Jan
27
2012
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 was a World War II Soviet fighter which entered service in May 1941. By the time of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, there were about only 100 MiG-3s in service from a total of 3,422 produced during the war. Although it had been designed for a high-altitude role, combats on the Eastern Front took place below 6000 m (19,685 ft), where the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 had a clear performance advantage over the MiG-3. As a result, attrition was high and many Russian fighter aircraft were shot down by German pilots who would become aces.
The MiG-3 was a single-seat, low-winged monoplane developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich. It had a sliding cockpit canopy and retractable landing gear and was powered by a Mikulin AM-35 A V-12 piston engine that produced 1,350 hp. The MiG-3 was armed with one 12.7mm(.50) Beresin BS and two 7.62mm (.30) ShKAS nose-mounted machine-guns (later increased by two 12.7mm (.50) underwing guns), plus provision for six 8.2-cm (3.23-in) underwing rockets or two 100-kg (220-lb) bombs.
Specifications
Type: fighter aircraft
Country of origin: Soviet Union (Russia)
Manufacturer: Mikoyan-Gurevich
Power plante: one 1,350hp, Mikulin AM-35 A V-12 piston engine
Maximum speed: 640 km/h (398 mph) at 7000 m
Range: 1250 km (777 miles)
Service ceiling: 12000 m (39,370 ft)
Weapons: one 12.7mm (.50) machine gun; two 7.62mm machine guns; plus up to two 100 kg bombs
Wing span: 10.30 m (33 ft 9.5 in)
Wing area: 17.44 m2 (187.7 sq ft)
Length: 8.15 m (26 ft 9 in)
Crew: 1
Jan
26
2012
The Potez 631 was a French night fighter aircraft used by the Armée de l’Air during World War II. It was developed from the Potez 63 by Nord Aviation for the night fighting role. Thus, this French low-winged monoplane was one of a family of design variations of the Potez 63 which had originated in a requirement issued in 1934 for a two multi-purpose aircraft. The French Potez 631 night-fighter corresponded in many respects to the RAF’s Bristol Blenheim, being very similar in size and performance as well as being conceived as a variation of a light bomber. At the beginning, relatively little importance was placed on the Potez 631 night fighter, and it was not until June 1938 that production orders totaling 207 were confirmed. This French heavy fighter was armed with two fixed forward-firing 20mm guns under fuselage and one hand-held 7.5mm (0.295-in) machine gun in dorsal position; in the ground-attack role, it could carry up to two 150 kg bombs.
When the German attack opened in the West the various Potez 631 units were in constant action both by day and night, although lack of radar prevented much success during the hours of darkness. In the first 11 days of the campaign Aéronavale’s Flotille F 1C shot down 12 German aircraft for the loss of eight, but the Armée de l’Air night fighter units were ordered to assume day ground-attack duties, losing heavily to enemy flak. Moreover, losses were exceptionally heavy to Allied guns and fighters as a result of the Potez 631′s superficial similarity to the German Messerschmitt Bf 110; it has been estimated that as many as 30 of the French aircraft were shot down in error. In all, Potez 631 night fighters destroyed a total of 29 German aircraft in the Battle of France, but for a loss of 93 of their own number. Of the remainder about 110 were in the Free French Zone (Vichy France) at the time of the armistice, but their number dwindled quickly because of a chronic lack of spares.
Specifications
Type: night fighter
Country of origin: France
Manufacturer: Nord Aviation
Power plant: two 700-hp (522-kW) Gnome-Rhône 14 air-cooled radial piston engines
Maximum speed: 442 km/h (275 mph)
Range: 1220 km (758 miles)
Ceiling: 8800 m (28,870 ft)
Weapons: two 20mm cannons; one 7,7mm machine gun
Wing span: 16,00 m (52 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 32.70 m2 (351.98sq ft)
Length: 11.07 m (36 ft 4 in)
Crew: 2
Jan
26
2012
The Heinkel He 219 Uhu was a German two-engined night fighter aircraft used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Developed by Heinkel, the He 219 entered service in 1943. In order to adapt this heavy fighter to the night fighting role, the Uhu was fitted with an VHF-band intercept radar. Although only 280 He 219s were built, it became, together with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88, the backbone of the night fighter defense against the Allied bombers. The Heinkel He 219A first saw combat action in June 1943, shooting down more than 15 allied bombers. This middle-winged, two-seat monoplane was powered by two Daimler-Benz DB 603E liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine, delivering 1,800 hp each.
Specifications
Type: night fighter
Country of origin: Germany
Manufacturer: Heinkel
Power plant: two 1,800 hp, Daimler-Benz DB 603E liquid-cooled inverted V12 engine
Maximum speed: 620 km/h (385mph)
Range: 1,540 km (960 mi)
Ceiling: 9,300 m (30,500 ft)
Weapons: four 20 mm MG 151 cannons under fuselage
Wingspan: 18.5 m (60 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 44.4 m2 (478 ft2)
Length: 15.5 m (51 ft 0 in)
Crew: 2
Jan
25
2012
When World War II broke out in September 1939, neither the Axis, nor the Allied air forces were equipped with aircraft specifically designed for the night fighting role. It was Britain which led the way in pioneering night fighters to intercept enemy bombers. The Boulton Paul Defiant was an early design which was to be eclipsed by the Bristol Beaufighter and the de Havilland Mosquito in its highly effective night fighter variant. The German also used two-engined heavy fighters for night interception missions; aircraft such as the Messerschmitt Bf 110 or the Messerschmitt Me 410 turned out to be reliable and rugged battle horses of the night, intercepting Allied bombers on their way to bomb German cities.
While the RAF was conducting experiments with rudi entary airborne radar in a handful of obsolescent Bristol Blenheims, the Bristol aircraft company was hard at work developing the Bristol Beaufighter, the world’s first dedicated night-fighter to carry radar, produced entirely on their own initiative. This entered service during the Battle of Britain and first saw combat in the German night Blitz of 1940-1. From these small beginnings came an entirely new science of aircraft interception that has continued to advance ever since: the science of locating the enemy on ground radar, guiding the fighter towards its target by means of ground controllers and, eventually, vising airborne radar, closing to within range of the fighter’s own weapons for the kill. Although more within the scope of the bombers’ operations, the night fighter crews had to contend with a growing, parallel science of countermeasures, as the bombers began to include equipment able to blind the ground radar and to provide warning of the approach of a night-fighter.
German ingenuity also produced highly efficient night fighter adaptations of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88; these two aircraft, together with the excellent Heinkel He 219, provided the backbone of the Reich’s night-fighter defence between 1942 and 1945. Not surprisingly, with so many RAF heavy bombers operating almost nightly over Europe during this period, there came onto the scene numerous Luftwaffe night fighter pilots whose individual victory scores far eclipsed any achievements of their Allied counterparts, it being fairly commonplace for German pilots to destroy four or more Avro Lancasters and Handley Page Halifaxes on a single sortie; once they had entered the great bomber stream their victory bag was limited only by their use of ammunition and fuel. Moreover, the development of the upward-firing cannon (not to mention fairly efficient airborne radar) enabled the Germans to destroy RAF bombers in such a way that the British did not know what had hit them.
Elsewhere, with concerted night operations conducted on a much lesser scale until the onset of the great American night offensive against Japan in 1944, night fighting demanded less attention to sophisticated equipment and tactics than in Europe, although these were quickly introduced when the Boeing B-29 started operations. By and large, during the first two years of the Pacific War, neither Japan nor the United States engaged in significant night bombing, and accordingly did little until 1943 to introduce specialist night-fighters, the Douglas P-70 (though widely employed) being unequivocally a makeshift adaptation of a light bomber.
Jan
24
2012
The Mitsubishi J2M Raiden was a single-seat fighter used by Japan during World War II. It was developed and produced by Mitsubishi for the Japanese Imperial Navy. The first flight of the prototype J2M1 took place in March 1942 and entered service with the 381st Kokutai Wing in 1943 as the J2M2. In late 1943, this version was followed by the Mitsubishi J2M3, which was powered by a Mitsubishi Kasei 23a radial piston engine, delivering 1800 hp. The final production variant, the J2M5 (34 built), was powered by a 1357-kW (1,820-hp) Mitsubishi Kasei 26a radial. In all, 476 J2M fighter aircraft were built. The Raiden was strongly armed with four 20mm guns mounted in the wings. Conceived as a fast-climbing interceptor, the J2M Raiden suffered from reliability problems but scored well against the American bombers as it battled on until the end of the war in the defense of the Japanese home islands.
Specifications
Type: fighter aircraft
Country of origin: Japan
Manufacturer: Mitsubishi
Power plant: one 1800hp Mitsubishi Kasei 23a radial piston engine
Maximum speed: 588 km/h (365 mph) at 5300 m
Range: 925 km (575 miles)
Service ceiling: 11700 m (38,386 ft)
Weapons: four 20mm Type 99 cannons; some fighters were also fitted with two upward-firing 20mm Type 99 cannons
Wing span: 10.80 m (35 ft 5.2 in)
Wing area: 20.05 m2 (215.82 sq ft)
Length: 9.95 m (32 ft 7.7 in)
Crew: 1
