Hawker Tempest II (Matchbox)

TYPE: Interceptor, fighter bomber

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Bristol Centaurus V radial engine, rated at 2,520 hp

PERFORMANCE: 440 mph at 15,900 ft

COMMENT: The Tempest II was developed in parallel with the Tempest I and Tempest V, and owed much to experience gained with the Centaurus-powered Tornado prototype. The first Tempest II prototype flew initially on June 1943, being followed on September 1943 by the second prototype, but production priority was given to the Tempest V, and deliveries of the Tempest II did not commence until October 1944. The Tempest II was the most powerful fighter powered by a single piston engine to see service with the R.A.F. and was intended primarily for operations against the Japanese in Far East where its excellent range would undoubtedly have proved most useful. It was proposed that a wing of fifty Tempest IIs be sent to the Pacific in May 1945, but in the event, hostilities terminated before the fighter had been issued to the squadrons. A total of 462 Tempest II had been built (Ref.: 12).

Fairey Swordfish Mk.III (Matchbox)

TYPE: Torpedo bomber, anti-submarine aircraft, trainer

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three

POWER PLANT: One Bristol Pegasus III M3 radial engine, rated at 690 hp

PERFORMANCE: 143 mph at 5.000 ft

COMMENT: The Fairey Swordfish was a biplane torpedo bomber designed by the Fairey Aviation company, used by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during World War II. Originating in the 1930s, the Swordfish, nicknamed “Stringbag”, was an outdated design by the start of the war in 1939, but remained in front-line service until the end of the hostilities in Europe outliving several types intended to replace it, e.g. the Fairey Albacore. It was initially operated primarily as a fleet attack aircraft. During its later years the aircraft was equipped with racks under the lower wings to enable the mounting of rockets and a large centrimetric radar in a fairing under the fuselage. It was used as an anti-submarine and training aircraft. When the production was halted in August 1944 a total 2,391 have been built (Ref.:23).

Northrop XP-56 Black Bullet (MPM)

TYPE: Interceptor fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Pratt & Whitney R-2800-29 radial engine, rated at 2,000 hp

PERFORMANCE: 465 mph at 25,000 ft (estimated)

COMMENT: After the accident of the first XP-56 prototype it was decided to re-balance the second prototype and move the center of gravity forward. Other changes included a major increase in the size of the upper vertical surface, and the incorporation of a novel form of rudder control which made use of air bellows to operate wingtip split flaps for directional control. The control of the bellows was achieved by valving air to or from the bellows by means of wingtip venturis. On March 1944 the second XP-56 was flows for the first time. Nose heaviness, relative low speeds, high fuel consumption and control instability led the N.A.C.A. to test the aircraft in the wind tunnel at Moffett field. Meanwhile, some more flight test have been performed but proved not satisfactory. It was decided that further flight test were too hazardous and after the project had been inactive for more than a year the decision was taken to abandon the project (Ref.: 13).

Hawker Tempest Mk. VI with two 40 mm cannon (Matchbox)

TYPE: Low- and medium-altitude interceptor fighter, fighter-bomber

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Napier Sabre VA liquid-cooled engine, rated 2,340 hp

PERFORMANCE: 435 mph at 17,000 ft

COMMENT: The Tempest VI was derived from the Tempest Mk. V and was powered by a Napier Sabre VA engine. The prototype flew for the first time on May 1944. It showed an excellent performance and exceeded those of the Tempest V. Consequently, orders were placed, but the Tempest VI was too late to see operational service. It was the last piston-engine fighter of the RAF entering series production before the end of WW II and 142 Tempest VI were delivered. (Ref.: 13)

Northrop XP-56 (MPM)

TYPE: Interceptor fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Pratt & Whitney R-2800-29 radial engine, rated at 2,000 hp

PERFORMANCE: 465 mph at 25,000 ft (estimated)

COMMENT: One of the most radical American wartime experimental fighters was Northrop’s XP-56, a unique tailless interceptor built entirely of magnesium. It was designed around the projected Pratt & Whitney X-1800 liquid cooled engine which, installed as a pusher, was to drive contra-rotating airscrews. A prototype was ordered on September 1940, but shortly after development began, Pratt & Whitney requested authority to abandon further work on the X-1800 engine. So, on July 1941, it was decided that the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-29 should be installed. In the meantime, flight trials with the Northrop N1M Flying Wing, which had an essentially similar wing of the XP-56 fighter, had confirmed the stability of the radical configuration about all three axis, and, realizing the impracticability of having only one prototype under construction, on February 1942, the U.S.A.A.F. ordered a second XP-56. Taxi trials with the first XP-56 were undertaken in April 1943 but due to many problems with the power plant the first flight was not made until September 1943. Further flights at low altitudes were completed, but during taxiing the port tire blew out and the first XP-56 was destroyed (Ref.:13).

Blohm & Voss Bv P.188.02 (Unicraft, Resin)

TYPE: Heavy jet-bomber. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: Four Junkers Jumo 004C-1 turbojet engines, rated at 1,020 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 509 mph

COMMENT: This Blohm & Voss jet bomber project was designed to carry a great bomb load and enough fuel for long distance operations. There were four different designs, P.188.01 to P.188.04. Common to all was a rather wide fuselage center section – except for the Bv P.188.04 whose fuselage was slender – designed as an armored steel shell and located in the center of gravity. This caused a special arrangement of the landing gear in all projects with twin main wheels in tandem with an auxiliary outrigger landing gear outboard from the wings. Very unusual was the W-type layout of the wings. These had a constant 3 degree dihedral with the inner section swept back to 20 degree and then a 20 degree swept forward outer section. This was calculated to give good performance at both low and high speeds. The only drawback was excessive air pressure on the wing tips, which was to be corrected by a variable incidence system which could be adjusted through 12 degrees. An advantage of this arrangement was the fact that the fuselage was constant horizontal during take-off and landing. The crew sat in a pressured, extensively glazed cockpit. Four Junkers Jumo 004 C-1 turbojets were mounted in four single nacelles, two beneath each wing, again except for the Bv P.188.04 where two engines were combined in one nacelle on each side. Both designs of the Bv P.188.01 and Bv P.188.03 had a single fin and rudder design and an airbrake at the tail, while the Bv P.188.02 and Bv P.188.04 were of a twin fin and rudder design, with a dihedral tail-plane and the extreme tail had a remote-controlled FDL 131 Z twin 13mm machine guns firing to the rear. All these futuristic designs remained on the drawing boards (Ref.: 17).

McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat (Anigrand, Resin)

TYPE: Long-range fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Continental XI-1430-17/19 liquid-cooled engines, rated at 1,350 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 405 mph at 25,000 ft

COMMENT: In 1939 the McDonnnell Aircraft Corporation submitted the Army Air Corps proposals for a long-range fighter with an unconventional design. The engine, an Allison V-3420-B2 or Pratt and Whitney H-3130, both with two-stage superchargers, was buried in the fuselage aft of the pilot, and driving two pusher airscrews aft of the wings by means of an extension shaft and right-angle gear drives. After further changes in the design studies in 1941 the project received the designation XP-67, and two prototypes were ordered. McDonnell design team attempted to maintain true aerofoil sections throughout the entire fighter, the centre fuselage and the rear portions of the engine nacelles merging to give the aircraft a unique appearance. Power was provided by two Continental XI-1430-1 engines fitted with General ElectricD-2 turbo-superchargers driving four-blade airscrews and using the exhaust to augment thrust. By December 1943 the first XP-67 was completed and ground trials began immediately. The aircraft eventually flew the first time on January 6, 1944, but after a few minutes the flight was terminated in an emergency landing due to difficulties with the experimental engines. Flight trials continued throughout the summer 1944 resulting in several changes in the design and on September 1944 the XP-67 was irreparably damaged by fire resulting in the termination of the development contract (Ref.: 13).

Hawker “Fury (Centaurus)” (Frog)

TYPE: Interceptor fighter, fighter bomber

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Bristol Centaurus XV radial engine, rated at 2,400 hp

PERFORMANCE: 455 mph at 24,000 ft

COMMENT: The fortuitous presentation of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-3 to the RAF in 1942 had profound influence on fighter-design thinking in the U.K. The authorities were surprised by the maneuverability, speed, and handling characteristics of this light-weight fighter. Thus, specification F.6/42 was released and Hawker Aviation offered a design called “Tempest Light Fighter (Centaurus)”. Earlier in 1941 the Hawker design team already had several projects as follower of the Hawker “Tempest”, a Sabre IV-powered P.1018, the Griffon 61-powered P 1019, and the Centaurus IV-powered P.1020. But all these remained in a project status. Early 1943 it was decided to combine the new specification F.2/43 for a land-based fighter and N.7/43 for a naval interceptor. Thus the responsibility for the development and construction of the land-based fighter (“Fury”) was taken by Hawker and Boulton-Paul accepting the task of adapting the aircraft for shipboard operations (“Sea Fury”). By December 1943 six prototypes had been ordered, two of these being powered by the Griffon, two by the Centaurus XXII, one by the Centaurus XII, the remaining prototype being a test structure. In April 1944 orders were placed for 200 F2/43 fighters for the R.A.F. and 200 fighters for the Royal Navy. The first flight of the Centaurus-powered prototype flew on September 1944, the second on November that year with the Griffon 85 engine, driving three-blade contra-rotating propellers. However, the third Fury prototype flew on July 1945 with the Centaurus XV engine. With the termination of the hostilities, the R.A.F. by now committed to a jet programme, cancelled all production contracts except a small number of “Sea Fury’s” for other foreign Allied Air Forces. (Ref.: 12).