Hawker Typhoon - 1940 to Spring 1943

Hawker Typhoon from 1940 to the spring of 1943

A photographic publication, volume 16 of the numbered Wingleader Photo Archive series from the British publisher Wingleader; the author is Chris Thomas. The part covers the early period of the Typhoon, from its introduction to the spring of 1943. The continuations came out as separate volumes of the same series for the summer of 1943 to the beginning of 1944 and for the year 1944, so the distinguishing mark is the period, not the version of the aircraft.

The Typhoon was meant to be the successor to the Hurricane, but its early period is above all a story of trouble. The Napier Sabre engine was powerful and unreliable, the structure cracked at the tail section and exhaust gases got into the cockpit. At high altitude the type fell behind, but near the ground it was fast, and so it found a use against low-flying German fighter-bombers over southern England. Because it was easily mistaken in the air for the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, it was given prominent recognition stripes under the wings. The early machines can also be told by the framed cockpit canopy with a side door; the later ones had a molded bubble canopy.

What the book contains

• Period photographs of Typhoons from the years 1940 to 1943.
• Period photographs accompanied by color profiles.
• The marks of the early machines: the framed canopy with a door, the recognition stripes.
• The scope of the volume: the period up to the spring of 1943, not the later ground-attack role.

Who it is for

For modelers who build an early Typhoon and do not want to give it a bubble canopy or markings from 1944, and for anyone interested in the defense of southern England. It is a publication, not a kit.

Check the extent, the arrangement and the language version on the box.