British Fighter Aircraft Hawker Typhoon MK.IB COBI 5864 - WW2 1:48

You know that: 

• The Hawker Typhoon was designed by the brilliant aeronautical engineer Sydney Camm, following a request from the Royal Army Service Command, as an exceptionally well-armed machine with high engine performance.
• Within months Hawker Aircraft had introduced a prototype that the Armaments Commission described as a hard-to-beat rival and destroyer of the German Fw 190.
• The fighter bomber first flew on 24 February 1940 from Hawker Aircraft's corporate airfield in Kingston, UK.
• However, the new machine's test flights were not without its difficulties. The biggest problem was a malfunctioning Napier Sabre II engine, which caused several serious crashes.
• All the flaws were soon rectified and the Typhoon became the most successful aircraft for destroying ground targets.
• It is little known today that because of its high speed and stability at low altitudes, the Hawker Typhoon was one of the few fighters capable of destroying German V1 missiles in flight.
• The strategy of aerial combat was also adapted to the flight characteristics. Typhoons usually attacked returning German aircraft, which were easily caught up and then completely dispersed.
• All of the aircraft designed by S. Camm were extremely successful, the Hurricane, Tempest, Sea Fury, Tornado, Sea Hawk, Hunter, or Siddeley made aviation history. For his work, Sydney Camm was awarded the Order of the British Empire.
• The only Czechoslovakian to fly the Hawker Typhoon was also the commander of the British 198th Fighter Squadron, Jiri Maňák. As a member of the RAF, he flew a total of 273 combat sorties.

Technical parameters: 

• dimensions: wingspan 12.6 m, length 9.7 m, height 4.7 m
• empty weight 4010 kg
• maximum take-off weight 5171 kg
• powerplant 24-cylinder Napier Sabre IIA H-24 turbocharged engine with an output of 1 630 kW
• maximum speed 663 km/h
• climb rate 13,9 m/s
• maximum flight level 10 700 m
• fuel tank capacity 3 636 l + up to 1 590 l in auxiliary tanks
• range 2 655 km
• armament 4x Hispano Suiza Mk. II 20 mm calibre, 2x 450 kg aerial bomb + 8x RP-3 unguided rocket
• crew 1

From the memoirs of 198th Fighter Squadron Commander Jiří Maňák:

"The Typhoon was not as popular as the Spitfire. It was a very powerful machine with a Sabre engine that gave it awesome power. It could climb vertically and was very agile. At the same time, however, it had several dangerous features. If a pilot got into a corkscrew, it was very difficult to get out of it. Whoever mastered the Typhoon became the true king of the skies..,