British WWII's fighters

QUICK LINKS

Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant

Two-seat fighter with the four-gun armament concentrated in a powered turret. The Defiant was a fine aircraft, but the tactical concept was bad and the weight of the gun turret detoriated performance. After the initial succes heavy losses followed; it was then used as a night fighter for some time and later as a target tug.

General characteristics Defiant Mk.I
Primary function	Fighter
Power plant	One 12cylinder water-cooled Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
Thrust	Merlin III (Mk.I)	1,030 HP	768 kW
	Merlin XX (Mk.II)	1,260 HP	940 kW
Wingspan	39.4 ft		12 m
Length	35.3 ft		10.75 m
Height	12.1 ft		3.7 m
Wingarea	250 sq ft		23.23 sq m
Weight	empty	6,000 lb	2,722 kg
	takeoff	8,350 lb	3,787 kg
Speed	303 mph		488 km/h
Initial climb rate	1,900 ft/min		579 m/min
Ceiling	30,512 ft		9,300 m
Range	500 mi		805 km
Armament	4x 7.7mm machine gun (600 rounds each)
Crew	Two
First flight	Prototype 11.8.1937
Date deployed	December 1939
Number built	1064 (both versions)

Jirka Wagner