Gloster Gladiator
The Gloster Gladiator was the single-seat fighter biplane used by Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and other air forces. Designed by Henry Folland, the Gladiator was the RAF’s last biplane fighter aircraft first flew on September 12 1934.
The first of the 448 Gladiators built for the RAF was delivered in 1935. Many RAF Gladiators were supplied to Allied air forces, including Greece, South Africa and Egypt. It was produced in three major version; Mk.I, Mk.II and the Sea Gladiator (the difference of the Sea Gladiator being installation of catapult points, a deck-arrester hook and a collapsible dinghy in a fairing beneath the fuselage between the undercarriage legs).
Gladiator was in combat in North Africa, Greece and Palestine in 1939 and 1940. Many were flown by Australian and South African units and a few were transferred to Egypt and Iraq. Another 36, which were supplied to China, joined the war against Japan in 1938. But by far the most famous use of the Gladiator was on the island of Malta, one of Britain’s last toeholds in the Mediterranean. Lying very close to Sicily, the island was repeatedly bombed, and in the early stages of the siege only three Gladiators, named Faith, Hope and Charity, kept the Italian Air Force at bay, until hurricanes arrived in July of 1940. Only 747 Gloster Gladiator built.
Specification (Gloster Gladiator)
Type: Fighter Biplane
Crew: 1
Wingspan: 9.83 m (32 ft 3 in)
Length: 8.36 m (27 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.15 meters (10 ft 4 in)
Empty Weight: 1,565 kg (3,450 lbs)
Max. Takeoff Weight: 2,155 kg (4,751 lbs)
Engine: Single Bristol Mercury VIIIS3 840 hp radial engine
Maximum speed: 410 km/h at 4,400 m above Sea Level
Maximum ceiling: 10,500 m
Range: 715 km
Armament: Four 8mm Browning machine guns, two nose-mounted and two wing-mounted
Filed Under History
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