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Gloster F.9/37

1939 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

History

The Gloucester F. 9/37 was a British pre-WWII aircraft developed by the Gloucester Aircraft Company to meet the 1935 Air Department requirements for a twin-engine heavy fighter/turret fighter platform (which was also designed as a dedicated night fighter platform). The aircraft continued along this route under the care of several senior engineers and made its maiden flight in April 1939.

However, the Royal Air Force (RAF) realized that the aircraft was obsolete before it could be produced, and the quantities and designs required in 1940 were abandoned after two airworthy prototypes were produced.

This aircraft existed in its original form known as the F. 34/35, and it was this aircraft that was designed with a dorsal turret and nose-mounted machine gun armament. By late 1930s standards, the plane looked traditional, with the cockpit behind the nose cone. The wing main plane is straight, with rounded tips, and is midship. Each wing features an aerodynamically modified nacelle, and each unit drives a three-bladed propeller. The fuselage tapers towards the stern and is attached with a twin-fin tail.

Tail tow landing gear completes the look of this aircraft. The dorsal turret rotates 360 degrees above the aircraft and is equipped with 4 x 7.7mm machine guns mounted side by side.

Although the design was ordered as a prototype in 1936, it was cancelled before actual work began (a request was met by tower chaser Boulton Paul Defiant). However, under the 1937 F.9/37 specification, Gloucester was allowed to develop the aircraft to a higher level. This revised requirement calls for a minimum speed of 300 mph and a minimum rate of climb of 2,725 ft/min for the new heavy fighter.

Power comes from 2 x Bristol Taurus T-S(a) engines or 2 x Rolls-Royce Kestrel KV. 26 motors, one mounted on each wing element. In terms of armament, the heavy fighter carries a pilot-managed 2 x 20mm nose gun, and the rear crew manages a powered dorsal turret with 4 x 7.7mm machine guns. Before the end of 1938, in order to better streamline the fighter, the second crew member and his position were removed from the design.

Replacing the dorsal turret are 3 x 20mm guns, which are arranged to fire from the cockpit and nose of the aircraft, delivering a lethal "strike" to any target in the air.

The first prototype was equipped with a Taurus engine and the second with a Rolls-Royce engine - although the latter has now been changed to the Rolls-Royce "Peregrine" series. After an early test flight of the aircraft, which proved successful and facilitated development, the first flight was recorded on April 3, 1939.

Compared to British fighter jets, the F. 9/37 ran at 360 miles per hour and was nothing short of a flying car. Pilots appreciate the design and find them easy to fly and control.

However, the belly landing of the first prototype on July 27 delayed development, and the example was again deployed using the Bristol Taurus T-S(a) III engine - but this reduced the power of the design. More test flights and weapons evaluations followed, but these were lengthy and lengthy.

The second prototype was equipped with a Peregrine engine, but it was overweight and underpowered compared to the first prototype - it was only able to travel at 330 mph in testing.

Other forms were considered, including dedicated night fighters - two F. 18/40s - which would have a 4 x 20mm cannon under the cockpit floor and take out enemy bombers at 630 km/h including Turn off the dark protection with the help of the airborne radar (AI = Airborne Intercept). One of the existing F. 9/37 prototypes was to be converted into the F. 29/40 Reaper night fighter, but the program ended in May 1941 and the war was in full swing - the twin-engine de Havilland DH.

The 98 "Mosquito" heavy fighter has been shown to be fully convertible into a night fighter.

The F. 9/37 program, despite its promise, never achieved more than its airworthy prototype form and was so delayed in development that it was an unlikely candidate for a series production contract By.