Fairey Fulmar is a British, half-shell, metal, low-wing fighter plane from the Second World War. The design of the aircraft was developed at the beginning of 1938, and the first flight of the prototype took place on January 4, 1940. When building Fairey Fulmar machines, the experience and numerous components from the fast Battle bomber of the same company were used. Despite this, the Fulmar turned out to be a machine very easy to pilot, and above all, it achieved the assumed parameters. The plane entered service in May 1940, and it was drafted in 1945. During the war, 600 Fulmar's were produced in three varieties. The first (Mk.I) is a one-man version of the on-board fighter. The second (Mk.II) was a hunting machine adapted to operate from field airfields. Both were powered by a 1085HP Rolls-Royce Merlin VIII engine. Finally, the last version (NF. Mk.II) served as a night fighter and was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin XXX engine. During World War II, Fairey Fulmar planes fought mainly in the Mediterranean and to a small extent (as part of RAF 803 squadron) over the skies of Ceylon. From 1943, they were replaced by Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V planes, adapted to operate from aircraft carriers. Technical data: length: 12.25 m, wingspan: 14.13 m, height: 4.27 m, maximum speed: 438 km / h, climb speed: 6.15 m / s, maximum range: 1255 km, maximum ceiling 8300m, armament: fixed - 9 Vickers 7.7mm machine guns, suspended - up to 110 kg of bombs.The revolutionary design of the F4U Corsair was created in 1938 in response to the request of the US Navy to design a high-speed fighter stationed on board aircraft carriers. Chance Vought took on the challenge, with the goal of fitting the most powerful of the available engines (i.e. the Pratt-Whitney Double Wasp engine) into the smallest possible airframe. The key was to place the clunky landing gear in the inverted, crooked wings that became the hallmark of the aircraft. The flight of the prototype took place on May 29, 1940, and the US Navy received its first serial Corsair on July 31, 1942. However, tests carried out by the US Navy on aircraft carriers revealed some flaws in the design, which meant that the first production series of the aircraft went to squadrons of the Marine Corps and operated from land bases. The first unit received by the F-4 was the VMF-124 at Gudalcanal. It quickly turned out that the new machine definitely surpasses all enemy machines and, in several respects, also the F-6 Hellcat. At the same time, however, it was very difficult to pilot and required great attention when landing. Interestingly, only up to 20% of Corsair missions took off from the decks of aircraft carriers, and throughout almost the entire war they remained primarily a machine of the Marine Corps. After the end of World War II, the F-4 Corsair remained in the line and took part in the Korean War (1950-1953). Technical data (version F4U-4): Maximum speed: 731 km / h, speed of climb: 19.7 m / s, maximum ceiling 12649 m, maximum range: 1115 km, armament: fixed - 6 M2 machine guns, caliber 12, 7mm and 4 20mm Browning cannons, sling - up to 1800 kg of bombs.The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-engine single-engine fighter with a metal structure with canvas elements from the Second World War. Acting on all fronts during the Second World War, the Hawker Hurricane earned the name of one of the best and most ubiquitous airplanes of that time, both as a fighter and an attack plane. Undoubtedly, however, the most significant card in the history of this machine was its contribution to the victory of the British in the Battle of Britain in 1940. The plane constructed by Sydney Camm at the request of the Ministry of Defense was supposed to become the main force of the British air fleet. For the first time, a prototype of an aircraft powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk.II engine took off on November 6, 1935, piloted by Georg Bulman. The tests were excellent and it was quickly decided to order 600 machines, the first of which entered service with the 111th squadron of the RAF in December 1937. When Great Britain declared war on Nazi Germany on September 3, 1939, the RAF had 19 ready-to-fight Hurricane squadrons, which started their military career with operations in France and Norway. During the course of the war, several versions of this very successful plane were created. The first mass-produced version was the Mk.I with the Merlin III engine. From 1940, the Mk.II versions with the new Merlin XX engine with a capacity of 1280 HP began to be delivered to the units. It was this version, as the first variant of Hurricane, that performed primarily assault and battlefield support tasks. Its best variant was the Hurricane Mk.IID, used by min. in the North Africa campaign in 1942. The third version is the Hurricane Mk.IV with the new Merlin 24/27 engine, 1620HP. It served as an assault machine armed with bombs, unguided missiles and Vickers S cannons until 1944. A sea variant (Sea Hurricane) was also produced, which served on aircraft carriers and on specially adapted merchant ships (Sea Hurricane Mk.IA). Technical data (Mk.IIC version): length: 9.84m, wingspan: 12.19m, height: 4m, maximum speed: 547km / h, rate of climb: 14.1m / s, maximum range: 965km, maximum ceiling 10,970m Armament: fixed - 4 20mm Hispano Mk.II cannons, sling - up to 460 kg of bombs.The Fairey Barracuda was a British three-seater torpedo-bomber, all-metal high-wing aircraft. The plane was built in a high-wing configuration, which ensured good visibility and facilitated the attachment of overhead weapons. The prototype of such a plane was flew on December 7, 1940. It reached a maximum speed of 430 km / h! In May 1941. the prototype made test flights from the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS "Victorius". After minor faults in the prototype were removed, 24 aircraft, designated Fairey Barracuda Mk.I in 1942, were launched into serial production. The Mk.I version was powered by a 1260HP Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 12-cylinder in-line engine. A year later, in 1943, another version of the aircraft, marked with the symbol Mk.II, entered production. It had a new 1680HP Rolls-Royce Merlin 32 engine. It also had a reinforced airframe structure compared to its predecessor. It was also the most widely produced version of the Barracuda - as many as 1,688 copies were made. In 1944, the last mass-produced version of the Barracuda-Mark III was created. It was a machine designed for ZOP operations, with a centimeter ASV Mk.X radar. The last version, the Mk.V, was made only in 30 copies and featured a new, powerful 2020KM Rolls-Royce Griffon 37 engine. In the period 1942-1945, 2,602 aircraft of this type were built. After World War II, the Barracuda aircraft was used as a training machine. Technical data (version Mk.II): Maximum speed: 367 km / h, speed of climb: 4.23 m / s, maximum ceiling 5080 m, practical range: 1104 km, armament: fixed - two 7.7mm Vickers machine guns , suspended-torpedo weighing 740 kg or 820 kg of bombs.
The Supermarine Seafire was a British WWII and post-WWII on-board fighter in an all-metal low wing structure. The drive provided - in the LF Mk. III - single engine Rolls-Royce Merlin 55M with a power of 1,585 hp. The flight of the prototype took place in January 1942, and shortly after that, serial production started, which resulted in the creation of about 2,650 aircraft of this type. On-board armament - in the Mk. III - consisted of two 20mm Hispano cannons and four 7.7mm machine guns.
Plane Supermarine Seafire was a development version of the famous Spitfire fighter, but adapted to operate from aircraft carriers. The changes mainly concerned the reduction of the weight of the aircraft, the use of folding wings and a brake hook, as well as the strengthening of the entire structure. The power unit changed, although they were still Rolls-Royce engines. In the course of serial production, many development versions of this aircraft were created, for example: the Mk. IB (fighter version, one of the first production series, which was a rebuilt Spitfire Mk. V b), Mk. II C (hunting version with reinforced structure and modified on-board armament), Mk. III (version powered by the Merlin 55 engine). In 1946, the Mk. XV with the Griffon VI engine. Supermarine Seafire aircraft received their baptism of fire during Operation Torch in November 1942. They also fought during the landings in Sicily in 1943 and in Normandy in 1944. They also served in the Far East in 1944-1945. They also took a limited part in the initial phase of the Korean War (1950-1953). Airplanes of this type also served in the armed forces of France, Ireland and Canada.