"Typhoon cockpit, canopy, and other questions?" Topic

4 Posts

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Texas Grognard	27 Sep 2009 8:43 p.m. PST
I have noticed that Hawker Typhoons have two types of canopies and cockpits. One had a composite canopy and a starboard suicide door for entry and egress. The other had sliding two piece bubble canopy and no suicide door. My questions are is the former the Ia and the latter the Ib? Were their any differences in performance between the two types? Did Typhoon squadrons operate the two in a mixed fashion? Finally were any of the RAF Polish and Czech squadrons equipped with Typhoons? In my research I haven't found any but would like to know if there was one I might have overlooked. Thanks in advance and Salut y'all! Bruce the Texas Grognard
Top Gun Ace	27 Sep 2009 9:00 p.m. PST
Not sure about the designations on the canopies, but the planes got upgraded over time, since the tail tended to separate from the rest of the aircraft at high speed, especially in a dive. They added structural braces which can be see in photos, and on nicer models, just a bit ahead of the rudder. Bubbletops were a later improvement over the old birdcage models. Can't say definitively on models operating together either, but US Fighter units did that, so I suspect RAF/RCAF units did as well. Commanders and flight leads usually got the newest releases first, e.g. bubble canopies, later marks of aircraft, etc. There are a number of pics of P-51B's and D's flying together in close formation for the camera.
Neroon	27 Sep 2009 9:32 p.m. PST
In order asked : Yes No Yes No Anything else you need to know? cheers ;)
Richard Humm	28 Sep 2009 2:26 a.m. PST
The Typhoon Ia was the version with twelve machine guns in the wings. It did have the "car-door" cockpit. The Typhoon Ib had four cannon in the wings and initially also had the car-door. The designation didn't change with the later modifications to the aircraft. As well as the change from the car-door to the bubble canopy, there was the change from the three-bladed to four-bladed propeller and the replacement of the original smaller tailplanes by the larger type used on the Tempest. There was no significant difference in performance between the Ia and early Ib. Later Ibs had uprated engines, but as they started to have bombs or rockets fitted would also have had increased drag. There were only 110 produced of the Ia, and some were later converted to Ib standard. They were used at the same time by some squadrons – 56 Squadron had the Ia from September 1941 to December 1942, and started to receive the Ib in March 1942. The car-door version of the Ib was used at the same time as the bubble canopy version, the latter entering service in November 1943, while there were still car-door versions in service on D-Day. None of the Czech or Polish squadrons had Typhoons – they were all operated by British, Canadian or New Zealander units, although there were individual European pilots posted to those units – 56 Squadron certainly had a couple of Free Norwegians.