Canadian Forces - Armaments - RCAF - World War Two
World War Two, Second World War, W.W.II
|
|
| [bottom] |
Canadian Forces - Armaments - RCAF
Heavy Bombers:
Short Stirling: the first of the heavies to see service. More manoervrable than it appeared, it had a dismal ceiling of 12-15,000 feet
Handley Page Halifax II and V: powered by Merlins these also had low ceilings and were vulnerable to flak. Poor workmanship in the factories added to the difficulties. RAF commander "Harris kept up an angry barrage of complaints about the types andtheir makers: "There should be wholesale sacking of the incompetents who have turned out approximately 50 per cent rogue aircraft."" Reap the Whirlwind: 179
Avro Lancaster: able to cruise at 20,000 feet or more, they suffered the lowest losses
Fighters
Armstrong-Whitworth Siskin fighters
Purchased from the RAF in the late 1920s and early 30s, the Siskin was a biplane with an open cockpit and a fixed undercarriage in service in the RCAF as late as 1937. It had a top speed of 190 kph at a time when the German Me 109 was flying at 550kph.
Hawker Hurricane I Fighters
The RCAF acquired 20 Hurricanes from Britain early in 1939. One of
these became the pattern aircraft for the production of Canadian
Hurricanes at the Canadian Car and Foundry Plant in Fort William.
The others replaced the Siskins. of No 1 Flying Squadron.
The Hurricane was a closed cockpit monoplane with retractable
landing gear, a service ceiling of about 11,000 metres and a top
speed of 530 kph. It was no match for the Me 109 in many areas, but
outfought the Luftwaffe bombers and Me 110 fighters.
The Typhoon
The Typhoon was the answer to many a General's prayer.
Its principal mission was to hunt German Panther and Tiger tanks,
and kill them with rockets.
Several Canadian Typhoon squandrons were used by the Allies to
counter the overwhelming superiority of the German Panzers.
