My Father converted to Typhoons in March 1945 at Chedworth in No3 Squadron after running up a few hundred hours in Spitfire 5c's and Hurricane 2c's. He then joined 137 Squadron in April 45 where he was involved in ground and sea attack sorties up to the end of the war. Apart from taking a hit in his starboard main spar whilst 'clobbering' this and that the armed recces passed without mishap. Thank you for your video which has really brought home to me how brave my old man and his many colleagues were. Sadly he died soon after the war end so I had no chance of tapping in to his flying memories other than to read his Pilot's Log Book.
I was at the Bolt head Hotel ( now demolished )a few years back and went up to have a look at the old airfield . It's a daunting place , wild and windswept but a welcome sight to many aircraft that diverted there unable to get back to inland airfields. The winter of 1944 must have been a different story from the one told here with men arming aircraft in just shorts. A very well made and edited video , thanks.
Thank you so much for this wonderful video tribute, my grandfather Robert William Murray was an LAC with the 266 Rhodesian squadron 1940-45, wonderful to get an insight in to the Typhoon aircraft and the very brave airmen and ground crew support that kept them flying throughout the second world war. I congratulate you in your efforts in the making of this fine piece of film history.
Building the advanced landing grounds for these things was an engineering challenge. My uncle Ken was in charge of doing it for the Canadian army, as they went through Holland and Belgium and onwards. For awhile they were turning them out every 3 weeks.
10:15 On the right, back to camera, is Roland Beamont, who was one of Hawker's lead test pilots and who also flew the Typhoon and Tempest on operations. When the structural and engine problems had the Typhoon on the verge of cancellation, Beamont could see the aircraft's potential and campaigned for its retention. Ironically, one of the things that saved the Typhoon was the Focke Wulf 190. The 190s used to fly across the Channel at low level, usually in bad weather, drop bombs on coastal town and retire at high speed. The Mark V Spitfires, which were almost totally outclassed by the 190s, had little or no chance of catching them, but the Typhoon was not so constrained. It was the RAF's first 400 miles per hour fighter and could not only catch the FW190s but could out-match them at low altitude and it didn't take long for the hit-and-run raids to stop. The Sabre engine was a pig of a thing to start, and the Typhoons detailed to catch the 190s, and which were based at forward airfields close to the coast, needed to be started and run up at different times during the night, so that they would start on the first attempt when they had to scramble. A story was told of locals living near one airfield objecting to the noise of the engines being run up during the night and a letter of complaint was sent to the Typhoon squadron. The Commanding Officer wrote back, politely asking which engine sound the locals would prefer to hear: Typhoons or Focke Wulfs. The carbon monoxide problem was never properly fixed, but different methods of solving the problem were tried out. Robert Stanford Tuck was tasked with testing a Typhoon that had been fitted with some kind of gadget in the cockpit to remove the carbon monoxide. On the day he was to fly the aircraft, he was walking out to it when he was called back to take a phone call from his Commanding Officer, so he told a young Argentine pilot named Dack to take the flight. Tuck finished the phone call and went outside. A short time later, they saw and heard the Typhoon in a vertical dive and it made a very large crater in the ground. Investigators found a piece of the pilot's liver and analysis showed that he had enough carbon monoxide in his system to knock out a horse. The gadget had actually concentrated the carbon monoxide in the cockpit. "Tuck's Luck" saved him on a number of occasions during his flying career.
My gran told me a story of a German fighter plane coming in low up Salcombe estuary and shooting at the bus. I don't know if anyone was hurt but it must have terrified the passengers. I wish I knew where they were (Devon Rd maybe), and wonder what aircraft it could have been - perhaps a Wulf 190?
My favourite aircraft ever! I've a 1/24th scale model of Roland Beamonts PR-G. He did just about more than anyone to keep the beast flying after its many early problems. Many thanks for your Tiffy imput, GPF. Bolt Head was certainly a taxing place to t/o and land. Brave lads indeed!
Sometimes the take-off weight of the P47 could be a problem. My father was a tank commander in the New Zealand Division in Italy 1943/45. He told us about being billeted in a house at the end of an airfield where an American P47 squadron was based and how the fully-loaded and fully-bombed up Thunderbolts would rattle their windows on take-off. They moved out and he heard later that a P47 failed to lift off one day and flew right in the front door of the house.
@@MarsFKA I'd guess that any heavily loaded aircraft could be a bear on takeoff. I seem to recall many stories of US & British heavy bombers crashing on takeoff.
Very good video, thanks. It must have taken great courage to fly these, with their well-known reliability problems: a good friend of my fathers flew them in no. 1 squadron and came down in the Channel after the engine failed - he was never found. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude.
Great video! The Hawker Typhoon (and its sucessor the Tempest) is one of the most beautiful aircraft of WW II in my opinion. Apart from the liberation by the 15th Scottish Division (in particular by the 7th Seaforth Highlanders and the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders) on 26 october 1944, the 2nd biggest event in the WW II history of my home town of Oisterwijk, Netherlands, happened some five weeks earlier on Saturday 16 September 1944 - the day before Operation Market Garden. That day around noon a German ammunition train was being straffed twice within 30 minutes (the 2nd time to mop up any left-overs) by Hawker Typhoons of the RCAF (438th & 440th SQ, 143rd Wing) at the shunting yard of our local railway station. Its 30+ freight cars had just been stocked with ammo from German depots hidden in the woods just south of the town by Russian POW's. By miracle nobody got killed, but the devastation of the detonation was enormous. Fifteen civilians were injured. My father was only five years old at the time but he always remembered vividly running for shelter with his mother and siblings that day when the straffing started. Alledgedly the Typhoons first circeled around before lining up for their straffing runs giving people some time to run for cover. That's the story, but I always wondered if those Typhoons weren't actually Tempests, for only two weeks later on October 1st, RAF Hawker Tempests were being stationed at the Dutch Airforce base of Volkel, about 25 km's east by north-east of my home town, which was recaptured from the Germans during Market Garden (Volkel is about halfway between Eindhoven and Nijmegen)? Was the Typhoon still in commission in the fall of 1944 by the RCAF? There is some amature footage shot hours or a day after the event, albeit in poor quality: ua-cam.com/video/baK41oaq2sM/v-deo.html There's also some footage of the liberation of my home town by the 15th Scottisch just five weeks later: ua-cam.com/video/ar13gJiFHGc/v-deo.html
I read it was Bristol that helped improve the reliability of the Sabre by machining Centaurus sleeves to Sabre size, the Napier sleeves wore out less than 10 hours on the bench but the Bristol sleeves lasted over a hundred with little sign of wear. I never read anything about Boulton Paul in Roland Beamont/Arthur Reed's book on Typhoon & Tempest, excellent video thank you for creating and posting this
great m8 well done hip hip to you and our brave lads who flew thease sabre powered beasts cheers for your time and efforts in the making of this doc.. llddr
You had to be a brave and a exceptional pilot to fly one, as well as the lethal problems stated, one pilot described the Phoon as having the handling of a cart horse and the temperament of a thought bred, but for all that it was a out standing plane.
An interesting documentary. My late uncle Peter flew Typhoons for 182 Squadron in England and France. In the late summer of '44, he was shot down over Occupied Holland and hidden by the Dutch Resistance. They moved him form one safe house to another, dressed as an Irish priest (disguise supplied by genuine Irish priest) until the area was overrun by British troops. He then put on his uniform and walked out to greet the tommies. He was 56 days behind enemy lines. I have a picture of him in his disguise taken in Holland along with the members of the Dutch Resistance group, plus the Irish Father. Very brave men and women.
Very interesting, Chris. And very special, both the Typhoon and the pilots who flew them! They must have caused a hell of a lot of carnage once the pilot got used to them! A great post, many thanks 👌👏👏
Fascinating story Chris. You’ve given a real insight into the challenge of being based at Bolt Head with Typhoons. My father in law depended on them as he was with 7th RTR from D+1 to the Danish border by 15 April 1945. They saved the day many times in Normandy
@@GULLPERCHFLYER I’ve seen one of those huge Napier engines mounted into a car chassis for hill climbing - massive, pouring smoke and echoing off the valley sides at launch. Can’t imagine one with an aircraft wrapped around it!
Thank you for sharing this really informative ’first person’ narrative. I have a few scale model warbirds in my display and the Hawker Typhoon sits in the middle
To think they put teenagers in those monsters, Pierre Clostermann's The Big Show is great read and includes a hair raising description of his first flight in the Hawker Tempest which was a progression on the Typhoon with the same engine
C’est exactement çà; et il ne fallait pas le réduire au seul rôle de bombardier léger, car utilisé dans ses points forts, il était redoutable en chasse, mais dur à maîtriser car sur-puissant; en appui des troupes au sol, il était un allié très très efficace, redoutable, avec ses roquettes et canons, un tueur de char hors normes, mais pas que…
Great video I will seek out this airfield when we go on our next day trip. Its amazing how we started the war with what were effectively armed sports planes ie the Spitfire and ended with powerful aerial tanks like the Typhoon !
It helped defeat the Nazis in Normandy.It had an enormous effect on the war with its superb ground attack capability.Time and again in Normandy it helped to sway battles in our favour.Never to be forgotten for it's great contribution to the war.
A captured German general ventured the opinion that the German army could have defeated the Allies in the West were it not for air power, principally fighter-bombers like the Typhoon and the American P47 Thunderbolt.
Excellent video Chris. A very good tribute to the machine and the pilots who flew them and of course great credit to you for the time and effort that must have gone into the research for material and the final edit. Well done (sorry sounds a bit like a teachers comment ... but I suppose it is! :-)
And a very very effective low level interceptor. Was able to take off from South coast based air fields and intercept marauding FW190's, it was a brut of a machine.
@@inominate2024 It was designed as a fighter but was a failure at high altitudes. Early days they had many problems and killed many pilots in accidents. The Tempest was a much better replacement.
Hi Chris . A phenominal aircraft but it did have a baptism of fire . Roland "Bea" Beamont was instrumental in it's development . In later years he would be the first to fly the E.E Canberra , E.E. Lightening and the TSR2 . I forgot to mention the lack of your normal background music. That Sabre may have been very powerful but it doesn't sing like Merlin ! Thanks Chris.
I think it's very sad that over 800 typhoon aircraft were made at Gloucester Aircraft Company and we have none flying! There are many parts buried all over the UK.
I am surprised that the later Typhoons weren't fitted with the 2,500HP Griffon engine in place of the overly complex Napier Sabre, or was the airframe not compatible?.
I dont no much about airplanes but it might be than the Sarbe it is much more weight than the Griffon and using the Griffon would upset balance of the Aircraft in flight.
Excellent Chris, how interesting - Wow ! Definitely needed an extra pair of underwear on to land a heavy aircraft like that Typhoon at 110 mph on Bolt Head - wonder how many Typhoons went over the cliff into the sea
Heavy, powerful, early versions were famously unreliable, glided like a brick and hard to land wheels up (radiator often dug in, especially on water and it somersaulted). Given the most dangerous missions (eg. flak suppression). High % pilot casualties. Loved by ground forces as post DDay worked with an effective ground control organisation for close air suport.
My uncle, Robert Ainsley, flew the Typhoon in 175 sqd. He would have been quite a noticeable bloke at 6'6 and I believe he flew Hurricanes prior to the Typhoon as he was too tall for the Spitfire. I only met him once many years ago but he had many stories to tell.
What a beast this kite was! Not only the problems for the pilot mentioned here but I read that they also tended to catch fire often on start up and if the unreliable Sabre packed up over water, surviving a ditching was rare as the massive scoop would turn the aircraft arse over tit. Yet even with the knowledge of these problems on top of the Hun shooting at you, these brave men still flew them!
@@GULLPERCHFLYER wow that's brilliant, I've always liked the typhoon from a young boy I hope they get it flying though watching a film on them they were a little temperamental to say the least
According to a doc on YT after the war was over brand new ones nothing on the clock and they could not break away from the contract with Hawker they where all scraped.
As a kid in the 60's in the U.S. I used to put model airplanes together, had over 200 different planes, my favorite of all of them was the Hawker Hurricane, when I went into the Marines my mom gave them all to my cousin he destroyed all of them. To say I was Pi$$ed would be an understatement, still tick off to this day
I have a slightly less catastrophic ''accident'', to my two balsawood model WW1 fighter's, the dog took a fancy to them, They took about 50 hours to construct. unlike their 'D'struct.
From 42 onwards production switched from the defensive Hurricane to the offensive Typhoon. The majority of both being built at Hawker's subsidiary companies Gloster factory at Brockworth gloucestershire. The same factory later switched production from the Typhoon to the Gloster Meteor, which was the first allied combat jet seeing action in the later stages of the war.
God yeah,the "Airfix"models.I was an 80's kid but still loved making the models and hanging them up on string in my bedroom, because they were"flying" you see 😉.
Thank you for this video, very well done and unusual in the way you show us the views from the cockpit and the take off from such a basic airfield. I wondered where the crews for maintenance and pilots quarters were at RAF Bolt Head at the time. Very well done video, I met some Typhoon pilots many years ago and Dougie Coxhead was one of them, some of the stories he recounted were brilliant but also frightening at times.
Just how pissed off must that farmer have got when they overshot that strip and tore down all his fencing. I bet that happened a lot. heh Cheers for the upload.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER I come from down that way originally. Well Torbay but South Devon all the same. I meant with aborted takeoffs rather than being bombed though.
what did the US P47 weigh? I thought that was the heaviest WW2 fighter? PS love the vintage film, the Typhoon and the Tempest (ancestors of the Sea fury) were Awesome! PPS have you seen Typhoon legacy's channel? He is restoring a Typhoon to flight with a genuine Napier engine...well worth a look!
Yes the P47 around 8.5 tons max weight, Typhoon around 6.5 tons, I guess one could say the typhoon was the heaviest British fighter 😊. Do please consider a subscribe. Chris.
Thankyou Chris . Yes. Very brave souls indeed and that landing speed ! I knew someone who worked on these very heavy aircraft and he claime the radiator assembly weighed one and a half tonne ! So how did you simulate the aerial shots ? Or did you have access to a light aircraft .....or Typhoon ! ThankYou .
Thanks Gregg appreciate your feed back, if you check out my channel I uploaded a film about the P47 Thunderbolt , it's called Thunderbolt Power House Punch, do please subscribe. Chris.
An old friend of the family recalled being kept awake the night before D Day by the Tempests or Typhoons in the nearby airfield were being idled all night to ensure they could get them started in the morning. Apparently the sleeve valve engine was notoriously hard to start when cold. They knew from the noise that something special was about to happen...
Formidable tank buster,Germans feard them Greatly in Normady,read they learnt to bounce the bombs/rockets of the road up under the week points on Tiger and panther tanks.
The framed canopy and the car door were poor features of the early marks. It would have been more difficult to slow down with wet grass on the landing ground. I wonder whether they used PSP (pierced steel planking).
Thanks John the car door on the Typhoon looked dodgy. At Bolt Head the runway was Sommerfeld tracking laid on coconut matting, very effective as they landed and took off Lancasters and B17's as well. Please have a subscribe to my channel Chris.
The comments about the Napier Sabre engine seem a bit dubious to me. I know of no suggestion that the Sabre was two engines put together. Yes, it had two crankshafts, but I believe it was designed that way from the outset. It was also a sleeve valve engine, and the problems with that included thermal distortion, inaccurate running clearances and rapid wear. These problems were resolved with help from Bristol (Roy Fedden et al). Never heard about Boulton Paul being involved...
Many Thanks, overall the Typhoon had many problems and I guess the worst would be the tail breaking off, another would be the fumes in the cockpit and I guess there were problems with the engine. My main interest was the fact these aircraft were based at RAF Bolt Head which is close by where I live, the pilots were very brave taking off from there and flying and flying between 70 and 90 miles across the English Channel, then returning to land on what was really quite a short landing ground. Al great respect to them all. Chris.
I think size matters when talking about weight, especially the amount of weaponry and armour carried, the structural reinforcements required to carry such weight.
Thankyou v interesting. The later sabres were sorted once the necessary remedies in metallurgical integrity of the sleeve valves had been accomplished I believe With a government enforced collaboration with Bristols who made the other highly successful sleeve valvers (Hercules) perfecting the quality of the thin walled valves . I suspect the narrator talking about the engine malfunctions might not be giving an accurate diagnosis of the actual issues of an engine rushed into service. and that they were in so much hurry that if a nitriding steel was used why it was not so treated . A recommended read is ‘Typhoon Pilot’ by Desmond Scott of 486 squadron, they really mastered the Tiffy an aircraft which could deliver a massive punch. Without them the invasion armies in1944 after d day would not have been able to make enough progress in the terrain they found themselves in.
Interesting the Napier had an oil feed problem. The Merlin oil supply was also borderline. Engine overspeed would starve the crank bearings and nasty stuff happened a fraction of a second later.
Indeed, the P47 was heavier, but the Typhoon was the heaviest single engine Brit fighter of WWII. They were both "big-boned girls". ;) Disregarding all that, the Typhoons and Tempests were absolute beasts. Those big Hawker fighters were so unlike the Spitfires we Americans picture when we think of British single-seaters of that era. Great video!
@@GULLPERCHFLYER The narration with subtitles on is, _"I think probably the fastest fighter in the world............... pretending to be 12, however, this second option, had been removed from the specification."_ The question is 12 what?
Wasn't the P-47 Thunderbolt the heaviest single engine fighter of the war? I think it weighed in at over 7 tons...The Typhoon had the biggest single engine prop though.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER Yep, the 'Thud' or 'Jug' had an unbeatable dive speed as well. Even the Typhoon couldn't catch it in a dive....In level flight was a different matter though!
Impresses me as the flying equivalent of an armored vehicle. No wonder at seven tons, even with as massive a power plant as it had, it wasn’t effective as a top air combat fighter. But in the ground attack role it must have been the equivalent of a great white shark. How did it compare to the Soviet armored Shturmovik, which was also extremely effective in ground attack, and weighed only five tons, including a Pilot and rear gunner?
Hello Mr. Gull Perch Flyer : Bad News - the Typhoon was NOT the heaviest single seat fighter of the war, that would be the Lockheed P38 . Here are some figures for you : Hawker Typhoon • Empty weight: 8,840 lb (4,010 kg) • Max takeoff weight: 13,250 lb (6,010 kg) with two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs P47 Thunderbolt • Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) • Max takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg) P 38 Lightning • Empty weight: 12,800 lb (5,806 kg) • Max takeoff weight: 21,600 lb (9,798 kg) So, sorry, the Typhoon came in a distant third in terms of empty and Max Take off Weights. AMURRRICA, BABY !
There is one in USA under reconstruction but it might have been put on hold ? it is owned by Kermit Weeks. He buys vintage aircraft and also owns a clipped Spitfire.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER He did have a someone working on it but he retired. Kermit purchased the Typhoon from the UK partly finished had it shipped over to the USA there was or is on You Tube of some of its reconstruction in the UK.
My Father converted to Typhoons in March 1945 at Chedworth in No3 Squadron after running up a few hundred hours in Spitfire 5c's and Hurricane 2c's. He then joined 137 Squadron in April 45 where he was involved in ground and sea attack sorties up to the end of the war.
Apart from taking a hit in his starboard main spar whilst 'clobbering' this and that the armed recces passed without mishap.
Thank you for your video which has really brought home to me how brave my old man and his many colleagues were. Sadly he died soon after the war end so I had no chance of tapping in to his flying memories other than to read his Pilot's Log Book.
Thanks Andrew for your kind comments.
Your dad must of had balls of steel mate 😉
Thank you for not adding music. So we can hear the incredible H24 engines that my father worked on in WWII
Appreciate your feedback what an amazing engine.
I was at the Bolt head Hotel ( now demolished )a few years back and went up to have a look at the old airfield .
It's a daunting place , wild and windswept but a welcome sight to many aircraft that diverted there unable to get back to inland airfields.
The winter of 1944 must have been a different story from the one told here with men arming aircraft in just shorts.
A very well made and edited video , thanks.
What a fine tribute to those brave airman and that awesome Hawker Typhoon.
Great footage of the unsung hero,and the Pilots ,men and women,who flew them.
Thank you so much for this wonderful video tribute, my grandfather Robert William Murray was an LAC with the 266 Rhodesian squadron 1940-45, wonderful to get an insight in to the Typhoon aircraft and the very brave airmen and ground crew support that kept them flying throughout the second world war. I congratulate you in your efforts in the making of this fine piece of film history.
The sound of that Napier Sabre power plant is so sweet. But what a frightening machine!
Building the advanced landing grounds for these things was an engineering challenge. My uncle Ken was in charge of doing it for the Canadian army, as they went through Holland and Belgium and onwards. For awhile they were turning them out every 3 weeks.
10:15 On the right, back to camera, is Roland Beamont, who was one of Hawker's lead test pilots and who also flew the Typhoon and Tempest on operations. When the structural and engine problems had the Typhoon on the verge of cancellation, Beamont could see the aircraft's potential and campaigned for its retention.
Ironically, one of the things that saved the Typhoon was the Focke Wulf 190. The 190s used to fly across the Channel at low level, usually in bad weather, drop bombs on coastal town and retire at high speed. The Mark V Spitfires, which were almost totally outclassed by the 190s, had little or no chance of catching them, but the Typhoon was not so constrained. It was the RAF's first 400 miles per hour fighter and could not only catch the FW190s but could out-match them at low altitude and it didn't take long for the hit-and-run raids to stop.
The Sabre engine was a pig of a thing to start, and the Typhoons detailed to catch the 190s, and which were based at forward airfields close to the coast, needed to be started and run up at different times during the night, so that they would start on the first attempt when they had to scramble.
A story was told of locals living near one airfield objecting to the noise of the engines being run up during the night and a letter of complaint was sent to the Typhoon squadron. The Commanding Officer wrote back, politely asking which engine sound the locals would prefer to hear: Typhoons or Focke Wulfs.
The carbon monoxide problem was never properly fixed, but different methods of solving the problem were tried out. Robert Stanford Tuck was tasked with testing a Typhoon that had been fitted with some kind of gadget in the cockpit to remove the carbon monoxide. On the day he was to fly the aircraft, he was walking out to it when he was called back to take a phone call from his Commanding Officer, so he told a young Argentine pilot named Dack to take the flight.
Tuck finished the phone call and went outside. A short time later, they saw and heard the Typhoon in a vertical dive and it made a very large crater in the ground. Investigators found a piece of the pilot's liver and analysis showed that he had enough carbon monoxide in his system to knock out a horse. The gadget had actually concentrated the carbon monoxide in the cockpit.
"Tuck's Luck" saved him on a number of occasions during his flying career.
Really appreciate your detailed feedback.
My gran told me a story of a German fighter plane coming in low up Salcombe estuary and shooting at the bus. I don't know if anyone was hurt but it must have terrified the passengers. I wish I knew where they were (Devon Rd maybe), and wonder what aircraft it could have been - perhaps a Wulf 190?
My favourite aircraft ever! I've a 1/24th scale model of Roland Beamonts PR-G. He did just about more than anyone to keep the beast flying after its many early problems.
Many thanks for your Tiffy imput, GPF. Bolt Head was certainly a taxing place to t/o and land. Brave lads indeed!
Appreciate your feedback.
Thank you for a very enjoyable 15 minute history of aircraft & airfield.
One of my all time favorite aircraft. Thanks for this one Chris.
It was quite a beast Richard, based at our local RAF Bolt Head. Please have a subscribe. Chris.
The P-47 was actually the heaviest WW2 single seater. It's empty weight was 5 tons and maximum takeoff weight was nearly 9 tons.
Sometimes the take-off weight of the P47 could be a problem. My father was a tank commander in the New Zealand Division in Italy 1943/45. He told us about being billeted in a house at the end of an airfield where an American P47 squadron was based and how the fully-loaded and fully-bombed up Thunderbolts would rattle their windows on take-off.
They moved out and he heard later that a P47 failed to lift off one day and flew right in the front door of the house.
@@MarsFKA I'd guess that any heavily loaded aircraft could be a bear on takeoff. I seem to recall many stories of US & British heavy bombers crashing on takeoff.
@@billboth4814 Yes, at the war loadings that many aircraft were expected to carry, it was heart-in-mouth stuff getting them off the ground.
i assumed he meant it was the heaviest british single seater, given the accent.
Very good video, thanks. It must have taken great courage to fly these, with their well-known reliability problems: a good friend of my fathers flew them in no. 1 squadron and came down in the Channel after the engine failed - he was never found. We owe them all a huge debt of gratitude.
It is going to be absolutely awesome to see and hear a restored Typhoon with a Napier Sabre engine. ✊
I agree please have a subscribe to my channel. Chris.
ua-cam.com/channels/Oh3lzlK4b9UtMzHagk7SaQ.html
Great video! The Hawker Typhoon (and its sucessor the Tempest) is one of the most beautiful aircraft of WW II in my opinion.
Apart from the liberation by the 15th Scottish Division (in particular by the 7th Seaforth Highlanders and the 2nd Glasgow Highlanders) on 26 october 1944, the 2nd biggest event in the WW II history of my home town of Oisterwijk, Netherlands, happened some five weeks earlier on Saturday 16 September 1944 - the day before Operation Market Garden. That day around noon a German ammunition train was being straffed twice within 30 minutes (the 2nd time to mop up any left-overs) by Hawker Typhoons of the RCAF (438th & 440th SQ, 143rd Wing) at the shunting yard of our local railway station. Its 30+ freight cars had just been stocked with ammo from German depots hidden in the woods just south of the town by Russian POW's. By miracle nobody got killed, but the devastation of the detonation was enormous. Fifteen civilians were injured. My father was only five years old at the time but he always remembered vividly running for shelter with his mother and siblings that day when the straffing started. Alledgedly the Typhoons first circeled around before lining up for their straffing runs giving people some time to run for cover.
That's the story, but I always wondered if those Typhoons weren't actually Tempests, for only two weeks later on October 1st, RAF Hawker Tempests were being stationed at the Dutch Airforce base of Volkel, about 25 km's east by north-east of my home town, which was recaptured from the Germans during Market Garden (Volkel is about halfway between Eindhoven and Nijmegen)? Was the Typhoon still in commission in the fall of 1944 by the RCAF?
There is some amature footage shot hours or a day after the event, albeit in poor quality: ua-cam.com/video/baK41oaq2sM/v-deo.html
There's also some footage of the liberation of my home town by the 15th Scottisch just five weeks later: ua-cam.com/video/ar13gJiFHGc/v-deo.html
Thanks I agree. Chris
I read it was Bristol that helped improve the reliability of the Sabre by machining Centaurus sleeves to Sabre size, the Napier sleeves wore out less than 10 hours on the bench but the Bristol sleeves lasted over a hundred with little sign of wear. I never read anything about Boulton Paul in Roland Beamont/Arthur Reed's book on Typhoon & Tempest, excellent video thank you for creating and posting this
Appreciate your feedback Tim j please consider a subscribe to my channel. Chris.
great m8 well done hip hip to you and our brave lads who flew thease sabre powered beasts cheers for your time and efforts in the making of this doc.. llddr
You had to be a brave and a exceptional pilot to fly one, as well as the lethal problems stated, one pilot described the Phoon as having the handling of a cart horse and the temperament of a thought bred, but for all that it was a out standing plane.
Love the Typhoons and the Tempest. Those two just look mean as hell and were fast fliers.
You are welcome.
An interesting documentary. My late uncle Peter flew Typhoons for 182 Squadron in England and France. In the late summer of '44, he was shot down over Occupied Holland and hidden by the Dutch Resistance. They moved him form one safe house to another, dressed as an Irish priest (disguise supplied by genuine Irish priest) until the area was overrun by British troops. He then put on his uniform and walked out to greet the tommies. He was 56 days behind enemy lines. I have a picture of him in his disguise taken in Holland along with the members of the Dutch Resistance group, plus the Irish Father. Very brave men and women.
Thank You for your very interesting feedback. Chris.
Very interesting, Chris. And very special, both the Typhoon and the pilots who flew them! They must have caused a hell of a lot of carnage once the pilot got used to them! A great post, many thanks 👌👏👏
Thanks Kevin pushing towards 600 subscribers all new subscribers appreciated if you find any lurking 😊
Fascinating story Chris. You’ve given a real insight into the challenge of being based at Bolt Head with Typhoons. My father in law depended on them as he was with 7th RTR from D+1 to the Danish border by 15 April 1945. They saved the day many times in Normandy
Thanks Martin brave men flew those massive aircraft.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER I’ve seen one of those huge Napier engines mounted into a car chassis for hill climbing - massive, pouring smoke and echoing off the valley sides at launch. Can’t imagine one with an aircraft wrapped around it!
@@martinross5521 I'm not aware of a car with a Sabre engine. The Lion engine (W12) was however used for Hill climbs.
@@davidhamer8333 thanks for the correction. You’re quite right - the Sabre was only in aircraft use.
@@martinross5521 No problem Martin, sorry to be a smart ar*e. The red Napier Bentley has 'The ultimate laxative' written on the side.
Great video. One of my favorite walks,Bolt tail to salcombe and having a look at the airfield. Followed by an icecream in Salcombe.
The bravery of the pilots brings tears to my eyes. Gerry didn't like them up em.
A real beast! One of my favourite Airfix models!
Thank you for this marvellous presentation. Wonderful photos and film on the Hawker Typhoon.
Thank you for sharing this really informative ’first person’ narrative. I have a few scale model warbirds in my display and the Hawker Typhoon sits in the middle
Appreciate your kind words Philip.
To think they put teenagers in those monsters, Pierre Clostermann's The Big Show is great read and includes a hair raising description of his first flight in the Hawker Tempest which was a progression on the Typhoon with the same engine
C’est exactement çà; et il ne fallait pas le réduire au seul rôle de bombardier léger, car utilisé dans ses points forts, il était redoutable en chasse, mais dur à maîtriser car sur-puissant; en appui des troupes au sol, il était un allié très très efficace, redoutable, avec ses roquettes et canons, un tueur de char hors normes, mais pas que…
Terrific! There's really not much info out there on this much under-appreciated, and very frightening, aircraft! Keep up the good work!
Many thanks Les.
Excellent video, thankyou for sharing.
Great video I will seek out this airfield when we go on our next day trip. Its amazing how we started the war with what were effectively armed sports planes ie the Spitfire and ended with powerful aerial tanks like the Typhoon !
Many thanks for your feedback.
I wouldn’t call a MkXIV Spitfire an armed sports plane. 40 odd mph faster than a Typhoon.
It helped defeat the Nazis in Normandy.It had an enormous effect on the war with its superb ground attack capability.Time and again in Normandy it helped to sway battles in our favour.Never to be forgotten for it's great contribution to the war.
Thank you for your feedback.
A captured German general ventured the opinion that the German army could have defeated the Allies in the West were it not for air power, principally fighter-bombers like the Typhoon and the American P47 Thunderbolt.
Learned a lot there, fascinating.
Excellent video Chris. A very good tribute to the machine and the pilots who flew them and of course great credit to you for the time and effort that must have gone into the research for material and the final edit. Well done (sorry sounds a bit like a teachers comment ... but I suppose it is! :-)
Appreciate your feedback Tim.
It failed as a dogfighter and found its niche as very effective ground attack machine.
And a very very effective low level interceptor. Was able to take off from South coast based air fields and intercept marauding FW190's, it was a brut of a machine.
@@inominate2024 It was designed as a fighter but was a failure at high altitudes. Early days they had many problems and killed many pilots in accidents. The Tempest was a much better replacement.
Hi Chris . A phenominal aircraft but it did have a baptism of fire . Roland "Bea" Beamont was instrumental in it's development . In later years he would be the first to fly the E.E Canberra , E.E. Lightening and the TSR2 . I forgot to mention the lack of your normal background music. That Sabre may have been very powerful but it doesn't sing like Merlin ! Thanks Chris.
Thanks John I often receive complaints about background music so try a few without.
Love the Britt's,love the mosquito!!!!Love the heros of the Battle of Britain!Greatness stands alone!!!!
All very interesting aircraft of that era, appreciate your feedback Paul. Chris.
Always loved the typhoon
Well done for making this important video.
I think it's very sad that over 800 typhoon aircraft were made at Gloucester Aircraft Company and we have none flying! There are many parts buried all over the UK.
I am surprised that the later Typhoons weren't fitted with the 2,500HP Griffon engine in place of the overly complex Napier Sabre, or was the airframe not compatible?.
I dont no much about airplanes but it might be than the Sarbe it is much more weight than the Griffon and using the Griffon would upset balance of the Aircraft in flight.
Well done, fascinating bit of work!
Excellent Chris, how interesting - Wow ! Definitely needed an extra pair of underwear on to land a heavy aircraft like that Typhoon at 110 mph on Bolt Head - wonder how many Typhoons went over the cliff into the sea
Thanks John, I have heard that many aircraft taking off heavy had to drop down to sea level to build up speed to climb away.
Thanks John I have heard many aircraft taking off heavy had to drop down to sea level to gain enough speed to climb away.
Heavy, powerful, early versions were famously unreliable, glided like a brick and hard to land wheels up (radiator often dug in, especially on water and it somersaulted). Given the most dangerous missions (eg. flak suppression). High % pilot casualties. Loved by ground forces as post DDay worked with an effective ground control organisation for close air suport.
England is my mother country,minus a couple of hundred years,but it's my heritage too!!!
Appreciate your feedback Paul
Great footage, the groundcrew footage really shows how big this beast was.
More like a truck than a car.
Cracking video,thankyou.
Glad you enjoyed it Mike do ponder subscribing I have a fair bit more on my channel. Chris.
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It would be very interesting to see how many Squadrons the RAF had on their operational manning Spitfires, Hurricanes, Typhoons and others
That first interviewee sounded like Eric "Winkle" Brown. He flew every fighter in the inventory, and became a jet test pilot.
Really appreciate your efforts. Cracking stuff
Much appreciated Ken, please subscribe and check out my channel over 200 films uploaded. Chris.
My uncle, Robert Ainsley, flew the Typhoon in 175 sqd. He would have been quite a noticeable bloke at 6'6 and I believe he flew Hurricanes prior to the Typhoon as he was too tall for the Spitfire. I only met him once many years ago but he had many stories to tell.
What a beast this kite was! Not only the problems for the pilot mentioned here but I read that they also tended to catch fire often on start up and if the unreliable Sabre packed up over water, surviving a ditching was rare as the massive scoop would turn the aircraft arse over tit.
Yet even with the knowledge of these problems on top of the Hun shooting at you, these brave men still flew them!
Thanks John very brave men indeed.
Thank you Bill!!!I'm sorry but my overall choice is THE P47PERIOD,THAT IS THE BADASS OF WW2
Thanks Paul please have a subscribe I have made a short film about the P47. Chris.
That's a great description of great aircraft ,fantastic, why is there none left to see flying its crazy
There is one in the UK being restored to flight maybe a year or two, it's currently at Duxford.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER wow that's brilliant, I've always liked the typhoon from a young boy I hope they get it flying though watching a film on them they were a little temperamental to say the least
According to a doc on YT after the war was over brand new ones nothing on the clock and they could not break away from the contract with Hawker they where all scraped.
@@itsonlyme9938 that's terrible
Thanks for the informative video. ... ☺
Very interesting material and subject, - many thanks.
Many thanks appreciate your feedback.
As a kid in the 60's in the U.S. I used to put model airplanes together, had over 200 different planes, my favorite of all of them was the Hawker Hurricane, when I went into the Marines my mom gave them all to my cousin he destroyed all of them. To say I was Pi$$ed would be an understatement, still tick off to this day
Wow James same thing happened to me my sister shoved them all in a box never the same after !!
I have a slightly less catastrophic ''accident'', to my two balsawood model WW1 fighter's, the dog took a fancy to them, They took about 50 hours to construct. unlike their 'D'struct.
When I left home at 17 my brothers got into my room and destroyed all my model airplanes etc.
Like James I'm still annoyed by that.
From 42 onwards production switched from the defensive Hurricane to the offensive Typhoon. The majority of both being built at Hawker's subsidiary companies Gloster factory at Brockworth gloucestershire.
The same factory later switched production from the Typhoon to the Gloster Meteor, which was the first allied combat jet seeing action in the later stages of the war.
God yeah,the "Airfix"models.I was an 80's kid but still loved making the models and hanging them up on string in my bedroom, because they were"flying" you see 😉.
Great video and history recap...
Thanks.
Typhoon was a very good plane,I'm sorry to say,firepower,toughness,get you home kind of thing,can't be beat
It became a tough aircraft when they fixed the tail.
Thank you for this video, very well done and unusual in the way you show us the views from the cockpit and the take off from such a basic airfield.
I wondered where the crews for maintenance and pilots quarters were at RAF Bolt Head at the time.
Very well done video, I met some Typhoon pilots many years ago and Dougie Coxhead was one of them, some of the stories he recounted were brilliant but also frightening at times.
Thanks Derek mainly The RAF officers were billited down in Hope cove, ground crew could be in nissen huts and tents close to the aircraft.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER Thanks for that, much appreciated, keep up the very good work.
very interesting and well done
Thanks Gary appreciate your feedback.
Just how pissed off must that farmer have got when they overshot that strip and tore down all his fencing. I bet that happened a lot. heh Cheers for the upload.
You are right there James plus heavy loss of life to civilians in Salcombe from enemy action.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER I come from down that way originally. Well Torbay but South Devon all the same. I meant with aborted takeoffs rather than being bombed though.
Wonderful thank you
Appreciate you taking a look Graham please consider a subscribe. Chris.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER subscribed very well produced video
Lovely plane. Looks very much like a big butch Hurricane.
what did the US P47 weigh? I thought that was the heaviest WW2 fighter?
PS love the vintage film, the Typhoon and the Tempest (ancestors of the Sea fury) were Awesome!
PPS have you seen Typhoon legacy's channel? He is restoring a Typhoon to flight with a genuine Napier engine...well worth a look!
Yes the P47 around 8.5 tons max weight, Typhoon around 6.5 tons, I guess one could say the typhoon was the heaviest British fighter 😊. Do please consider a subscribe. Chris.
Thank you for a very informative video. FYI the P47 was considerably heavier.
7 tonnes compared to 6 for the Typhoon at maximum take off weight
p47 thunderbolt was,4,500kg/4.5 imperial tons empty,the typhoon was,4,010kg,4 imperial tons empty.max takeoff weight with 2 x1,000lbs was 6,010kg, ,6 imperial tons,the p47 thunderbolt max takeoff weight was,7.8 imperial tons,with 2x 1000lb bombs ,and 1 500lb bomb.
That’s very ‘American’ isn’t it?
G'day Chris! Great video! 👍
There is a typhoon being rebuilt in Canada, you can find it here on YT it's called "Typhoon Legacy"
Real dedication 🤗
Many thanks I will check it out.
Thankyou Chris . Yes. Very brave souls indeed and that landing speed ! I knew someone who worked on these very heavy aircraft and he claime the radiator assembly weighed one and a half tonne ! So how did you simulate the aerial shots ? Or did you have access to a light aircraft .....or Typhoon ! ThankYou .
Thanks John I have a light aircraft I film from.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER Slightly slower than a Typhoon then ! So l guess you live in Devon ? I reside in Teignmouth. Thanks once again.
Are you forgettin the American P47 Thunderbolt? it was about that too. Both were bludy rippa aircraft. Nice goin m8 love the airfield too.
Thanks Gregg appreciate your feed back, if you check out my channel I uploaded a film about the P47 Thunderbolt , it's called Thunderbolt Power House Punch, do please subscribe. Chris.
Great Vid. The book "Typhoon Pilot" by Group Captain Desmond Scott is a mine of information on the operations these aircraft undertook.
The P47 was the heaviest single seater fighter of WW2 weighing in at UW 10,000 lbs against the typhoons 8,800 lbs.
Appreciate your feedback Timothy please have a subscribe. Chris.
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An old friend of the family recalled being kept awake the night before D Day by the Tempests or Typhoons in the nearby airfield were being idled all night to ensure they could get them started in the morning. Apparently the sleeve valve engine was notoriously hard to start when cold. They knew from the noise that something special was about to happen...
Many thanks for the memory.
Very interesting video. Thank’s. I dont know if the engine sound was realable
Thanks DeSuite finding good quality Hawker Typhoon footage is quite difficult. Chris.
Pierre Clostermann was none too impressed and the aircraft had a high attrition rate in 1944. A deadly tool in the right hands though.
Very good, thanks
And fantastic visibility
Formidable tank buster,Germans feard them Greatly in Normady,read they learnt to bounce the bombs/rockets of the road up under the week points on Tiger and panther tanks.
Interesting feedback many thanks. Chris.
The framed canopy and the car door were poor features of the early marks. It would have been more difficult to slow down with wet grass on the landing ground. I wonder whether they used PSP (pierced steel planking).
Thanks John the car door on the Typhoon looked dodgy. At Bolt Head the runway was Sommerfeld tracking laid on coconut matting, very effective as they landed and took off Lancasters and B17's as well. Please have a subscribe to my channel Chris.
That was ace, thank you.
Many Thanks. Chris.
The comments about the Napier Sabre engine seem a bit dubious to me. I know of no suggestion that the Sabre was two engines put together. Yes, it had two crankshafts, but I believe it was designed that way from the outset. It was also a sleeve valve engine, and the problems with that included thermal distortion, inaccurate running clearances and rapid wear. These problems were resolved with help from Bristol (Roy Fedden et al). Never heard about Boulton Paul being involved...
Many Thanks, overall the Typhoon had many problems and I guess the worst would be the tail breaking off, another would be the fumes in the cockpit and I guess there were problems with the engine. My main interest was the fact these aircraft were based at RAF Bolt Head which is close by where I live, the pilots were very brave taking off from there and flying and flying between 70 and 90 miles across the English Channel, then returning to land on what was really quite a short landing ground. Al great respect to them all. Chris.
I think size matters when talking about weight, especially the amount of weaponry and armour carried, the structural reinforcements required to carry such weight.
Thanks Tony appreciate your feedback, please do consider a subscribe. Chris.
The single seat P-47 Thunderbolt weighed in at eight tons!
Great video.
Wish you went on more about the Sabres engines.
That engine deserves a film on its own.
The P 47 N was the heaviest single seat piston engined fighter of WW2. At 8 tons...
Thanks I have an upload about the P47 Chris.
Sehr,sehr interessant
Thank you please subscribe.
How do you rate it against the Tempest?
I have read the Tempest was a far superior aircraft.
How did it compare in weight to the P-47?
P47 good bit heavier need to make a film about the P47.
Thankyou v interesting. The later sabres were sorted once the necessary remedies in metallurgical integrity of the sleeve valves had been accomplished I believe
With a government enforced collaboration with Bristols who made the other highly successful sleeve valvers (Hercules) perfecting the quality of the thin walled valves .
I suspect the narrator talking about the engine malfunctions might not be giving an accurate diagnosis of the actual issues of an engine rushed into service.
and that they were in so much hurry that if a nitriding steel was used why it was not so treated .
A recommended read is ‘Typhoon Pilot’ by Desmond Scott of 486 squadron, they really mastered the Tiffy an aircraft which could deliver a massive punch.
Without them the invasion armies in1944 after d day would not have been able to make enough progress in the terrain they found themselves in.
Many thanks for your feedback and the book recommendation.
Interesting the Napier had an oil feed problem. The Merlin oil supply was also borderline. Engine overspeed would starve the crank bearings and nasty stuff happened a fraction of a second later.
Appreciate your feedback.
Something I was unaware of until a few minutes ago . Black nose cones indicated Canadian Tiffie Squadrons , White Britsh .
Got a few more on my channel. Chris.
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Excellent video, but the comment at the beginning about the Typhoon being the heaviest single-engined plane is not quite correct. The P47 was heavier.
Indeed, the P47 was heavier, but the Typhoon was the heaviest single engine Brit fighter of WWII. They were both "big-boned girls". ;)
Disregarding all that, the Typhoons and Tempests were absolute beasts. Those big Hawker fighters were so unlike the Spitfires we Americans picture when we think of British single-seaters of that era. Great video!
What is the audio missing at 10:44?
Hi had a listen on my PC and could find no missing sound, I am not a techie but maybe worth trying on another machine. Chris.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER The narration with subtitles on is, _"I think probably the fastest fighter in the world............... pretending to be 12, however, this second option, had been removed from the specification."_ The question is 12 what?
Wasn't the P-47 Thunderbolt the heaviest single engine fighter of the war? I think it weighed in at over 7 tons...The Typhoon had the biggest single engine prop though.
Thanks I got into trouble when I said the typhoon was the heaviest, the P47 is way heavier at 8 tons.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER Yep, the 'Thud' or 'Jug' had an unbeatable dive speed as well. Even the Typhoon couldn't catch it in a dive....In level flight was a different matter though!
Impresses me as the flying equivalent of an armored vehicle. No wonder at seven tons, even with as massive a power plant as it had, it wasn’t effective as a top air combat fighter. But in the ground attack role it must have been the equivalent of a great white shark.
How did it compare to the Soviet armored Shturmovik, which was also extremely effective in ground attack, and weighed only five tons, including a Pilot and rear gunner?
Appreciate your feedback I will research some more.
Hello Mr. Gull Perch Flyer :
Bad News - the Typhoon was NOT the heaviest single seat fighter of the war, that would be the
Lockheed P38 .
Here are some figures for you :
Hawker Typhoon
• Empty weight: 8,840 lb (4,010 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 13,250 lb (6,010 kg) with two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
P47 Thunderbolt
• Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 17,500 lb (7,938 kg)
P 38 Lightning
• Empty weight: 12,800 lb (5,806 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 21,600 lb (9,798 kg)
So, sorry, the Typhoon came in a distant third in terms of empty and Max Take off Weights.
AMURRRICA, BABY !
Grant you my mistake, maybe the P47 thunderbolt was the heaviest single engine single seat aircraft during wartime.
Amuurica baby, heaviest of everything including your population 🤣
@@7gibbens the P 47was a terrible diver with a not very impressive mach number of 0 .71 baby !!)
There is one in USA under reconstruction but it might have been put on hold ? it is owned by Kermit Weeks. He buys vintage aircraft and also owns a clipped Spitfire.
Thanks I follow Kermit on you tube.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER He did have a someone working on it but he retired. Kermit purchased the Typhoon from the UK partly finished had it shipped over to the USA there was or is on You Tube of some of its reconstruction in the UK.
@@GULLPERCHFLYER Hi just checked it out on YT its a Tempest , sorry my mistake but they look same apart from the wing shape I think
Lot of ghosts on that field .