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Information About

De Havilland Hornet




The de Havilland Hornet was a development of De Havilland 's classic Mosquito designed as private venture for a long-range fighter for use in the Pacific Theater in the war against Japan . Specification F.12/43 was written around the type. The Hornet equipped Fighter Command day fighter units in the UK and later was used with success as a strike fighter in Malaya.

The Hornet, D.H.103 in the company's internal numbering scheme, first flew in 1944 and remained in service until 1956 . Powered by twin "slimline" Rolls-Royce Merlin engines, it was the fastest piston-engined fighter in Royal Air Force service. The Hornet has the distinction of being the fastest operational twin Propeller -driven aircraft ever flown by any of the world's air arms and the fastest wooden aircraft ever built.

The Hornet was somewhat unusual in that it had Propeller s that rotated in opposite directions. To achieve this the engines were slightly different, hence the double Merlin marks of 130/131. The prototype achieved 780 km/h (485 mph) in level flight, which came down to 760 km/h (472 mph) in production aircraft.


SERVICE

The Hornet entered service in 1946, mainly in the Far East, including action in Malaya.


VARIANTS

  • Hornet F.1: Fighter

  • Hornet PR.2: Photo-reconnaissance

  • Hornet F.3: Fighter

  • Hornet FR.4: Fighter-reconnaissance

  • Sea Hornet F.20: Fighter

  • Sea Hornet NF.21: Night fighter, with Merlin 133/134 engines

  • Sea hornet PR.22: Photo-reconnaissance

  • Sea Hornet: A navalised version for service on British aircraft carriers.



SPECIFICATIONS (HORNET F.3)


General characteristics

  • Crew: one pilot

  • Wingspan: 45 ft 0 in (13.72 m)

  • Length: 36 ft 8 in (11.18 m)

  • Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.3 m)

  • Wing area: 361 ft² (33.54 m²)

  • Empty weight: lb ( kg)

  • Gross weight: 19,550 lb (8,886 kg)

  • Powerplant: 2x Rolls-Royce Merlin 130/131 12-cylinder engines, 2,080 hp ( kW) each



Performance

  • Maximum speed: 472 mph (750 km/h) at 22,000 ft ( m)

  • Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/s)

  • Service ceiling: 35,000 ft ( m)

  • Maximum range: 3,000 mi ( km)



Armament

  • 4x 20 Mm Hispano Cannon (with 190 rounds per gun) in fuselage nose

  • 2x 1000 lb bombs under wing, outboard of engines

  • 8x 60 lb RP-3 unguided rockets



REFERENCES

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