The Typhoon was a British single-seat strike fighter, produced by Hawker Aviation starting in 1941. Intended as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane in the interceptor role, it suffered from performance problems, but eventually evolved into one of World War II's most successful ground attack aircraft.

Even before the new Hurricane was rolling off the production lines in March 1937, Sidney Camm had moved on to designing its future replacement as a private project. This was to be a massive plane designed around the equally massive Napier Sabre engine. The work proved useful when Hawker received specification F.18/37 in January 1938 from the Air Ministry, which asked for a fighter based around either the Napier Sabre or the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The engines were similar in that they were both 24 cylinder designs that were designed to deliver over 2,000 hp (1.5 MW), and different primarily in the arrangement of the cylinders - an H-block in the Sabre and an X-block in the Vulture.

The two resulting models became known as the 'R' and 'N' (based on the engine manufacturer) and were very similar - the Vulture powered R plane had a rounder nose profile and a ventral radiator, whereas the Sabre powered N had a flatter deck and a chin mounted radiator. The basic design of both continued the Hawker tradition of using 'older' construction techniques; the front fuselage was welded steel just like the Hurricane, and the design used a massive 40 foot (12 m) wing that was much thicker than those on designs like the Spitfire. Camm did give in to the times for much of the rest of the plane though; it was semi-monocoque from the cockpit rearward, flush riveted, and had wide set gear. Instead of sliding or lifting canopy the Typhoon came with a side door.

The R version first flew in October 1939, and the RAF was so impressed they ordered 1,000 as the Tornado. Various problems, notably compression effects which were previously unknown to Hawker, slowed the acceptance down. In addition the plane had rather disappointing climb performance, which meant it wouldn't be the Spitfire-replacing interceptor they were looking for. In February 1940 the first N model, now known as the Typhoon, was delivered. The RAF placed a large order for it as well, but moved production to Gloster Aircraft who had no designs to produce at the time. Like the Tornado, the Typhoon was soon demonstrating its own problems, including vibrations from the engine causing the wing's skin to peel.

Eventually the RAF cancelled all work on both models in May 1940 so that Hawker could concentrate solely on the Hurricane during the Battle of Britain. This was the design's first brush with death. Some small-scale work continued, changes to streamline the fuselage and supply a much thinner wing were looked at, as well as alternate engines in the form of large radials. In October pressure on the RAF eased and work was allowed to continue on the two original designs.

The first full production version Tornado was delivered in early 1941 and demonstrated the then unheard of speed of 425 mph fully armed. This was also the last Tornado. While production lines were being drawn up, the Vulture engine project was suddenly terminated by Rolls-Royce and the Tornado was left without an engine. However the Typhoon had 'good enough' performance to warrant production. The first production Mk.IA was delivered in May 1941 with twelve Browning .303 guns, but this was followed quickly with the Mk.IB with four Hispano 20 mm cannons.

By this time the Spitfire Vs were meeting Focke-Wulf Fw 190s in combat and getting rather beaten up, so the Typhoon was rushed into squadron service (with 56 & 609 Sqn) to counter the new German plane. Sadly this proved to be a disaster. An apparent structural weakness in the tail meant that it tended to break off when pulling out of dives, the Fw's favourite escape. Once again there was talk of killing the design. The cause of these tail-failures (in which only one of the pilots survived to give any clue to the reason) was found to be fatigue failure of the elevator mass-balance, allowing elevator-flutter to occur which was at its greatest when pulling-out of a dive. As a "temporary" measure, rectangular strengthening "fishplates" were riveted around the fuselage/empennage joint - the site of the failures. These fishplates remained a feature on all subsequent Typhoons. Problems with leakage of exhaust fumes into the cockpit and subsequent high carbon monoxide levels meant Typhoon pilots had to use oxygen for even low level operations. Due to the efforts of operational pilots like S/L Roland Beamont (of 609 Sqn) the Typhoon continued under development despite these design drawbacks.

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a RAF Hawker Typhoon NF Mk. IB ground attack aircraft that was attached to the Royal Aircraft Establishment, from November 1942-March 1943. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 7-inches
Length: 5-1/4-inches

Release Date: January 2009

Historical Account: "Miss Shilling's Orifice" - The Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) England, was a British research establishment subordinate to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD).

The first site was at Farnborough Airfield ("RAE Farnborough") in Hampshire to which was added a second site RAE Bedford (Bedfordshire) in 1946. The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment was incorporated into the RAE around the start of the Second World War, the marine side relocating from Felixstowe on the vulnerable East Anglian coast to Helensburgh in Scotland.

In 1988 it was renamed the Royal Aerospace Establishment before merging with other research entities to become the new Defence Research Agency in 1991.

During the Second World War the RAE worked on engine problems at Farnborough. It was here that Beatrice Shilling invented the Miss Shilling's orifice for RAF's Hurricane and Spitfire fighters during the Battle of Britain.