Gloster Gladiator

The Gloster Gladiator was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force and the Fleet Air Arm (as the Sea Gladiator variant) and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF’s last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it was being introduced. Though often pitted against more formidable foes during the early days of the Second World War, it acquitted itself reasonably well in combat.

The Gladiator saw action in almost all theatres during the Second World War, with a large number of air forces, some of them on the Axis side. The RAF used it in France, Norway, Greece, the defence of Malta, the Middle East, and the brief Anglo-Iraqi War (during which the Royal Iraqi Air Force was similarly equipped). Other countries deploying the Gladiator included China against Japan, beginning in 1938; Finland (along with Swedish volunteers) against the Soviet Union in the Winter War and the Continuation War; Sweden as a neutral non-combatant (although Swedish volunteers fought for Finland against USSR as stated above); and Norway, Belgium, and Greece resisting Axis invasion of their respective lands.

The South African pilot Marmaduke “Pat” Pattle was the top Gladiator ace with 15 victories with the type

Specifications (Gloster Gladiator Mk I)

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
Height: 11 ft 9 in (3.58 m)
Wing area: 323 ft2 (30.0 m2)
Empty weight: 3,217 lb (1,462 kg)
Loaded weight: 4,594 lb (2,088 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Mercury IX radial engine, 830 hp (619 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 253 mph (220 knots, 407 km/h) at 14,500 ft (4,400 m)
Cruise speed: 210 mph[121]
Stall speed: 53 mph (46 knots, 85 km/h)
Endurance: 2 hours[121]
Service ceiling: 32,800 ft (10,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,300 ft/min[121] (11.7 m/s)
Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 4.75 min

Armament

Guns; Four .303 calibre M1919 Browning machine guns; two synchronised guns in fuselage sides and one beneath each lower wing.

Gloster Sea Gladiator N5519 / R (FLt. George Burges) Hal Far Malta 1940 1/72 Scale Model AZ Models

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Gloster Gladiator Mk.I 80 Sqn. L811 YK-O (FLt. Marmaluke T. St John Pat Pattle) Amriya Syria 1940

The old Airfix 1/72 kit with decals from the AZ Models kit.

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