Aviation in World War II (Part 2)

 

Aircraft

Airframes

The streamlined cantilever monoplane quickly proved its worth in almost every role, although a few older biplanes and other obsolescent types remained in niche roles for much of the war. Key design features during this period included:

  • Stressed-skin semi-monocoque construction, typically of aluminium light alloy but sometimes of wooden or mixed construction.
  • A clean, unbraced cantilever monoplane wing.
  • Conventional tail or empennage, with bombers often adopting twin tail fins, believed to improve stability during the bombing run.
  • retracting landing gear of conventional configuration with a tailwheel or tailskid.
  • Landing flaps.
  • Variable-pitch propellers in tractor configuration.
  • Fully enclosed cockpit.

The retracting undercarriage gave landplanes a significant performance advantage over the equivalent seaplane, whose floats caused additional drag. In other respects, the evolution of seaplane design paralleled landplane developments. Seaplanes, typically flying boats, remained in use for long-range maritime operations. Smaller craft, typically floatplanes, remained in other niche areas such as mountain lakes where a runway was not feasible.[1]

Experiments on other configurations continued throughout the war, especially in Germany.

A small number of twin tailboom types entered production, and some slower types designed for roles such as Army observation retained the older fixed undercarriage.

Towards the end of the war the first jet aircraft entered service; the Arado Ar 234 reconnaissance bomber, Messerschmitt Me 262 Schwalbe (Swallow) fighter and Gloster Meteor fighter. The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet (Comet) interceptor was both rocket powered and of tailless configuration. Both of the Messerschmitt types had swept wings to delay the onset of small shock waves and the accompanying drag at transonic speeds. Other German types delivered to front-line units in the last days of the war included the rocket-powered vertical-takeoff Bachem Ba 349 Natter (Adder) interceptor — the very first manned, rocket-powered aircraft to launch vertically as designed — and the jet-powered Heinkel He 162 Spatz (sparrow) light fighter.[2]

Other variations were flown but never entered production, sometimes independently by different countries. These included the canard or tail-first configuration in combination with a pusher propeller, the flying wing, the slip-wing which took off as a biplane and then discarded the upper wing, and twin centrally-mounted engines in push-pull configuration with a tractor installation at the front and a pusher installation in the rear.[2]

Gliders

Military gliders such as the British Airspeed Horsa and specialised tugs such as the German Heinkel He 111Z were developed by a number of countries during World War II, for landing assault troops and equipment behind enemy lines. These gliders were characterised by a steep gliding angle and short landing run, allowing a short time in the air and precision landing. However they were highly vulnerable and their dependence on surprise severely limited their success. The British used them extensively in the battle of Arnhem and suffered huge losses.

Rotorcraft

Rotorcraft had been produced before the war in the form of the autogyro and many, such as the Avro Rota, a license-built Cierva design, continued in use throughout the war.

The Focke-Achgelis Fa 330 Bachstelze (Wagtail) unpowered rotor kite was towed behind submarines for use as an observation platform.

In 1942 the Flettner Fl 282 Kolibri (Hummingbird) observation platform became the first true helicopter with a power-driven rotor to enter production. Two years later it was followed in Germany by the twin-rotor Focke Achgelis Fa 223 Drache (Kite) transport helicopter and in America by the Sikorsky R-4.[3] The R-4 was far the most-produced type and was introduced into RAF service as the Hoverfly I, where it was progressively replacing the Avro Rota autogyro by the end of hostilities.[4]



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