacuation to mainland Britain began. Gladiators typically flew patrol flights that led to occasional clashes with Luftwaffe reconnaissance aircraft. On 17 October 1940, British Gladiators scored their first success when No 607 Squadron "B" Flight shot down

1859-461: A Macchi and on 23 June, a Gladiator flown by George Burges, managed to shoot down an MC.200. Another successful pilot over Malta was "Timber" Woods who managed to shoot down two S.79s and two CR.42s, also claiming a Macchi hit on 11 June and another S.79 damaged. The Gladiators forced Italian fighters to escort bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Although the Regia Aeronautica had started with

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2028-426: A biplane has the wings positioned directly one above the other. Moving the upper wing forward relative to the lower one is called positive stagger or, more often, simply stagger. It can increase lift and reduce drag by reducing the aerodynamic interference effects between the two wings by a small degree, but more often was used to improve access to the cockpit. Many biplanes have staggered wings. Common examples include

2197-664: A build-it-yourself kit. Verner Motor of the Czech Republic builds several radial engines ranging in power from 25 to 150 hp (19 to 112 kW). Miniature radial engines for model airplanes are available from O. S. Engines , Saito Seisakusho of Japan, and Shijiazhuang of China, and Evolution (designed by Wolfgang Seidel of Germany, and made in India) and Technopower in the US. Liquid cooling systems are generally more vulnerable to battle damage. Even minor shrapnel damage can easily result in

2366-537: A consistent every-other-piston firing order can be maintained, providing smooth operation. For example, on a five-cylinder engine the firing order is 1, 3, 5, 2, 4, and back to cylinder 1. Moreover, this always leaves a one-piston gap between the piston on its combustion stroke and the piston on compression. The active stroke directly helps compress the next cylinder to fire, making the motion more uniform. If an even number of cylinders were used, an equally timed firing cycle would not be feasible. As with most four-strokes,

2535-551: A documented jet-kill, as one Lockheed F-94 Starfire was lost while slowing down to 161 km/h (100 mph) – below its stall speed – during an intercept in order to engage the low flying Po-2. Later biplane trainers included the de Havilland Tiger Moth in the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and others and the Stampe SV.4 , which saw service postwar in the French and Belgian Air Forces. The Stearman PT-13

2704-449: A dogfight a CR.42 flown by Serg. Manlio Tarantino shot down Hartley's Gladiator (N5519), badly burning him. Woods shot down Antonio Chiodi, commander of the 75a Squadriglia five miles east of Grand Harbour. Chiodi was subsequently awarded a posthumous Medaglia d’Oro al Valor Militare , Italy's highest military award. In May 2009, the remains of Charity and others were the subject of an underwater search by NATO minesweepers. Hope (N5531)

2873-509: A faster and more comfortable successor to the Dragon. As the available engine power and speed increased, the drag penalty of external bracing increasingly limited aircraft performance. To fly faster, it would be necessary to reduce external bracing to create an aerodynamically clean design; however, early cantilever designs were either too weak or too heavy. The 1917 Junkers J.I sesquiplane utilized corrugated aluminum for all flying surfaces, with

3042-399: A few French-built examples of the famous Blériot XI from the original Blériot factory — to a massive 20-cylinder engine of 200 hp (150 kW), with its cylinders arranged in four rows of five cylinders apiece. Most radial engines are air-cooled , but one of the most successful of the early radial engines (and the earliest "stationary" design produced for World War I combat aircraft)

3211-483: A handful of them and suffering almost as many losses in the process, which could be one of the reasons for its quick retirement from first-line duty; the CR.42 on the other hand was successful against early British bombers, shooting down a hundred of them with minimal losses. In Eastern Africa, it was determined that Italian forces based on Ethiopia posed a threat to the British Aden Protectorate , thus it

3380-419: A loss of coolant and consequent engine overheating, while an air-cooled radial engine may be largely unaffected by minor damage. Radials have shorter and stiffer crankshafts, a single-bank radial engine needing only two crankshaft bearings as opposed to the seven required for a liquid-cooled, six-cylinder, inline engine of similar stiffness. While a single-bank radial permits all cylinders to be cooled equally,

3549-432: A low wing loading , combining both large wing area with light weight. Obtaining a large enough wing area without the wings being long, and thus dangerously flexible was more readily accomplished with a biplane. The smaller biplane wing allows greater maneuverability . Following World War I, this helped extend the era of the biplane and, despite the performance disadvantages, most fighter aircraft were biplanes as late as

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3718-507: A minimum of struts; however, it was relatively easy to damage the thin metal skin and required careful handling by ground crews. The 1918 Zeppelin-Lindau D.I fighter was an all-metal stressed-skin monocoque fully cantilevered biplane, but its arrival had come too late to see combat use in the conflict. By the 1930s, biplanes had reached their performance limits, and monoplanes become increasingly predominant, particularly in continental Europe where monoplanes had been increasingly common from

3887-436: A myth that three aircraft, named Faith , Hope and Charity , formed the entire fighter cover of the island. The aircraft names came into use after the battle. More than three aircraft were operational, though not always at the same time; others were used for spare parts. No 1435 Flight , which later assumed control of Malta's air defence, took on the names Faith , Hope and Charity for its aircraft upon its reformation as

4056-609: A need to defend Britain's trade routes throughout the overseas territories of the British Empire had been recognised, so the RAF redeployed many of its Gladiators to the Middle East to defend the theatre and the crucial Suez Canal . The Gladiator saw considerable action during early stages of the war, including participating in the action in the French and Norwegian campaigns, in addition to various peripheral campaigns. In October 1937,

4225-648: A number of experiments and modifications) enough cooling air to the rear. This basic concept was soon copied by many other manufacturers, and many late-WWII aircraft returned to the radial design as newer and much larger designs began to be introduced. Examples include the Bristol Centaurus in the Hawker Sea Fury , and the Shvetsov ASh-82 in the Lavochkin La-7 . For even greater power, adding further rows

4394-569: A numerical advantage and air superiority, during the summer of 1940 the situation was reversed, with Hurricanes being delivered as fast as possible and gradually taking over the island's air defence. By June, two of the Gladiators had crashed and two more were assembled. Charity was shot down on 31 July 1940. Its pilot, Flying Officer Peter Hartley, scrambled at 09.45 with fellow pilots F. F. Taylor and Flight Lieutenant "Timber" Woods, to intercept an SM.79, escorted by nine CR.42s from 23° Gruppo. During

4563-501: A power-to-weight ratio near that of contemporary gasoline engines and a specific fuel consumption of roughly 80% that for an equivalent gasoline engine. During WWII the research continued, but no mass-production occurred because of the Nazi occupation. By 1943 the engine had grown to produce over 1,000 hp (750 kW) with a turbocharger . After the war, the Clerget company was integrated in

4732-701: A similarly sized five-cylinder radial four-stroke model engine of their own as a direct rival to the OS design, with Saito also creating a series of three-cylinder methanol and gasoline-fueled model radial engines ranging from 0.90 cu.in. (15 cm ) to 4.50 cu.in. (75 cm ) in displacement, also all now available in spark-ignition format up to 84 cm displacement for use with gasoline. The German Seidel firm formerly made both seven- and nine-cylinder "large" (starting at 35 cm displacement) radio control model radial engines, mostly for glow plug ignition, with an experimental fourteen-cylinder twin-row radial being tried out -

4901-478: A single bank (or row) and an unusual double master connecting rod. Variants were built that could be run on either diesel oil or gasoline or mixtures of both. A number of powerhouse installations utilising large numbers of these engines were made in the U.S. Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) built the "pancake" engines 16-184 and 16-338 for marine use. Zoche aero-diesels are a prototype radial design that have an even number of cylinders, either four or eight; but this

5070-613: 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

5239-473: A somewhat unusual sesquiplane arrangement, possessing a more substantial lower wing with two spars that eliminated the flutter problems encountered by single-spar sesquiplanes. The stacking of wing planes was suggested by Sir George Cayley in 1843. Hiram Maxim adopted the idea for his steam-powered test rig, which lifted off but was held down by safety rails, in 1894. Otto Lilienthal designed and flew two different biplane hang gliders in 1895, though he

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5408-438: A two-blade wooden fixed-pitch propeller, improved wheel discs, and a fully enclosed cockpit. K5200 was later used to trial modifications for production aircraft, such as the addition of a sliding hood for the pilot. In June 1935, production plans for the aircraft were proposed; two weeks later, a production specification, Specification F.14/35, had been rapidly drawn up, partially prompted by events in continental Europe, such as

5577-411: Is a two bay biplane , the extra bay being necessary as overlong bays are prone to flexing and can fail. The SPAD S.XIII fighter, while appearing to be a two bay biplane, has only one bay, but has the midpoints of the rigging braced with additional struts; however, these are not structurally contiguous from top to bottom wing. The Sopwith 1½ Strutter has a W shape cabane, however as it does not connect

5746-585: Is also used by builders of homebuilt aircraft , such as the Culp Special , and Culp Sopwith Pup , Pitts S12 "Monster" and the Murphy "Moose" . 110 hp (82 kW) 7-cylinder and 150 hp (110 kW) 9-cylinder engines are available from Australia's Rotec Aerosport . HCI Aviation offers the R180 5-cylinder (75 hp (56 kW)) and R220 7-cylinder (110 hp (82 kW)), available "ready to fly" and as

5915-547: Is better known for his monoplanes. By 1896 a group of young men in the United States, led by Octave Chanute , were flying hang gliders including biplanes and concluded that the externally braced biplane offered better prospects for powered flight than the monoplane. In 1903, the Wright Flyer biplane became the first successful powered aeroplane. Throughout the pioneer years, both biplanes and monoplanes were common, but by

6084-426: Is called a "star engine" in some other languages. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant. Since the axes of the cylinders are coplanar, the connecting rods cannot all be directly attached to the crankshaft unless mechanically complex forked connecting rods are used, none of which have been successful. Instead, the pistons are connected to

6253-609: Is much more common. The space enclosed by a set of interplane struts is called a bay (much as the architectural form is used), hence a biplane or triplane with one set of such struts connecting the wings on each side of the aircraft is a single-bay biplane . This provided sufficient strength for smaller aircraft such as the First World War -era Fokker D.VII fighter and the Second World War de Havilland Tiger Moth basic trainer. The larger two-seat Curtiss JN-4 Jenny

6422-412: Is not problematic, because they are two-stroke engines , with twice the number of power strokes as a four-stroke engine per crankshaft rotation. A number of radial motors operating on compressed air have been designed, mostly for use in model airplanes and in gas compressors. A number of multi-cylinder 4-stroke model engines have been commercially available in a radial configuration, beginning with

6591-617: The Battle of Britain . Although no combat sorties took place at the height of the aerial battles, 247 Squadron Gladiators intercepted a Heinkel He 111 in late October 1940, without result. 239 Squadron , using Gladiators for army cooperation and 804 Naval Air Squadron , outfitted with Sea Gladiators, were also operational during the Battle of Britain. In the Mediterranean Theatre during 1940–41, Gladiators saw combat with four Allied air forces:

6760-524: The Bristol M.1 , that caused even those with relatively high performance attributes to be overlooked in favour of 'orthodox' biplanes, and there was an allegedly widespread belief held at that time that monoplane aircraft were inherently unsafe during combat. Between the years of 1914 and 1925, a clear majority of new aircraft introduced were biplanes; however, during the latter years of the First World War,

6929-649: The Gloster Gauntlet , did not initially respond to the specification, which later proved to be beneficial. The specification had also encouraged the use of the new Rolls-Royce Goshawk evaporatively cooled inline engine; many of the submissions produced by various aviation companies in response accordingly featured the Goshawk engine. However, the Goshawk engine proved to be unreliable, mainly due to its overcomplex and underdeveloped cooling system, and unsuited to use on fighter aircraft and this outcome stalled development of

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7098-513: The Greco-Italian War . Biplane Biplanes offer several advantages over conventional cantilever monoplane designs: they permit lighter wing structures, low wing loading and smaller span for a given wing area. However, interference between the airflow over each wing increases drag substantially, and biplanes generally need extensive bracing, which causes additional drag. Biplanes are distinguished from tandem wing arrangements, where

7267-684: The Grumman Ag Cat are available in upgraded versions with turboprop engines. The two most produced biplane designs were the 1913 British Avro 504 of which 11,303 were built, and the 1928 Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 of which over 20,000 were built, with the Po-2 being the direct replacement for the Soviet copy of the Avro 504. Both were widely used as trainers. The Antonov An-2 was very successful too, with more than 18,000 built. Although most ultralights are monoplanes,

7436-605: The Kawasaki Ki-100 and Yokosuka D4Y 3. In Britain, Bristol produced both sleeve valved and conventional poppet valved radials: of the sleeve valved designs, more than 57,400 Hercules engines powered the Vickers Wellington , Short Stirling , Handley Page Halifax , and some versions of the Avro Lancaster , over 8,000 of the pioneering sleeve-valved Bristol Perseus were used in various types, and more than 2,500 of

7605-595: The Lite Flyer Biplane, the Sherwood Ranger , and the Murphy Renegade . The feathered dinosaur Microraptor gui glided, and perhaps even flew, on four wings, which may have been configured in a staggered sesquiplane arrangement. This was made possible by the presence of flight feathers on both forelimbs and hindlimbs, with the feathers on the forelimbs opening to a greater span. It has been suggested that

7774-546: The Mitsubishi A6M Zero entered the theatre, the Gladiators' days were numbered. "Buffalo" Wong, the first Gladiator flying ace and first American fighter ace of the war, was eventually shot down in combat with A6M Zeros on 14 March 1941 and died two days later from his injuries. Arthur Chin and he were among a group of 15 Chinese Americans who formed the original group of American volunteer combat aviators in China. During

7943-481: The Nanking area, Chinese-American Capt John Wong Sun-Shui (nicknamed 'Buffalo') shot down a Mitsubishi A5M "Claude" naval fighter, the first victim of a Gladiator. Wong is believed to have shot down a second A5M as the wrecks of two Japanese fighters were found. During that clash, Chinese Gladiators lost two of their number. Chinese Gladiators scored several more victories over Japanese aircraft from 1938 to 1940 during

8112-539: The Nieuport-Delage NiD 42 / 52 / 62 series, Fokker C.Vd & e, and Potez 25 , all serving across a large number of air forces. In the general aviation sector, aircraft such as the Waco Custom Cabin series proved to be relatively popular. The Saro Windhover was a sesquiplane with the upper wing smaller than the lower, which was a much rarer configuration than the reverse. The Pfalz D.III also featured

8281-663: The North African and Greek Campaigns , making him the highest-scoring RAF biplane ace of the war. The 1941 Anglo-Iraqi War was unique in that the RAF and Royal Iraqi Air Force , used the Gladiator as their main fighter. Gladiators also saw action against the Vichy French in Syria . A stock of 18 Sea Gladiators from 802 Naval Air Squadron had been delivered by HMS Glorious , in early 1940. Three were later shipped out to take part in

8450-472: The Rutan Voyager . The experimental Bristol Phoenix of 1928–1932 was successfully flight tested in a Westland Wapiti and set altitude records in 1934 that lasted until World War II. In 1932 the French company Clerget developed the 14D, a 14-cylinder two-stroke diesel radial engine. After a series of improvements, in 1938 the 14F2 model produced 520 hp (390 kW) at 1910 rpm cruise power, with

8619-571: The SNECMA company and had plans for a 32-cylinder diesel engine of 4,000 hp (3,000 kW), but in 1947 the company abandoned piston engine development in favour of the emerging turbine engines. The Nordberg Manufacturing Company of the United States developed and produced a series of large two-stroke radial diesel engines from the late 1940s for electrical production, primarily at aluminum smelters and for pumping water. They differed from most radials in that they had an even number of cylinders in

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8788-546: The Second Sino-Japanese War . In China, Gladiators were used extensively before the start of 1940 by the 28th, 29th, and 32nd squadrons of the 3rd Group. Chinese aviators considered the Gladiator an excellent fighter in its class, but pilots soon found it increasingly difficult to hold their own against the modern A5M, and because of a lack of spare parts due to an arms embargo, the surviving Gladiators were mostly relegated to training. When newer Japanese aircraft such as

8957-491: The Westland Lysander , Bristol Blenheim , and Blackburn Skua . In the years leading up to World War II, as the need for armored vehicles was realized, designers were faced with the problem of how to power the vehicles, and turned to using aircraft engines, among them radial types. The radial aircraft engines provided greater power-to-weight ratios and were more reliable than conventional inline vehicle engines available at

9126-659: The Winter War , the Finnish Air Force (FAF) obtained 30 Mk II fighters from the UK. Ten of the aircraft were donated, while the other 20 were bought by the FAF; all were delivered between 18 January and 16 February 1940, the first entering service on 2 February 1940. The Finnish Gladiators served until 1945, but they were outclassed by modern Soviet fighters during the Continuation War , and

9295-490: The de Havilland Tiger Moth , Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann and Travel Air 2000 . Alternatively, the lower wing can instead be moved ahead of the upper wing, giving negative stagger, and similar benefits. This is usually done in a given design for structural reasons, or to improve visibility. Examples of negative stagger include the Sopwith Dolphin , Breguet 14 and Beechcraft Staggerwing . However, positive (forward) stagger

9464-488: The 'one pilot, two machine guns' design formula previously used; the guns were often prone to jams and being unreliable. The Air Ministry's technical planning committee formulated Specification F.7/30 , which sought a new aircraft capable of a maximum speed of at least 250 mph (400 km/h), an armament of no fewer than four machine guns, and such handling that that same fighter could be used by both day and night squadrons. Gloster, being already engaged with development of

9633-572: The 10 June surrender of the mainland Norwegian forces. Only the aircraft of the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service (one M.F.11 and four He 115s ) had the range to fly from their last bases in northern Norway to the UK. Two Army Air Service Fokker C.V .Ds and one Tiger Moth also managed to escape eastwards to Finland before the surrender. Three naval M.F.11s and one He 115 flew to Finland, landing on Lake Salmijärvi in Petsamo . All

9802-494: The Air Ministry were sceptical about the aircraft achieving such performance from a radial engine design, so funded a protracted series of evaluation trials. On 3 April 1935, the prototype was transferred to the RAF, receiving the designation K5200 , and commenced operational evaluations of the type. Around the same time, Gloster proceeded to plan a further improved version, featuring an 840 hp (630 kW) Mercury IX engine,

9971-649: The American Pratt & Whitney company was founded, competing with Wright's radial engines. Pratt & Whitney's initial offering, the R-1340 Wasp , was test run later that year, beginning a line of engines over the next 25 years that included the 14-cylinder, twin-row Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp . More Twin Wasps were produced than any other aviation piston engine in the history of aviation; nearly 175,000 were built. In

10140-588: The American single-engine Vought F4U Corsair , Grumman F6F Hellcat , Republic P-47 Thunderbolt , twin-engine Martin B-26 Marauder , Douglas A-26 Invader , Northrop P-61 Black Widow , etc. The same firm's aforementioned smaller-displacement (at 30 litres), Twin Wasp 14-cylinder twin-row radial was used as the main engine design for the B-24 Liberator , PBY Catalina , and Douglas C-47 , each design being among

10309-412: The CR.42 pilot took violent evasive action, Hope pursued, closing to 20 yards and firing as it tried to dive away. There was a brief flicker of flame and the last Italian aircraft to be shot down over East Africa spun into the ground and burst into flames near Ambazzo. The next day the wreckage was found, the dead pilot still in the cockpit. Hope dropped a message on Italian positions at Ambazzo: "Tribute to

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10478-458: The CR.42 was able to achieve success in the defensive night fighter role against RAF bombers that were striking industrial targets throughout northern Italy. The British Fleet Air Arm operated the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber from its aircraft carriers, and used the type in the anti-submarine warfare role until the end of the conflict, largely due to their ability to operate from

10647-451: The CR.42 was intercepted by three Gladiators and managed to shoot down two of them, but was then itself shot down and the pilot killed. Other authors state that Malavolti managed only to fire on the two Gladiators before being shot down. According to Gustavsson, SAAF pilot (no. 47484V) Lieutenant Lancelot Charles Henry "Paddy" Hope, at Dabat airfield, scrambled to intercept the CR.42 (MM7117). Diving on it, he opened fire at 300 yards. Although

10816-518: The Caribou , performed the first non-stop flight between the Canadian mainland and Britain in 30 hours 55 minutes, although the intended target for this long distance flight had originally been Baghdad , Iraq . Despite its relative success, British production of the Dragon was quickly ended when in favour of the more powerful and elegant de Havilland Dragon Rapide , which had been specifically designed to be

10985-500: The Centaurus and rapid movement to the use of turboprops such as the Armstrong Siddeley Python and Bristol Proteus , which easily produced more power than radials without the weight or complexity. Large radials continued to be built for other uses, although they are no longer common. An example is the 5-ton Zvezda M503 diesel engine with 42 cylinders in 6 rows of 7, displacing 143.6 litres (8,760 cu in) and producing 3,942 hp (2,940 kW). Three of these were used on

11154-520: The Chinese Central Government ordered 36 Gladiator Is, which were delivered in two crated batches to Guangzhou via Hong Kong . The Chinese Gladiators used the American M1919 Browning machine gun to fire American .30-06 Springfield ammunition, the main ammunition of the new Chinese Nationalist Air Force . By February 1938, these aircraft had been assembled into two squadrons and the Chinese pilots familiarised themselves with them. The Gloster Gladiator had its combat début on 24 February 1938. That day, in

11323-405: The East African campaign. Towards the end of the war Gladiators were flown by Meteorological Flight 1566 out of Hiswa, Aden. Tension had been building between Greece and Italy since 7 April 1939, when Italian troops occupied Albania . On 28 October 1940, Italy issued an ultimatum to Greece, which was promptly rejected ; a few hours later, Italian troops launched an invasion of Greece, initiating

11492-426: The FAF Gladiators, the Swedish Voluntary Air Force , responsible for the air defence of northernmost Finland during the later part of the Winter War, was also equipped with Gladiator fighters, known as J8s (Mk Is) and J8As (Mk IIs). The Flying Regiment F 19 arrived in Finnish Lapland on 10 January 1940 and remained there until the end of hostilities. It fielded 12 Gladiator Mk II fighters, two of which were lost during

11661-430: The First World War, the British Royal Aircraft Factory developed airfoil section wire named RAFwire in an effort to both increase the strength and reduce the drag. Four types of wires are used in the biplane wing structure. Drag wires inside the wings prevent the wings from being folded back against the fuselage, running inside a wing bay from the forward inboard corner to the rear outboard corner. Anti-drag wires prevent

11830-457: The French Nieuport 17 and German Albatros D.III , offered lower drag than a conventional biplane while being stronger than a monoplane. During the Interwar period , numerous biplane airliners were introduced. The British de Havilland Dragon was a particularly successful aircraft, using straightforward design to could carry six passengers on busy routes, such as London-Paris services. During early August 1934, one such aircraft, named Trail of

11999-692: The German single-seat, single-engine Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger , and twin-engine Junkers Ju 88 . In Japan, most airplanes were powered by air-cooled radial engines like the 14-cylinder Mitsubishi Zuisei (11,903 units, e.g. Kawasaki Ki-45 ), Mitsubishi Kinsei (12,228 units, e.g. Aichi D3A ), Mitsubishi Kasei (16,486 units, e.g. Kawanishi H8K ), Nakajima Sakae (30,233 units, e.g. Mitsubishi A6M and Nakajima Ki-43 ), and 18-cylinder Nakajima Homare (9,089 units, e.g. Nakajima Ki-84 ). The Kawasaki Ki-61 and Yokosuka D4Y were rare examples of Japanese liquid-cooled inline engine aircraft at that time but later, they were also redesigned to fit radial engines as

12168-644: The Germans had been experimenting with a new generation of monoplanes, such as the Fokker D.VIII , that might have ended the biplane's advantages earlier had the conflict not ended when it had. The French were also introducing the Morane-Saulnier AI , a strut-braced parasol monoplane , although the type was quickly relegated to the advanced trainer role following the resolution of structural issues. Sesquiplane types, which were biplanes with abbreviated lower wings such as

12337-605: The Gnome and Le Rhône rotary powerplants, and Siemens-Halske built their own designs, including the Siemens-Halske Sh.III eleven-cylinder rotary engine , which was unusual for the period in being geared through a bevel geartrain in the rear end of the crankcase without the crankshaft being firmly mounted to the aircraft's airframe, so that the engine's internal working components (fully internal crankshaft "floating" in its crankcase bearings, with its conrods and pistons) were spun in

12506-555: The Hurricane and Spitfire monoplanes; an emphasis was soon placed on quickly re-equipping 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 front-line 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

12675-524: The Italians lost four aircraft, and four more force-landed (it seems that all were later recovered). That battle highlighted the strong points of the Gladiator over the CR.42, especially the radio equipment, which had permitted a coordinated attack, being also crucial for obtaining the initial surprise, and the Gladiator's superior low-altitude overall performance, including speed and a markedly superior horizontal manoeuvrability over its Italian opponent. Overall,

12844-504: The Japanese O.S. Max firm's FR5-300 five-cylinder, 3.0 cu.in. (50 cm ) displacement "Sirius" radial in 1986. The American "Technopower" firm had made smaller-displacement five- and seven-cylinder model radial engines as early as 1976, but the OS firm's engine was the first mass-produced radial engine design in aeromodelling history. The rival Saito Seisakusho firm in Japan has since produced

13013-528: The Jupiter. Although other piston configurations and turboprops have taken over in modern propeller-driven aircraft , Rare Bear , which is a Grumman F8F Bearcat equipped with a Wright R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone radial engine, is still the fastest piston-powered aircraft . 125,334 of the American twin-row, 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp , with a displacement of 2,800 in (46 L) and between 2,000 and 2,400 hp (1,500-1,800 kW), powered

13182-506: The MK I. A modified Mk II, the Sea Gladiator, was developed for the Fleet Air Arm , 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

13351-531: The Norwegian Campaign and another three were sent to Egypt. By April, Malta was in need of fighter protection and it was decided to form a flight of Gladiators at RAF Hal Far , to be composed of RAF and FAA personnel. Several Sea Gladiators were assembled and test-flown. In the siege of Malta in 1940, for ten days the fighter force defending Malta was the Hal Far Fighter Flight , giving rise to

13520-542: The RAF, Royal Australian Air Force , South African Air Force and Ellinikí Vasilikí Aeroporía (Royal Hellenic Air Force) squadrons. These achieved some success against the Italian Regia Aeronautica , which was mainly equipped with Fiat CR.32 and Fiat CR.42 biplanes, and against Luftwaffe bombers. The South African ace Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle (who served with the RAF), claimed 15 kills in Gladiators during

13689-726: The United Kingdom the Bristol Aeroplane Company was concentrating on developing radials such as the Jupiter, Mercury , and sleeve valve Hercules radials. Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union started with building licensed versions of the Armstrong Siddeley, Bristol, Wright, or Pratt & Whitney radials before producing their own improved versions. France continued its development of various rotary engines but also produced engines derived from Bristol designs, especially

13858-508: The air defence unit in the Falkland Islands in 1988. The Italian air force units deployed against Malta should have easily defeated the Gladiators but its manoeuvrability and good tactics won several engagements, often starting with a dive on Savoia-Marchetti SM.79 Sparviero bombers before the Fiat CR.42 and Macchi MC.200 escort fighters could react. On 11 June 1940, a Gladiator damaged

14027-495: The aircraft intended to use it. A further stumbling point for many of the submitted designs was the placement of the machine gun breeches within arm's reach of the pilot. At the same time, the development of monoplane fighters such as the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire cast doubt over the future viability of the requirement altogether. Gloster recognised that instead of developing an all-new design from scratch,

14196-554: The aircraft was mostly used for reconnaissance from 1941. The Finnish Air Force obtained 45 aerial victories by 22 pilots with the aircraft during the Winter War and one victory during the Continuation War. Twelve Gladiators were lost in combat during the Winter War and three during the Continuation War. Two pilots became aces with this aircraft: Oiva Tuominen (6.5 victories with Gladiators) and Paavo Berg (five victories). Besides

14365-498: The animated illustration, four cam lobes serve all 10 valves across the five cylinders, whereas 10 would be required for a typical inline engine with the same number of cylinders and valves. Most radial engines use overhead poppet valves driven by pushrods and lifters on a cam plate which is concentric with the crankshaft, with a few smaller radials, like the Kinner B-5 and Russian Shvetsov M-11 , using individual camshafts within

14534-408: The biplanes took place on 14 June over Amseat. Tenente Franco Lucchini , of 90 Squadriglia , 10° Gruppo , 4° Stormo , flying a CR.42 from Tobruk , shot down a Gladiator; it was the first claim made against the RAF in the desert war. On the afternoon of 24 July, CR.42s and Gladiators clashed over Bardia . A formation of 11 CR.42s from 10° Gruppo , backed by six more from the 13° Gruppo attacked

14703-586: 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 noncombatant (although Swedish volunteers fought for Finland against USSR); and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their respective lands. South African pilot Marmaduke "Pat" Pattle

14872-598: The competition aerobatics role and format for such a biplane well-defined by the mid-1930s by the Udet U 12 Flamingo and Waco Taperwing . The Pitts Special dominated aerobatics for many years after World War II and is still in production. The vast majority of biplane designs have been fitted with reciprocating engines . Exceptions include the Antonov An-3 and WSK-Mielec M-15 Belphegor , fitted with turboprop and turbofan engines respectively. Some older biplane designs, such as

15041-460: The compression stroke, this liquid, being incompressible, stops piston movement. Starting or attempting to start the engine in such condition may result in a bent or broken connecting rod. Originally radial engines had one row of cylinders, but as engine sizes increased it became necessary to add extra rows. The first radial-configuration engine known to use a twin-row design was the 160 hp Gnôme "Double Lambda" rotary engine of 1912, designed as

15210-502: The crankcase and cylinders revolved with the propeller. It was similar in concept to the later radial, the main difference being that the propeller was bolted to the engine, and the crankshaft to the airframe. The problem of the cooling of the cylinders, a major factor with the early "stationary" radials, was alleviated by the engine generating its own cooling airflow. In World War I many French and other Allied aircraft flew with Gnome , Le Rhône , Clerget , and Bentley rotary engines,

15379-572: The crankcase for each cylinder. A few engines use sleeve valves such as the 14-cylinder Bristol Hercules and the 18-cylinder Bristol Centaurus , which are quieter and smoother running but require much tighter manufacturing tolerances . C. M. Manly constructed a water-cooled five-cylinder radial engine in 1901, a conversion of one of Stephen Balzer 's rotary engines , for Langley 's Aerodrome aircraft. Manly's engine produced 52 hp (39 kW) at 950 rpm. In 1903–1904 Jacob Ellehammer used his experience constructing motorcycles to build

15548-408: The crankshaft takes two revolutions to complete the four strokes of each piston (intake, compression, combustion, exhaust). The camshaft ring is geared to spin slower and in the opposite direction to the crankshaft. Its cam lobes are placed in two rows; one for the intake valves and one for the exhaust valves. The radial engine normally uses fewer cam lobes than other types. For example, in the engine in

15717-474: The crankshaft with a master-and-articulating-rod assembly. One piston, the uppermost one in the animation, has a master rod with a direct attachment to the crankshaft. The remaining pistons pin their connecting rods ' attachments to rings around the edge of the master rod. Extra "rows" of radial cylinders can be added in order to increase the capacity of the engine without adding to its diameter. Four-stroke radials have an odd number of cylinders per row, so that

15886-800: The defence of Oslo on the first day of Operation Weserübung , the German invasion. Later, British Gladiators fought to provide fighter cover for the Allied reinforcements sent to the assistance of the Norwegian government. The Gladiator pilots of the Norwegian Jagevingen (fighter flight) were based at Fornebu Airport . On 9 April, the first day of the invasion of Norway, the seven serviceable aircraft managed to shoot down five German aircraft: two Messerschmitt Bf 110 fighters, two He 111 bombers and one Fallschirmjäger -laden Ju 52 transport . One Gladiator

16055-479: The early 1920s Le Rhône converted a number of their rotary engines into stationary radial engines. By 1918 the potential advantages of air-cooled radials over the water-cooled inline engine and air-cooled rotary engine that had powered World War I aircraft were appreciated but were unrealized. British designers had produced the ABC Dragonfly radial in 1917, but were unable to resolve the cooling problems, and it

16224-542: The end of World War I . At the start of World War II , several air forces still had biplane combat aircraft in front line service but they were no longer competitive, and most were used in niche roles, such as training or shipboard operation, until shortly after the end of the war. The British Gloster Gladiator biplane, the Italian Fiat CR.42 Falco and Soviet I-153 sesquiplane fighters were all still operational after 1939. According to aviation author Gianni Cattaneo,

16393-565: The end of 1937. The first version, the Gladiator Mk I, was delivered from July 1936, becoming operational in January 1937. When difficulties with Rolls-Royce Merlin combustion chamber threatened to postpone the readiness of the next-generation fighters, the Air Ministry hedged its bets by procuring three hundreds of Mk II Gladiators as a stopgap via Specification F.36/37 (the delivery of 252 planes took until April 1940). The main differences were

16562-460: The existing Gauntlet fighter could be used as a basis for a contender to meet Specification F.7/30. Development of what would become the Gladiator began as a private venture, internally designated as the SS.37, at Gloster, by a design team headed by H.P. Folland , who soon identified various changes to increase the aircraft's suitability to conform with the demands of the specification. Making use of wing-design techniques developed by Hawker Aircraft ,

16731-558: The fast Osa class missile boats . Another one was the Lycoming XR-7755 which was the largest piston aircraft engine ever built in the United States with 36 cylinders totaling about 7,750 in (127 L) of displacement and a power output of 5,000 horsepower (3,700 kilowatts). While most radial engines have been produced for gasoline, there have been diesel radial engines. Two major advantages favour diesel engines — lower fuel consumption and reduced fire risk. Packard designed and built

16900-518: The few Gladiators and CR.42s clashed with a substantial parity: considering all theatres, the kill ratio was 1.2-to-1 in favour of the former, a ratio similar to that of the Bf 109 and the Spitfire in the Battle of Britain, a duel considered evenly balanced by most historians. However, the Gladiator, optimised for dogfighting, met with only little success against the relatively fast Italian bombers, shooting down only

17069-618: The fighting and five Hawker Hart dive bombers, plus a Raab-Katzenstein RK-26 liaison aircraft and a Junkers F.13 transport aircraft. The aircraft belonged to and were crewed by the Swedish Air Force but flew with Finnish nationality markings. The Swedish Gladiators scored eight aerial victories and destroyed four aircraft on the ground. One concern was expressed when F 19's executive officer Captain Björn Bjuggren wrote in his memoirs, that

17238-434: 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 during operational training on the type was so high that a small replacement batch of 28 Gladiator Mk IIs

17407-509: The former Norwegian aircraft were later flown by the Finns against the Soviet Union. Gladiators were used also by 263 Squadron during the remaining two months of the Norwegian campaign. Prior to the German invasion of Norway, Britain had prepared this squadron with low-temperature environmental training. 263 Squadron arrived on the carrier HMS  Glorious on 24 April and operated from an improvised landing strip built by Norwegian volunteers on

17576-560: The four-engine Boeing B-29 Superfortress and others. The Soviet Shvetsov OKB-19 design bureau was the sole source of design for all of the Soviet government factory-produced radial engines used in its World War II aircraft, starting with the Shvetsov M-25 (itself based on the American Wright Cyclone 9 's design) and going on to design the 41-litre displacement Shvetsov ASh-82 fourteen cylinder radial for fighters, and

17745-455: The frozen lake Lesjaskogsvatnet in Oppland in central southern Norway. On 25 April, a pair of Gladiators destroyed a Heinkel He 115 aircraft; Luftwaffe bombers attacked the runway that day, wounding several pilots on the ground. By the end of the day, ten Gladiators had been destroyed for the loss of three German aircraft. After less than a week, all the squadron's aircraft were unserviceable and

17914-399: The hind limbs could not have opened out sideways but in flight would have hung below and slightly behind the fore limbs. Radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and

18083-453: The initial batch was performed simultaneously, leading to many aircraft being completed around the same time. On 16 February 1937, K6129 , the first production Gladiator, was formally accepted by the RAF; on 4 March 1937, K6151 , the last aircraft of the initial batch, was delivered. In September 1935, a follow-up order of 180 aircraft was also received from the Air Ministry; this order had the proviso that all aircraft had to be delivered before

18252-532: The invasion of Abyssinia by Fascist Italy and the rise of Adolf Hitler to power in Germany, in response to which the British government mandated an urgent expansion of the RAF to counter the emerging threats. This culminated in an initial order for 23 aircraft. On 1 July 1935, the aircraft formally received the name Gladiator . Manufacturing of the Gladiator was started at Gloster's Hucclecote facility. Production of

18421-599: The largest-displacement production British radial from the Bristol firm to use sleeve valving, the Bristol Centaurus were used to power the Hawker Tempest II and Sea Fury . The same firm's poppet-valved radials included: around 32,000 of Bristol Pegasus used in the Short Sunderland , Handley Page Hampden , and Fairey Swordfish and over 20,000 examples of the firm's 1925-origin nine-cylinder Mercury were used to power

18590-447: The late-war Hawker Sea Fury and Grumman F8F Bearcat , two of the fastest production piston-engined aircraft ever built, using radial engines. Whenever a radial engine remains shut down for more than a few minutes, oil or fuel may drain into the combustion chambers of the lower cylinders or accumulate in the lower intake pipes, ready to be drawn into the cylinders when the engine starts. As the piston approaches top dead center (TDC) of

18759-515: The less the interference, but the spacing struts must be longer, and the gap must be extremely large to reduce it appreciably. As engine power and speeds rose late in World War I , thick cantilever wings with inherently lower drag and higher wing loading became practical, which in turn made monoplanes more attractive as it helped solve the structural problems associated with monoplanes, but offered little improvement for biplanes. The default design for

18928-612: The low speeds and simple construction involved have inspired a small number of biplane ultralights, such as Larry Mauro's Easy Riser (1975–). Mauro also made a version powered with solar cells driving an electric motor called the Solar Riser . Mauro's Easy Riser was used by "Father Goose", Bill Lishman . Other biplane ultralights include the Belgian-designed Aviasud Mistral , the German FK12 Comet (1997–),

19097-412: The main wings can support ailerons , while flaps are more usually positioned on the lower wing. Bracing is nearly always added between the upper and lower wings, in the form of interplane struts positioned symmetrically on either side of the fuselage and bracing wires to keep the structure from flexing, where the wings are not themselves cantilever structures. The primary advantage of the biplane over

19266-481: The massive, 58-litre displacement Shvetsov ASh-73 eighteen-cylinder radial in 1946 - the smallest-displacement radial design from the Shvetsov OKB during the war was the indigenously designed, 8.6 litre displacement Shvetsov M-11 five cylinder radial. Over 28,000 of the German 42-litre displacement, 14-cylinder, two-row BMW 801 , with between 1,560 and 2,000 PS (1,540-1,970 hp, or 1,150-1,470 kW), powered

19435-411: The mid-1930s. Specialist sports aerobatic biplanes are still made in small numbers. Biplanes suffer aerodynamic interference between the two planes when the high pressure air under the top wing and the low pressure air above the lower wing cancel each other out. This means that a biplane does not in practice obtain twice the lift of the similarly-sized monoplane. The farther apart the wings are spaced

19604-465: The mission of defending Aden airspace at day and night, and to protect Allied shipping operating in the vicinity. It was in the latter role that a single 94 Squadron Gladiator, piloted by Gordon Haywood, was responsible for the surrender and capture of the Italian Archimede-class submarine Galilei Galileo . On 6 June 1941, the Regia Aeronautica had only two serviceable aircraft remaining:

19773-517: 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 to having favourably impacted pilot conversion. Although by 1941, all Gladiators had been withdrawn from front-line duties defending the British Isles,

19942-512: The most famed copies was the Siemens-Schuckert D.I . The Albatros D.III and D.V , which had also copied the general layout from Nieuport, similarly provided the backbone of the German forces during the First World War. The Albatros sesquiplanes were widely acclaimed by their aircrews for their maneuverability and high rate of climb. During interwar period , the sesquiplane configuration continued to be popular, with numerous types such as

20111-411: The new fighter adopted single-bay wings in place of the two-bay wings of the Gauntlet, and two pairs of interplane struts were also dispensed with as a drag-reduction measure. The Bristol Mercury M.E.30 radial engine , capable of generating 700 hp (520 kW), was selected to power the SS.37, which provided a performance boost over the preceding Gauntlet. Another design choice was the fitting of

20280-529: The night ground attack role throughout the Second World War. In the case of the Po-2, production of the aircraft continued even after the end of the conflict, not ending until around 1952. A significant number of Po-2s were fielded by the Korean People's Air Force during the Korean War , inflicting serious damage during night raids on United Nations bases. The Po-2 is also the only biplane to be credited with

20449-548: The opposing direction to the crankcase and cylinders, which still rotated as the propeller itself did since it was still firmly fastened to the crankcase's frontside, as with regular umlaufmotor German rotaries. By the end of the war the rotary engine had reached the limits of the design, particularly in regard to the amount of fuel and air that could be drawn into the cylinders through the hollow crankshaft, while advances in both metallurgy and cylinder cooling finally allowed stationary radial engines to supersede rotary engines. In

20618-483: The outbreak of the First World War biplanes had gained favour after several monoplane structural failures resulted in the RFC's "Monoplane Ban" when all monoplanes in military service were grounded, while the French also withdrew most monoplanes from combat roles and relegated them to training. Figures such as aviation author Bruce observed that there was an apparent prejudice held even against newly-designed monoplanes, such as

20787-406: The outer wing. On a biplane, since the angles are closer to the ideal of being in direct line with the forces being opposed, the overall structure can then be made stiffer. Because of the reduced stiffness, wire braced monoplanes often had multiple sets of flying and landing wires where a biplane could easily be built with one bay, with one set of landing and flying wires. The extra drag from the wires

20956-712: The personnel were evacuated to Britain. Having re-equipped in Britain, 263 Squadron resumed its Gladiator operations in Norway when it returned to the north of Norway on 21 May, flying from Bardufoss airfield near Narvik . At the Narvik front , 263 Squadron was reinforced by Hurricanes of 46 Squadron , which flew to an airstrip in Skånland Municipality a few days later and several German aircraft were shot down. Due to unsuitable ground at Skånland, 46 Squadron moved to Bardufoss and

21125-527: The pilot of the Fiat. He was a brave man. South African Air Force." But operational record books of the Commonwealth units in the area state that they did not suffer any losses on this date. The dedication of the posthumous Medaglia d’oro al valor militare states that Malavolti shot down a Gladiator and forced another to crash land, but was himself shot down by a third Gladiator. This was the last air-to-air victory in

21294-533: The preceding Phoney War , on 24 April 1940 Belgian Gladiators on neutrality patrol shot down a German Heinkel He 111 bomber which subsequently crashed in the Netherlands . The bomber, V4+DA of Kampfgeschwader 1 , had been damaged by French fighters at Maubeuge , France, and chased across the Belgian border. The Gloster Gladiator was in operational service with 247 Squadron , stationed at RAF Roborough , Devon during

21463-582: The production leaders in all-time production numbers for each type of airframe design. The American Wright Cyclone series twin-row radials powered American warplanes: the nearly-43 litre displacement, 14-cylinder Twin Cyclone powered the single-engine Grumman TBF Avenger , twin-engine North American B-25 Mitchell , and some versions of the Douglas A-20 Havoc , with the massive twin-row, nearly 55-litre displacement, 18-cylinder Duplex-Cyclone powering

21632-418: The prototype was quickly re-equipped with a more powerful 645 hp (481 kW) Mercury VIS engine. During flight tests, the prototype attained a top speed of 242 mph (389 km/h; 210 kn) while carrying the required four .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns (two synchronised Vickers guns in the fuselage and two Lewis guns under the lower wing). According to aviation author Francis K. Mason,

21801-409: The rear bank of cylinders, but a variety of baffles and fins were introduced that largely eliminated these problems. The downside was a relatively large frontal area that had to be left open to provide enough airflow, which increased drag. This led to significant arguments in the industry in the late 1930s about the possibility of using radials for high-speed aircraft like modern fighters. The solution

21970-634: The relatively compact decks of escort carriers . Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal for operations even in the often severe mid-Atlantic weather conditions. By the end of the conflict, the Swordfish held the distinction of having caused the destruction of a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft. Both the German Heinkel He 50 and the Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 were used with relative success in

22139-477: The remainder of the first production batch, replacing their obsolete Bristol Bulldogs . Initial service with the type proved the Vickers guns to be problematical; 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

22308-465: The same is not true for multi-row engines where the rear cylinders can be affected by the heat coming off the front row, and air flow being masked. A potential disadvantage of radial engines is that having the cylinders exposed to the airflow increases drag considerably. The answer was the addition of specially designed cowlings with baffles to force the air between the cylinders. The first effective drag-reducing cowling that didn't impair engine cooling

22477-499: The same overall strength and is therefore lighter. A given area of wing also tends to be shorter, reducing bending moments on the spars, which then allow them to be more lightly built as well. The biplane does however need extra struts to maintain the gap between the wings, which add both weight and drag. The low power supplied by the engines available in the first years of aviation limited aeroplanes to fairly low speeds. This required an even lower stalling speed, which in turn required

22646-502: The same portion of the atmosphere and thus interfere with each other's behaviour. In a biplane configuration with no stagger from the upper wing to the lower wing, the lift coefficient is reduced by 10 to 15 percent compared to that of a monoplane using the same airfoil and aspect ratio . The lower wing is usually attached to the fuselage , while the upper wing is raised above the fuselage with an arrangement of cabane struts , although other arrangements have been used. Either or both of

22815-700: The series of Nieuport military aircraft—from the Nieuport 10 through to the Nieuport 27 which formed the backbone of the Allied air forces between 1915 and 1917. The performance of the Nieuport sesquiplanes was so impressive that the Idflieg (the German Inspectorate of flying troops) requested their aircraft manufacturers to produce copies, an effort which was aided by several captured aircraft and detailed drawings; one of

22984-589: The time. This reliance had a downside though: if the engines were mounted vertically, as in the M3 Lee and M4 Sherman , their comparatively large diameter gave the tank a higher silhouette than designs using inline engines. The Continental R-670 , a 7-cylinder radial aero engine which first flew in 1931, became a widely used tank powerplant, being installed in the M1 Combat Car , M2 Light Tank , M3 Stuart , M3 Lee , and LVT-2 Water Buffalo . The Guiberson T-1020 ,

23153-574: The top scoring pilot of all belligerent air forces in Eastern Africa (Africa Orientale) and the top biplane fighter ace of World War II. Tactically, the SAAF aircraft erred by engaging the CR.42's in a piecemeal fashion and not en masse, and they were heavily outnumbered. Early on in the offensive, Gladiators of No. 94 Squadron performed various attacks on the Italian forces; typical targets included airfields, supply depots, and aircraft. They were also assigned

23322-491: 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. In February 1937, No. 72 Squadron, based at Tangmere , became the first squadron to be equipped with the Gladiator; No. 72 operated the type until April 1939, longer than any other home-based frontline unit. Between March and April 1937, No. 3 Squadron at Kenley also received Gladiators from

23491-582: The tracer rounds of the Gladiator's machine guns would not ignite the aviation spirit when penetrating the fuel tanks of Soviet bombers. At the beginning of the Second World War, during what was known as the " Phoney War ", Britain deployed the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) into France to fight alongside the French army. As part of this force, RAF units operating various aircraft were dispatched to contribute, including two Gladiator squadrons. Initial air operations on either side were limited by

23660-492: The ultimate examples of which reached 250 hp (190 kW) although none of those over 160 hp (120 kW) were successful. By 1917 rotary engine development was lagging behind new inline and V-type engines, which by 1918 were producing as much as 400 hp (300 kW), and were powering almost all of the new French and British combat aircraft. Most German aircraft of the time used water-cooled inline 6-cylinder engines. Motorenfabrik Oberursel made licensed copies of

23829-400: The upper and lower wings together. The sesquiplane is a type of biplane where one wing (usually the lower) is significantly smaller than the other. The word, from Latin, means "one-and-a-half wings". The arrangement can reduce drag and weight while retaining the biplane's structural advantages. The lower wing may have a significantly shorter span, or a reduced chord . Examples include

23998-419: The wings are placed forward and aft, instead of above and below. The term is also occasionally used in biology , to describe the wings of some flying animals . In a biplane aircraft, two wings are placed one above the other. Each provides part of the lift, although they are not able to produce twice as much lift as a single wing of similar size and shape because the upper and the lower are working on nearly

24167-434: The wings from folding up, and run from the underside of the outer wing to the lower wing root. Conversely, landing wires prevent the wings from sagging, and resist the forces when an aircraft is landing, and run from the upper wing centre section to outboard on the lower wings. Additional drag and anti-drag wires may be used to brace the cabane struts which connect the fuselage to the wings, and interplane struts, which connect

24336-421: The wings from moving forward when the aircraft stops and run the opposite direction to the drag wires. Both of these are usually hidden within the wings, and if the structure is sufficiently stiff otherwise, may be omitted in some designs. Indeed many early aircraft relied on the fabric covering of the wing to provide this rigidity, until higher speeds and forces made this inadequate. Externally, lift wires prevent

24505-597: The wings to each other, it does not add to the number of bays. Large transport and bombing biplanes often needed still more bays to provide sufficient strength. These are often referred to as multi-bay biplanes . A small number of biplanes, such as the Zeppelin-Lindau D.I have no interplane struts and are referred to as being strutless . Because most biplanes do not have cantilever structures, they require rigging wires to maintain their rigidity. Early aircraft used simple wire (either braided or plain), however during

24674-591: The winter weather; however, immediately following Germany's commencement of the Manstein Plan and its invasion of the Low Countries on 10 May 1940, the BEF's Gladiators participated in the Dyle Plan , an unsuccessful counterattack on German forces. From 10 May 1940 to 17 May, the Gladiators were in continuous demand on the front line, quickly losing numerous aircraft and their crews in the rapid action. On 18 May 1940,

24843-616: The world's first air-cooled radial engine, a three-cylinder engine which he used as the basis for a more powerful five-cylinder model in 1907. This was installed in his triplane and made a number of short free-flight hops. Another early radial engine was the three-cylinder Anzani , originally built as a W3 "fan" configuration, one of which powered Louis Blériot 's Blériot XI across the English Channel . Before 1914, Alessandro Anzani had developed radial engines ranging from 3 cylinders (spaced 120° apart) — early enough to have been used on

25012-502: Was being introduced. Though often pitted against more advanced fighters 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

25181-460: Was carried out in the US, and demonstrated that ample airflow was available with careful design. This led to the R-4360 , which has 28 cylinders arranged in a 4 row corncob configuration. The R-4360 saw service on large American aircraft in the post- World War II period. The US and Soviet Union continued experiments with larger radials, but the UK abandoned such designs in favour of newer versions of

25350-573: Was credited with the destruction of three Heinkel He 111s, along with the probable destruction of a Junkers Ju 88 and another He 111 aircraft, during one sortie. British action in the theatre was short but intense before the squadrons, due to the British government's response to the invasion of France , were instructed on 2 June to undertake Operation Alphabet the evacuation from Norway. By then, 263 Squadron had flown 249 sorties and claimed 26 enemy aircraft destroyed. The ten surviving Gladiators landed on Glorious on 7 June. Glorious sailed for home but

25519-477: Was decided that an offensive would be necessary, in which the Gladiator would face off against the Italian biplane fighters: Fiat CR.32s and CR.42s. On 6 November 1940, in the first hour of the British offensive against Ethiopia, the Fiat CR.42 fighters of the 412a Squadriglia led by Capt. Antonio Raffi shot down five Gloster Gladiators of 1 SAAF Sqn; among the Italian pilots was the ace Mario Visintini , who later became

25688-558: Was destroyed on the ground by enemy bombing in May 1941. The fuselage of Faith is on display at the National War Museum , Fort St Elmo , Valletta today. The fate of at least five more Gladiators that saw action over Malta is not as well documented. In North Africa, Gladiators faced Italian Fiat CR.42 Falcos biplanes, which had a slightly superior performance to that of the Gladiator at higher altitudes. The first aerial combat between

25857-493: Was developed in 1922 with Navy funding, and using aluminum cylinders with steel liners ran for an unprecedented 300 hours, at a time when 50 hours endurance was normal. At the urging of the Army and Navy the Wright Aeronautical Corporation bought Lawrance's company, and subsequent engines were built under the Wright name. The radial engines gave confidence to Navy pilots performing long-range overwater flights. Wright's 225 hp (168 kW) J-5 Whirlwind radial engine of 1925

26026-415: Was during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine . From September to December 1938, 33 Squadron RAF flew Gladiator strafing missions in support of British Mandate security forces. These were often in mountainous areas, and the aircraft came under substantial rifle fire. Three aircraft were destroyed, and two pilots killed, in these operations. During 1938, the RAF had begun to receive its first deliveries of

26195-441: 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 very easily entered a flat spin , and great skill was needed to recover. The first use of RAF Gladiators on active service

26364-498: Was intercepted by the German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst . Despite the valiant defence put up by the destroyers, HMS  Acasta and Ardent , she was sunk along with the aircraft from four squadrons; 263 Squadron lost its CO, S/Ldr John W. Donaldson, and F/Lt Alvin Williams along with eight other pilots. Belgian Gladiators suffered heavy losses to the Germans in 1940 , with all 15 operational aircraft lost, while only managing to damage two German aircraft. During

26533-404: Was introduced with the BMW 801 14-cylinder twin-row radial. Kurt Tank designed a new cooling system for this engine that used a high-speed fan to blow compressed air into channels that carry air to the middle of the banks, where a series of baffles directed the air over all of the cylinders. This allowed the cowling to be tightly fitted around the engine, reducing drag, while still providing (after

26702-435: Was not considered viable due to the difficulty of providing the required airflow to the rear banks. Larger engines were designed, mostly using water cooling although this greatly increased complexity and eliminated some of the advantages of the radial air-cooled design. One example of this concept is the BMW 803 , which never entered service. A major study into the airflow around radials using wind tunnels and other systems

26871-423: Was not enough to offset the aerodynamic disadvantages from having two airfoils interfering with each other however. Strut braced monoplanes were tried but none of them were successful, not least due to the drag from the number of struts used. The structural forces acting on the spars of a biplane wing tend to be lower as they are divided between four spars rather than two, so the wing can use less material to obtain

27040-524: Was not until the 1920s that Bristol and Armstrong Siddeley produced reliable air-cooled radials such as the Bristol Jupiter and the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar . In the United States the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) noted in 1920 that air-cooled radials could offer an increase in power-to-weight ratio and reliability; by 1921 the U.S. Navy had announced it would only order aircraft fitted with air-cooled radials and other naval air arms followed suit. Charles Lawrance 's J-1 engine

27209-428: Was operating from this base by 27 May. The squadrons had been ordered to defend the fleet anchorage at Skånland and the Norwegian naval base at Harstad on the island of Hinnøya , as well as the Narvik area after it was recaptured. In the last days of May ground attack missions were also flown by the Gladiators against railway stations, German vehicles and coastal vessels. On 2 June, one Gladiator pilot, Louis Jacobsen,

27378-480: Was shot down during the air battle by the future experte Helmut Lent , while two were strafed and destroyed while refuelling and rearming at Fornebu airport. The remaining four operational fighters were ordered to land wherever they could away from the base. The Gladiators landed on frozen lakes around Oslo and were abandoned by their pilots, then wrecked by souvenir -hunting civilians. No Norwegian Army Air Service aircraft were able to evacuate westwards before

27547-432: Was the Salmson 9Z series of nine-cylinder water-cooled radial engines that were produced in large numbers. Georges Canton and Pierre Unné patented the original engine design in 1909, offering it to the Salmson company; the engine was often known as the Canton-Unné. From 1909 to 1919 the radial engine was overshadowed by its close relative, the rotary engine , which differed from the so-called "stationary" radial in that

27716-534: Was the British Townend ring or "drag ring" which formed a narrow band around the engine covering the cylinder heads, reducing drag. The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics studied the problem, developing the NACA cowling which further reduced drag and improved cooling. Nearly all aircraft radial engines since have used NACA-type cowlings. While inline liquid-cooled engines continued to be common in new designs until late in World War II , radial engines dominated afterwards until overtaken by jet engines, with

27885-511: Was 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 . In total, 747 aircraft were built (483 RAF, 98 RN), with 216 being exported to 13 countries, some of which were from

28054-431: Was the top Gladiator ace with 15 victories with the type. During the 1920s, Britain's air defences had been based around interceptor aircraft capable of flying only for short ranges and at speeds of 150 to 200 miles per hour (240 to 320 km/h), but by 1930, figures within the Air Ministry were keen to supersede these aircraft. In particular, some dissatisfaction had arisen with the level of reliability experienced with

28223-738: Was thought that only the old CR.32s were involved, but there were also many CR.42s; it is likely that the then inexperienced Pattle was shot down by another future ace, Franco Lucchini . On this occasion, the Fiats managed to surprise the Gladiators, shooting down three of them. Wykeham Barnes, who was shot down but survived, claimed a Breda 65, while Pattle claimed a Ba 65 and a CR.42. On 8 August 1940, during another dogfight , 14 Gladiators of 80 Squadron took 16 Fiat CR.42s from 9° and 10° Gruppi of 4° Stormo (a Regia Aeronautica elite unit) by surprise over Gabr Saleh, well inside Italian territory. British pilots claimed 13 to 16 confirmed victories and one to seven probables, while losing two Gladiators. Actually

28392-403: Was widely claimed as "the first truly reliable aircraft engine". Wright employed Giuseppe Mario Bellanca to design an aircraft to showcase it, and the result was the Wright-Bellanca WB-1 , which first flew later that year. The J-5 was used on many advanced aircraft of the day, including Charles Lindbergh 's Spirit of St. Louis , in which he made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight. In 1925

28561-457: Was widely used by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) while the US Navy operated the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N . In later civilian use in the US, the Stearman became particularly associated with stunt flying such as wing-walking , and with crop dusting, where its compactness worked well at low levels, where it had to dodge obstacles. Modern biplane designs still exist in specialist roles such as aerobatics and agricultural aircraft with

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