Boulton Paul Defiant
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The Boulton Paul Defiant was a World War II fighter aircraft of the Royal Air Force built by Boulton Paul. The design of the aircraft was a flawed attempt to overcome the need to point the nose of a fighter at its target in order to bring the guns to bear. Instead of forward-facing guns, the Defiant was fitted with a powered dorsal turret equipped with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns. In theory, the Defiant would approach an enemy bomber from below and destroy it with a concentrated burst of fire. The concept was similar to the successful World War I Bristol Fighter but in practice the Defiant was fodder for the more agile Luftwaffe Bf 109s. It was quickly relegated to a night fighter role where it had considerable success before it was phased out of combat operations.
The Defiant was designed to Air Ministry Specification F.9/35 which required a powered turret as the sole armament. The Boulton Paul design was selected ahead of one submitted by Hawker. While the Defiant prototype first flew on August 11, 1937 and immediately went into production as the Defiant Mk.I, its entry into service was delayed such that only three aircraft had reached the RAF by the start of the war. The Mk.I was powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin III and a total of 713 were built.
No. 264 Squadron was the first to be equipped with the Defiant Mk.I in December 1939 and the first operational sortie came on May 12, 1940. On May 13, a flight of six Defiants were attacked by Bf 109Es; five of the Defiants were shot down from a frontal attack. On July 19 six out of nine Defiants of No. 141 Squadron were shot down and the remaining three only survived due to the intervention of Hurricanes of No. 111 Squadron.
The Defiant was briefly successful as a day fighter when flying in formation with the visually similar Hawker Hurricane as it could surprise fighters attacking from the rear. The novelty of this trick soon wore off and the Defiant was moved to night fighting duties.
As a night fighter the Defiant achieved some success. The Defiant Mk.II model was fitted with the AI Mk IV airborne interception radar and a Merlin XX engine. A total of 207 Mk.II Defiants were built. During the winter Blitz on London of 1940-41, the Defiant was the highest scoring night fighter.
The Defiant was removed from combat duties in 1942 and used for air/sea rescue, training and target towing. A further 140 Defiant Mk.III aircraft were built; this model lacked the dorsal turret and was used as a target tug. Many of the surviving Mk.I and Mk.II Defiants also had their turrets removed.
In May 1945, Martin-Baker used a Defiant to test their first ejection seat.
Boulton Paul also built the Blackburn Roc (from a design by Blackburn) which was the naval equivalent of the Defiant.
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Specifications (Mk.I)
General Characteristics
- Crew: two
- Length: 35 ft 4 in (10.77 m)
- Wingspan: 39 ft 4 in (11.99 m)
- Height: 12 ft 2 in (3.71 m)
- Wing area: ft² ( m²)
- Empty: lb ( kg)
- Loaded: 8,318 lb (3,773 kg)
- Maximum takeoff: lb ( kg)
- Powerplant: 1x Rolls Royce Merlin III V-type engine, 1,030 hp (780 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 304 mph (489 km/h)
- Range: 465 miles (748 km)
- Service ceiling: 30,350 ft (9,250 m)
- Rate of climb: ft/min (m/min)
- Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
- Power/Mass:
Armament
- 4x .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in dorsal turret
Related content
Related development: None
Comparable aircraft: Blackburn Roc
Designation sequence: P.9 - P.29 - P.75 - P.82 - P.108
See also
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