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These 600 MPH airspeed
indicators are very rare and fitted first to Typhoons and
later Tempests. I would say this was almost certainly fitted
to a Typhoon. In nice original condition.
6A/1265
Dated 1943
The face is
set at an angle as can be seen in the picture. I am not sure
why but the face has not and cannot slip in the case so it
was positioned this way for a reason.
A total of 3253 aircraft were
built, however only one aircraft entered Fleet Air
Arm service, DN419 which was sent to TOC 778 squadron
at Arbroath for RN trials on 5 February 1943. It
subsequently crashed and effectively destroyed on 12
February 1943 and no others were ordered by the RN for
FAA service.
£155
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Typhoon A.S.I. 600 MPH (pg 15ins)
The Hawker Typhoon
was Great Britain's primary ground attack plane in the
second half of World War II. Approximately 3300 were
built, although only one was tested by the Fleet Air Arm
in 1939-1945.
In January 1938, two months after
the debut of the first production Hurricane Hawker
Aircraft received details of specification F.18/37,
calling for a large single-seat fighter with a
performance 20 per cent higher than that of the
Hurricane with one of two 24-cylinder engines in the
2,000 hp class then under development --the Napier Sabre
"H" type and the Rolls-Royce Vulture "X" type. Sydney
Camm had commenced investigating the options of just
such a fighter in March 1937. At the proposal of the Air
Ministry, Camm also prepared studies for an alternative
version of his fighter powered by the Rolls-Royce
Vulture engine, and increased the ammunition capacity of
both machines to 500 rpg.
On 30 December, 1939, the
first Napier Sabre engine had been delivered to Hawker
Aircraft, and the first prototype Typhoon P5212 flew on
24 February, 1940. The Typhoon proving relatively easy
to fly at high speeds, its low speed qualities left much
to be desired, and it had a marked tendency to swing to
starboard during take-off.
Development on the Typhoon with
modified wings containing a total of six cannon, with
thinner wings of reduced area and lower profile drag
aroused interest at the Air Ministry and eventually
result in the Hawker Tempest.
The first
production Typhoon IA (R7082) with the 2,200 h.p. Sabre
IIA engine was completed by Gloster and flown on 26 May,
1941, and the Air Ministry was pressing for its rapid
service introduction to counter the new Focke-Wulf Fw
190, and 56 and 609 squadrons based at Duxford began to
receive their Typhoons in September 1941, before the
fighter was fully developed. In the first nine months of
its service life far more Typhoons were lost through
structural or engine troubles than were lost in combat,
and between July and September 1942 it was estimated
that at least one Typhoon failed to return from each
sortie owing to one or other of its defects.
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