Commemorative Battle of Britain Eurofighter Typhoon unveiled

BBC News ^ | 21 May 2015

[sukhoi-30mki]

A specially painted Eurofighter Typhoon commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain has been unveiled.

The jet has been painted in the colours used at the time of the battle, which ran from July to September 1940.

It also bears a red devil emblem in honour of the only RAF Fighter Command pilot awarded a Victoria Cross in the conflict.

It was revealed during a ceremony at RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire.

The Battle of Britain was the German air force's attempt to gain air superiority over the RAF. Their ultimate failure was one of the turning points of the Second World War and prevented Germany from invading Britain.

During the unveiling ceremony, Wing Commander James Heald from RAF Coningsby, said: "What we've tried to do is recreate the paint job of the Hurricane flown by Flt Lt James Nicolson, who was the only Victoria Cross winner of the Battle of Britain.

"He was damaged and wounded and was in the process of bailing out when an enemy aircraft appeared in front of him," he said.

"So he climbed back in - shot down the enemy aircraft - then continued with his bail out."

The commemorative Typhoon will fly alongside a Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Spitfire at air shows during the summer.

[sukhoi-30mki]

The Typhoon's colour scheme matches that used by the RAF at the time of the Battle of Britain

[Redcitizen]

“So he climbed back in - shot down the enemy aircraft - then continued with his bail out.”

Very Heroic.

[SkyDancer]

The WW2 plane depicted in the post looks more like a Hurricane ... the WW2 Typhoon was a close in support aircraft designed mostly for taking out tanks. It did an excellent job of doing so.

[oldplayer]

The Typhoon (jet) IS flying past a Hurricane. The article was about the jet. The Hurri is just there to show the scheme,
Oldplayer

[diogenes ghost]

The Typhoon was NOT designed for taking out tanks, it was supposed to be a high level fighter. It later morphed into ground attack. Main problem was the wing design, which limited it's high altitude performance.

A Hawker follow-on to Typhoon was the Tempest, which utilized a superior wing giving it the high altitude speed that was sought. But problems with it's Sabre engines plagued it until late in the war.

[Chainmail]

There was also that little issue where the entire tail unit came off during dives...

[SkyDancer]

I knew that, I was just showing the difference between the plane that was posted which looked like a Hurricane rather than the Typhoon I posted. What it was designed for was not the point, it was what it was eventually used for.

[SkyDancer]

And all I said was if they were going to show today’s Typhoon why show it flying past a Hurricane rather than the WW2 version is all. I just posted what the WW2 Typhoon looked like.

[TalonDJ]

because it is a commemorative Battle of Britain jet. There were no Typhoons in the battle ob Britain. They were made years later. The Hurricane was the most numerous UK fighter during the BofB.