Hawker Typhoon Mk. IB

Designed as a replacement for the Hurricane and Spitfire, the Typhoon was the first RAF fighter capable of exceeding 400mph when it entered service in 1941. This speed allowed Typhoons to successfully combat the newer, more capable aircraft coming into German service at the same time, such as the Fw-190, easily matching them at low levels.

However, the Typhoon did not perform well at high altitude. The Typhoon was switched to a ground attack role, in which it found its true calling. With its heavy armament of cannon, rockets and bombs, Typhoons devastated enemy communications and ground troops during the allied invasion of Europe. This aircraft only had forty minutes’ flight time in Britain, before being shipped to Ohio for evaluation trials by the USAAF. After nine hours of test flights, this Typhoon was crated and put into storage, returning to the UK in 1968.