Gloster Gladiator
Type: Fighter
Manufacturer: Gloster Aircraft Ltd
Designed By: Henry Phillip Folland
Maiden Flight: 12 September 1934
Introduced: 1937
Retired: 1953 (Portugal)
Primary Users: Royal Air Force
Fleet Air Arm
Chinese Nationalist Air Force
Finnish Air Force
Royal Norwegian Air Force
Number Built: 747
Developed From: Gloster Gauntlet
The Gloster Gladiator (or Gloster SS.37) was a British-built Biplane fighter, used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Royal Navyas well as a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, although it acquitted itself well in combat.
Design and development
The Gladiator was developed from the Gloster Gauntlet as a private venture by Gloster. The aircraft was designed by H.P. Folland's team during 1933 as a Gauntlet derivative to Specification F.7/30. It had an enclosed, single-seat cockpit, cantilever landing gear and a two-blade fixed-pitch propeller driven by a Bristol Mercury air-cooled engine. It first flew in 1934 and entered service in 1937. It was to be the last British biplane fighter and their first fighter with an enclosed cockpit. The Gladiator had a top speed of around 257 mph (414 km/h) yet even as it was introduced, the design was being eclipsed by the new generation of monoplane fighters, such as the RAF's new Hurricane and Spitfire sand the Luftwaffe's Messerschmidt 109.
Gladiators were also modified for carrier operations and flown by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) as the
Sea Gladiator. A total of 747 airframes were built (483 RAF, 98 RN; 216 exported to 13 countries, some of them from the total allotted to the RAF). Gladiators were sold to Belgium, China, Egypt, Finland, Free France,Greece, Iraq, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, South Africa and Sweden.
Variants
SS.37 Prototype. Gladiator I Version powered by a single 840 hp (627 kW)Bristol Mercury IX air-cooled radial piston engine. The aircraft was designated
J 8 in Swedish Air Force service. Delivered 1937-38, 378 built. Gladiator II Version powered by a single Bristol Mercury VIIIA air-cooled radial piston engine. The aircraft was designated
J 8A in Swedish Air Force service, 270 built. Sea Gladiator Interim Single-seat fighter biplane for the Royal Navy, 38 built. Fitted with arrester hooks. Serial numbers: N2265 - N2302. Sea Gladiator Single-seat fighter biplane for the Royal Navy, 60 built. Fitted with arrestor hooks and provision for dinghy stowage. Serial numbers: N5500 - N5549 and N5565 - N5574.
Operators
Australia Belgium China Egypt France Finland Germany Greece Iraq Ireland Latvia Lithuania Norway Portugal South Africa Soviet Union Sweden United Kingdom
General characteristics- Crew: 1
- Length: 27 ft 5 in (8.4 m)
- Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.8 m)
- Height: 11 ft 7 in (3.2 m)
- Wing area: 323 ft² (30 m²)
- Empty weight: 3,444 lb (1,560 kg)
- Loaded weight: 4,864 lb (2,205 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: lb (kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol Mercury IX radial engine, 850 hp (630 kW)
Performance- Maximum speed: 257 mph (414 km/h) at 14,600 ft (4,500 m)
- Range: 444 mi (710 km)
- Service ceiling: 33,500 ft (10,200 m)
- Rate of climb: 2220 ft/min (11.2 m/s)
- Wing loading: lb/ft² (kg/m²)
- Power/mass: hp/lb (W/kg)
Armament- Guns: Two Synchronised .303in. Browning machine-guns on sides of front fuselage, and one beneath each lower wing.
In at least some Sea Gladiators, provision existed for a pair of Brownings to be fitted under the upper wings as well, bringing the total to six.