Typhoon

Also known as Tiffy, Typhoon IB, Hawker Typhoon, Typhoon aircraft, Typhoon fighter-bomber

British fighter-bomber

Key facts

Type: Fighter-bomber
National origin: United Kingdom
Manufacturer: Hawker Aircraft
Designer: Sydney Camm
Built by: Gloster Aircraft Company
Primary users: Royal Air Force Royal Canadian Air Force Royal New Zealand Air Force
Number built: 3,317
Manufactured: 1941–1945
Introduction date: 11 September 1941
First flight: 24 February 1940
Retired: October 1945
Developed into: Hawker Tempest

via Wikipedia infobox

Article

The Hawker Typhoon is a British single-seat fighter-bomber, produced by Hawker Aircraft. It was intended to be a medium-high altitude interceptor, as a replacement for the Hawker Hurricane, but several design problems were encountered and it never completely satisfied this requirement.

The Typhoon was originally designed to mount twelve .303 inch (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and be powered by the latest 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) engines. Its service introduction in mid-1941 was plagued with problems and for several months the aircraft faced a doubtful future. When the Luftwaffe brought the new Focke-Wulf Fw 190 into service in 1941, the Typhoon was the only RAF fighter capable of catching it at low altitudes; as a result it secured a new role as a low-altitude interceptor.