Page 309 - (DK) Smithsinian - Military History: The Definitive Visual Guide to the Objects of Warfare

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Bullet-proof
windshield ◀ DEWOITINE D.520 Without doubt the most capable
Radio antenna Date 1940 Origin France fighter aircraft produced in France,
the D.520 was a match for the Bf
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Wingspan 33 ⁄2ft (10.2m) 109Es it fought in 1940, but only
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Length 28 ⁄4ft (8.6m) 400 had been produced before
Top speed 330mph (535kph) France capitulated. It had a service
ceiling of 34,500ft (10,500m) and FIGHTER AND
Engine 935hp (687.6kW)
Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza 12Y 45 in-line V-12 a range of 950 miles (1,530km).
V-12 engine

Cockpit had limited
field of view

Radio antenna

Three-bladed
constant-pitch Capacity for a 1,500lb
propeller FIGHTER-BOMBER AIRCRAFT
(680kg) bomb load
▲ CURTISS P-40 WARHAWK While respected for its agility, the Warhawk,
Early-pattern
camouflage paintwork Date 1941 Origin US even in its later variants, could not compete
with the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the
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Wingspan 37 ⁄3ft (11.38m) Focke-Wulf Fw 190, which could attain
Length 33 ⁄3ft (10.15m) higher altitudes. Nonetheless, it was the
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Top speed 340mph (550kph) mainstay of the UK’s Desert Air Force in
North Africa, and saw action in China and
Engine 1,200hp (882.5kW) the Southwest Pacific.
Allison V-1710-81 in-line V-12
Cockpit accommodated
both pilot and gunner
Rearward-facing
machine-gun 1939–1942
Squadron markings

Plywood monocoque
◀ HAWKER HURRICANE
rear fuselage
Date 1940 Origin UK
Wingspan 40ft (12.2m)
▲ ILYUSHIN IL-2 “SHTURMOVIK” Built around a 1,540lb (700kg) armored
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Length 32 ⁄4ft (9.85m) shell that contained the crew, engine,
Date 1942 Origin Soviet Union
Top speed 340mph (550kph) and fuel tank, the Il-2, the “flying tank,”
Wingspan 47 ⁄4ft (14.6m) was designed purely as a ground-attack
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Engine 1,185hp (871.5kW)
Rolls-Royce Merlin XX V-12 in-line Length 38ft (11.6m) aircraft. Over 42,000 were constructed.
Top speed 255mph (410kph)
The Hurricane was something of an
anomaly: a modern interceptor with Engine 1,700hp (1,250.3kW) Mikulin
a fuselage covered with fabric rather AM-38F in-line V-12
than sheet aluminum. It was much “Bubble” cockpit
easier to produce and to repair than canopy gave good
its all-metal Spitfire counterpart.
all-round vision
Hardpoints for bombs

▲ NAKAJIMA KI-43 The Japanese Army’s equivalent to the IJN’s
HAYABUSA “OSCAR” Mitsubishi A6M, the Hayabusa (Peregrine
Date 1942 Origin Japan Falcon) weighed just 2.5 tons (2.3 tonnes).
Due to its light weight it was highly
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Wingspan 35 ⁄2ft (10.84m)
maneuverable and had an impressive rate
Length 29 ⁄3ft (8.92m) of climb. The Hayabusa was well regarded
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Top speed 330mph (530kph) by its pilots, even though it was slow by
Radial contemporary standards and poorly armed.
engine Engine 1,150hp (845.8kW) Nakajima
Each wing housed two Ha-115 2-bank 14-cylinder radial
20mm cannon and one
or two machine-guns