Description of the Typhoon

Heroes Remember

Description of the Typhoon

Transcript

Interviewer: How would you describe typhoons? Well, a) they were the heaviest fighter in the field at that time. They were the fastest and because of the powerful motor, we were operating with a 2200 horse power engine, where as the spits were, I've forgotten now, but I think about 14 or 1500 something of that nature. So there was an awful lot of torque when we were taking off. So your initial take off, when I say your first flight on one of these things. It was quite an experience. From the time you opened the throttle til you got airborne, till the wheels came up with a clunk. You did your circuits and bumps, but once you get over the first couple landings, it was like any other aircraft, it handled very well. Interviewer: What was the purpose of a typhoon? Well it was supposed to be the fighter of the day, sort of thing, but they found that over certain heights, particularly over 15 thousand feet, it just lost a lot of its... well it wasn't made for fighting. By that I mean the Spitfire, they had so many variations of spits, so many marks, that if... a mark 5 for example was a low level spit, a mark 9 was high level or a multitude of levels and they went on up to, I think they ended up at 21, where as the typhoon was a 1a or a 1b, and then we went into the tempest. Now the tempest ... the offshoot of the typhoon was the improvement of the hurricane, the tempest was the improvement of the typhoon. It turned out to be the fighter. So our role was essentially, close at port for the army, that was what we eventually geared up for.

Description

Mr. Hanna describes the Typhoon fighter plane - it's limitations and it's best operational uses.

Kenneth Charles Hanna

Mr. Hanna was born in Prescott, Ontario but spent the majority of his childhood in Brockville. He was the oldest of four children and worked as an apprentice tool- maker after graduation from High School. In 1941, Mr. Hanna joined the Air Force in Ottawa. He chose the Air Force, as opposed to the Army or Navy, because he had "illusions of grandeur" and wanted to fly. Living up to his own expectations, Mr. Hanna was a successful pilot flying the Typhoon. He flew many missions in support of the Army over France and the Netherlands and his decorations include the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 03:19
Person Interviewed:: Kenneth Charles Hanna
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 181 RAF Squadron
Rank:: Sergeant
Occupation:: Pilot

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Description of the Typhoon

Heroes Remember