Under the RADAR: The worst and the best RAF night fighter
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- Опубликовано: 12 авг 2019
- Which was the worst and the best RAF night fighter of WW2? Martin Clegg, Visitor Experience Assistant at the RAF Museum Cosford, gives us his opinion on the Boulton Paul Defiant and the de Havilland Mosquito.
My friend's grandfather flew Defiants from 1939 to 1943 and was (as far as we are aware) the longest serving Defiant pilot of WW2.
May i say, that i absolutely findn the Defiant a beautifull aircraft?
The Mosquito isn't just the best night fighter, it was probably the best aircraft the RAF have ever had. It could successfully do any task it was asked to do.
You could have mentioned the Beaufighter which was the first really effective night fighter of ww2.
My great uncle agreed with you! Flew both planes, loved the Mosquito 😊
Captain Eric Brown said the Mosquito was one of his favorites, Hermann Göring liked it and also liked the Spitfire.
Mosquito the best everything! Amazing versatility.
Merci Monsieur de nous faire revivre et rappeler , tous ces pilotes (es ) et ces merveilleux avions Anglais de la RAF , a qui j'ai une profonde admiration total depuis ma tendre enfance ..je rêvais de piloter un SPITFIRE ..déja a 8 ans ..et j'en ai 64 , mais mon rêve continu toujours ...!!
Merci au ROYAL AIR FORCE , Musée de l'air de la RAF de nous faire partager tant et tant d'émotions , mon rêve c'est de visiter votre Musée , en Angleterre ..Peut-être un jour quand j aurais les moyens .!
Profonde Admiration et très grand respects a là RAF , d' hier et d' Aujourd'hui .
Bien cordialement
Hubert Etienne
The Boulton-Paul's turret was used extensively in the Rear Gunner position in bombers including the Lancaster.
Thanks for the review of these aircraft. Please keep them coming.
Ironically, if the Boston Paul had been given forward firing guns as well it would have been a dangerous plane to tangle with.
Thank you for your opinions and sharing your expertise. Much appreciated.
I have seen this Mossie at RAF Cosford air museum and touched it .And I felt great pride in her that we the british produced such a wonderful versatile fighter bomber out off wood that was the fastest prop plane during the war .i often wondered where the Mossies from the films Mosquito Squadron and 633 squadron ended up .
would love to go there someday. thanks for the interpretation and beautifully restored planes!
I would love to see some in-depth walkarounds from Cosford, similar to those done by the Tank Museum in Bovington. - The gold standard.
Keep it up , practice makes perfect, your delivery will improve with confidence Martin!
Thanks Martin, I really enjoyed this. The channel should get a lot more traffic than this! Good luck and on to the next one!
That's a fine museum- I've been there. Gotta love the Mossie! Thanks for posting!
Thanks for the information, mostly for the Defiant, which few people have heard of, let alone, know what it's role was during the war. I think you explained why---quite clearly. As for everyone's favourite, ( Spitfire aside,) the Mosquito ,in recent years, has taken center stage, on most peoples want to view , list. A truly wonderful and heroic creation.
Some interesting facts about the boulton Paul defiant that I never new before. Keep up the good work guys!
Interestingly, Defiant bears Polish markings (checkboard) - probably 307 squadron.
Great video I see your following a similar format as the Tank chats from Bovington. Great
The last place you’d expect to see Gerry Adams!
The Defiant could fire its guns forward after the canopy was modified like the example you are standing in front of.
However aviation author John Taylor noted that during the Blitz on London of 1940-41, the four Defiant-equipped squadrons were responsible for shooting down more enemy aircraft than any other type in the theatre. And this before later more powerful Merlin XX engines were supplied. The Defiant was always underpowered despite its long development program. .
Mosquito were much in demand for more pressing aggressor duties while you might have 1,000 of the Defiant type awaiting on the ground for the role they were designed for in the mid 30's
Interesting stuff. Didn’t realise there was a defiant in cosford, worth a visit just for that.
Nice video. Enjoyed.
That Defiant wears the markings of my dad's squadron (Polish 307), although the Defiant was before his time there. He started with Beaufighters and finished with the Mosquito.
Hi I just have a question please Our boys the R.A.A.F flew the Mossies and have nothing but high regards, but I was wondering we also flew the Bristol Beaufighter. You don't hear about the Bristol Beaufighter as much. But we hold that plane in very high regard. I was wondering how good was the Bristol Beaufighter compared to the De Havilland Mosquito please?
Cosford is a truly fantastic museum. i think everyone should visit if they can.
Very interesting video!
Very nice video, was the first airplaine in service witch polish pilots?
I wish the BBC had presenters like Martin Clegg. No messing around, just doing his job.
Excellent, thank you.
Nice to see your presentation on the mosquito.
This is awesome I am very happy to see this I love learning more about ww2. The misquote its one of my faves cant wait to see one in real life
What were the stats for the Bristol Beaufighter?
Interesting Martin!
I'm no expert but am fairly sure the turret could rotated so the guns would face forward. Then the pilot had control of the armament ,like a standard type of fighter. In defence of the aircraft I believe it did make a brief contribution as a very ordinary night fighter!
Met a bloke years ago who had been a coachbuilder before WW2. Like thousands of others with similar skills, he spent much of the war working in his small-town workshop building parts for Mosquito's (in his case mainly engine nacelle covers). Every fortnight a truck would turn up with a new load of plywood etc, and take away the parts he had made. Wonderful 'dispersed production' made possible by the Mossie being wooden, and which made Luftwaffe attacks on Sheffield/Coventry etc less effective/disruptive.
Martin seems a bit nervous. But he shouldn't be because he's got a great speaking voice. You guys should do longer videos, maybe with a couple of people discussing the aircraft. Your audience thrives on lots of details.
It seems that the Mosquito has many fans. To me that are elegant, fast and lethal. Just a beautiful aircraft.
I've been to Cosford twice, I never saw a Mosquito?
Do you move them around or something?
Amazing museum! Definatly 10 out of 10 if your interested in aircraft
The Boulton Paul Defiant aircraft had more surprises than what has been said here .
This particular aircraft was used by 307 Polish Fighter Squadron stationed in Exeter.
So, if I come and visit your museum do I get the same greenscreen experience? Do you have any actual planes?...
Cool video.
That Boulton Paul Defiant would be pretty good if you could fly it backwards.
Thank you very much for this informative video, forgive me in advance, I sense a slight spurring on within the Heritage system inspired by The Tank Museum's content, partially assisted by Wargaming.net's World of Tanks & its community.
I hope to visit Cosford at somepoint in the future, as I live just down the road in Brum.
I think you're being very unfair. Bear in mind first that it was designed to meet an air ministry specification, one of several designs from various companies to be put forward to that spec, and was the best of them performance wise. Second, the idea behind the specification having been proved wrong (the hard way, costing quite a few lives), it was pressed into service as a night fighter at a time when Britain had no dedicated night fighter at all. It had the advantage that it could catch the enemy bombers during the early war period, which the alternative, the Bristol Blenheim, could not, and unlike desperate attempts to use single seat day fighters, there were two pairs of eyes looking out trying to spot the intruders in the pitch dark before the advent of airbourn radar. Inevitably not very successful, but better than nothing until it became practical to equip aircraft with radar. Thirdly, the aircraft put in further useful service after withdrawal from frontline deployment, as a target tug, a much under-appreciated and exceedingly beneficial function in fighter pilot training. You will find that not all viewers have the attention span of a gnat, and going into better detail will gain more likes.
Well done pal! Spot on.
Looks like a great place to visit!
NICE VIDEO
Good video
Nice quick video and I appreciate that the speaker said in his opinion not laying this out as if it were a provable fact.I would probably have issue with saying the defiant was the absolute worst as the bottom end of that spectrum is fairly broad with multiple poor aircraft to choose from. mosquito may well have been the best night fighter that is debatable of course , it is most definitely in the top tier
My father John Patrick, RAF armorer 1939 to 1943, claims the guns on the Defiant could be rotated to fire forward
RUclips : wanna know what's the worst night digger is the RAF?
Me: Aight :D
If you want to know if your weapon system is any good ask those that had to fight it. Goring christening the Mosquito “a wooden wonder” is a good example or the Japanese referring to the Bristol Beaufighter as “whispering death” is another.
I was in Duxford last year and I just had to buy a T-shirt from the guys who are trying to restore the Mosquito.
Well, better to have the turret fire forward and destroy the propeller - Yes, that would be much better.
Thank you for your detailed analysis.
The Boulton Paul Defiant was developed as a bomber destroyer, but was misused as a fighter. Once it was in its role it had the a significant number of kills but was underpowered and lacked airborne radar which was only fitted Sept 41 in Defiant II.
Still it was better to have a night fighter than no night fighter at all.
"As a counterpoint, aviation author John Taylor noted that during the Blitz on London of 1940-41, the four Defiant-equipped squadrons were responsible for shooting down more enemy aircraft than any other type in the theatre"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boulton_Paul_Defiant
The Mosquito. Fighter, Fighter/Bomber, Heavy Fighter, Night Fighter, Pathfinder, Reconnaissance plane. Is there anything this plane couldn't do.
If I ever get to England, Cosford is at the top of my to-do list.
The Defiant caught a few people out because they mistook it for the Hurricane, it was not a great plane but it had a use, but no where near a mossie.
Interessant de voir un Defiant, je l'avais construit en modèle réduit. La RAF l'a habilement utilisé pendant la bataille d'Angleterre, il ressemblait beaucoup au Huricanne et les pilotes allemands se sont fait avoir plus d'une fois dans des attaque par le dessus.
Hindsight is the only exact science. The Defiant was built on the principle of the two seat fighter (eg Bristol F2B) with the workload shared between two crewmen. The F2B was very successful so one can see why the Defiant had such hopes. The problem was the performance. Could be that she was ahead of her time? Given a more powerful engine, things might have been different.
I guess no one sets out to design a bad aircraft. The Mosquito such a beautiful aircraft that proved itself in so many operational roles.
That was a good video
Night Fighter by C.F. Rawnsley & Robert Wright is recommended reading. Cecil Frederick "Jimmy" Rawnsley was a radar operator credited with 17 kills.
Defiant was the best at the time, mosquito is supreme
Sure I saw at Coventry air museum that a defiant shot down a German bomber near Coventry ?
Fantastic place to visit.
How about the Bristol Beaufighter?
Huh, I was under the impression that the turret on the Defiant could rotate around to cover the front.
A lot of brave crews lost their lives in the defiant.
The defiant could rotate the turret and fix the guns to fire forward. Not such a bad aircraft as it has been made out to be
I think it's fair to say that for a 'Black Defiant' to be successful there had to be an unusually good rapport and symbiosis between the gunner and the pilot. Did happen but not too often. I often wonder what it could have done if it was beefed up and given an early production Griffon. (Although even if the structure was strong enough it could have turned itself upside down in takeoff/climb unless the fin and rudder were enlarged!)
The pilot flew within 50ft of the towed target so dad could riddle it and get his air gunners certificate. He wore specs all his life!
The Boulton Paul Defiant must have been a bit faster than the Blenheim.
Not really the worst night fighter, The personnel figured out to use tactics for mutual protection.
Was the Mosquito the fastest bomber of WWII? Among prop-driven planes of the period, the claim is probably true, though the Ju-288C was very close in terms of maximum speed - so close it would depend on the examples being compared, the altitude, the weather, etc. However, the fastest bomber of WWII must be Arado Ar-234B-2. A captured example was test flown at Wright Field AFB in 1946 resulting in a true measure airspeed of 461 mph.
Love the display you have there but a bit far for me, the poor old Defiant was a typical design of the day under thought and and designed and give to some poor pilots to do the best they could.
Despite the facial hair, this guy is no David Fletcher
I heartily recommend visiting RAF Cosford if you enjoy aviation.
I like Martin, i really do, but when that defiant opened fire up into the bombbay of an enemy bomber all hell broke loose, whereas the mossie he is pointing at is a precision night strike bomber, coke martin, ice n slice old chap.
Love how this guys darts from position to position with each shot! Quite comical - but nevertheless I agree with his judgements. 👍
Yes I agree with you
Tricky comparison, because one plane has twice the propeller power. So the argument becomes: if you put a quad gun turret on a mosquito, what could it do? *Given that some night fighters came under the bombers.
The defiant was a waste of resources, and name.
The mosquito is and was an amazing platform.
Strap it on, plug it in, or load it up ..the mosquito did the job and more..... beautifully.
I didn't know that the He-111 bomber could fly faster than the Defiant's 317 MPH maximum level flight speed??!! All the literature gives the He-11 a top speed of no more than 270 MPH (unlaiden) on a good day.
The Defiant could fire forwards with the turret guns locked forwards at an upwards angle. When in this mode, the turret guns could be fired by the pilot.
The failure of the Defiant saw the abandonment of the Hawker Hotspur turret fighter project. The Hotspur prototype had 8 wing machineguns, as well as a turret, but was slower and heavier.
The worst, yes probably! But it’ looks so cool! PS the Mosquito is my favourite WW2 aeroplane!
Rather harsh on the Defiant, it was intended to attack bombers, not other fighters, and it had hardening in the wings for forward firing guns, but the Air Ministry didn't bother to order the manufacturer to fit them. Comparing the Mosquito with the Defiant is comparing two different eras, the Defiant was there when the war started, having been developed around the time of the Hurricane and Spitfire, the Mosquito was still trees. Also, the Defiant was there at the start or airborne radar, and it could only hunt at night with primitive equipment.
Nice video, but you forgot about the Bristol Beaufighter. I know your video was about the WORST and the BEST nightfighter, but there should have been at least SOME mention of The Beaufighter.
Wish Cosford would paint that Mossie the right colours. Should have a green and grey upper body.
Cos otherwise, she's gorgeous.
The only time I would want to be in a defiant is at night.
Cool
de Havilland Mosquito is the best plane of the second world war let alone night fightera truly amazing bit of kit and the pilots loved it the germans hated it what more can you ask for
Bit harsh, Martin. My parents told me that 1941 was our darkest hour. In that year it seems Defiants shot down more German night bombers than any other British fighter. Don't forget that was pre onboard radar
The Mosquito, the prettiest plane of WWII and of all time. I had a friend who flew, them during the war. He told me some wonderful stories about them.
What would you know?
The Defiant really is horrible! Thanks Martin for contrasting these two night fighters. I do loves me a trip to Cosford!