The Gloster Gladiator was a fighter aircraft in service with the British RAF between 1937 and 1944. Although it was a biplane made of plywood and canvas, it would successfully engage Axis fighters in dogfights in North Africa and in the Mediterranean theater of World War II. A total of 750 Gladiators would be produced by Gloster Aircraft Company Ltd. It was exported to Sweden, Finland, and Belgium between 1937 and 1939. One Swedish squadron fighting for the Finns during the Winter War claimed to have shot down 12 Soviet aircraft for only 3 losses.
The Gloster Gladiator was greatly maneuverable, with excellent handling characteristics. Thus, British ace pilots, such as Lieutenant Pat Pattle and William Vale shot down 19 and 10 Italian aircraft respectively flying this biplane. However, this fighter aircraft would first see combat action in service with the Finnish Air Force fighting against Soviet airplanes in the skies over the Baltic Sea in 1939 and 1940 during the Winter War. However, the RAF squadrons equipped with this biplane would be wiped out of the sky by German Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters during the Norwegian Campaign.
The Gloster Gladiator prototype, the S.S.37, made its maiden flight on September 12, 1934. Flown by Flt. Lt. Sayer, it was powered by a 530-HP, Bristol Mercury IV, 9-cylinder, radial engine, which would soon be replaced by a 645-HP Mercury VIS radial engine. Finally, after more than two years of flight tests, it would be introduced into service with the Royal Air Force on February 22, 1937, as the Mk I. This first version was powered by one Bristol Mercury IX, 9-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine, which could deliver 840 horsepower. In 1938, the Mk II version was introduced into service.
Technical Characteristics
The Gloster Gladiator was a single-seat, single-engine biplane. Although its airframe was made of metal, with spars and stringers, the fuselage was essentially plywood and stretched over canvas, which made this aircraft rather flimsy. The upper plane and lower plane of the wing were joined together by 8 struts, with two parallel ones on each outer portion of wing, and four struts, set in ´V´ in two, at the center of wing, going through the airframe in front of cockpit. The wing upper plane was set slightly forward above the lower plane. Landing gear was fixed.
Specifications (Mk I)
Type: biplane fighter aircraft
Length: 8.4 m (27 feet, 5 inches)
Wing Span: 9.8 m (32 feet, 3 inches)
Wing Area: 30 m2 (323 square feet)
Height: 3.6 m (11 feet, 9 inches)
Power Plant: 840-HP, Bristol Mercury IX, 9-cylinder, air-cooled, radial engine.
Maximum Speed: 407 km/h (253 mph)
Service Ceiling: 9,997 m (32,800 feet)
Crew: one
Armament: four 7.7-mm (.303) Browning machine guns, with two set up in forward fuselage and two on wing.
Below, the S.S.37 prototype in flight in 1935, with the serial number K5200.
The third production of the Mk I version in flight in the Summer of 1937, with the serial number K6131.
Below, a Gladiator banks left. It was in service with the Finnish Air Force. The insignia it had was similar to the Third Reich´s.
Five Gladiator Mk I fighters of Squadron No 72 flying in formation in 1937.
Below a Mk I warms up its engine prior to a check flight.
