Do you know this aircraft?
It's the british boulton paul defiant
It's often featured as one of the worst planes of world war two. No seriously it even has a prime placement in the book literally
Entitled the world's worst aircraft
Now i'm not going to be a contrarian and simply tell you that the defiant is a terrific aircraft the scourge of the sky
And the best thing after sauerkraut
But this video leaps to the defense of the defiance. By placing it in its proper context. Explain how
It got its reputation
And shed some light on its actual overlooked
Achievements and in the end it is up to you to decide on how to judge this aircraft
To fully understand the defiant, we need to understand why it was developed in the first place
Although a newcomer to the RAF, coming off the production lines on the eve of world war 2, the basic
Idea that preceded the development can
Be traced back into world war one. The RAF wanted a modern, turreted, single-engine fighter with
competitive performance. A dedicated bomber destroyer
Able to, also operate at night. The need, for such a plane
Was impart due to the RAF's own conviction that the bomber will always get through, meaning that a dedicated bomber hunter
Was required as a deterrent to enemy bombers
For more information on the history of RAF bomber doctrine check out the advertised, video
Meant to have comparable performance to the hawker hurricane and supermarine
Spitfire the defiant nonetheless had the worst performance out of the bunch. Not a surprise given the stark
Conceptual difference between these aircraft. Let's quickly turn to the turret. The defiants most prominent feature. The four gun, electro-hydraulic turret
Was sophisticated and of french origin
Bolton paul had obtained a production license at a bargain price in 1934. Redesignated it as the type A Mk IID.
And before .303 browning machine guns 600 rounds per gun. Beyond this there was no armament
Before the RAF unleashed the defiant on zee Germans mock combat against fighters showed that unless the defiant
Was expertly flown it was nothing but another mark
on
someone's kill list unsurprisingly
Perhaps, for a plane design for anti bomber duties. One important feature of the post-trial report stated that
Every degree by, which the field of fire can be extended towards the flight direction is of great value
Hinting at the parifs less-than ideal reality that the pilot had, no guns he could operate himself
There was in fact a modification made so that the turret could be locked in a forward firing position with the pilot, as the operator
However with, no synchronization this
Would shred the planes propeller as much as it would shred the enemy, not good. There was some consolation however when flown
Against the blenheim trial combat showed that it was indeed
well able to take on a bomber after all that's what a defiant have been designed for
In light of this, RAF pilots proposed tested and approved their, own tactics. The first tactic
Was to overtake the enemy bomber on a parallel course riddling him the bullets all the way?
The second, was to converge during a beam attack
the third
Was to dive from above and cross the bow of the enemy in each attack the defiants would coordinate
Their strike and level their guns at the same enemy.
These attacks could be done for both sides at the same time or from only one side
for defensive purposes a
Defensive circle was considered to be the best option, allowing defiants to give mutual support in case of an enemy fighter attack
So before we continue let's wrap, this up very quickly. The RAF wanted a turreted, bomber destroyer, which it got
Performance was mediocre but, adequate.The crews also
Had a clear idea on how to attack enemy bombers and how to defend themselves against enemy fighters. So what went wrong?
Well what sounds good on paper is not always good in practice. It quickly
Crystallized that the reality of air warfare in World War II was different than expected
Here, we have to analyze the early combat in some detail used operationally from
Mid May 1940 and during the evacuation of Dunkirk the defiant pilots seemingly, went for highs and lows with
Each, day. In May 1940 defiant crews claimed to have shot down 65 German planes. On one specific
day the 29th of May
37 Germans were claimed
Yet these claims where as the name suggests
Claims, made by crews embroiled in swirling dogfights leveling their guns at the same targets, we now know that on the same
Day only fourteen German
Planes were lost in total this was not known to the RAF nor
the defiant crews that made these claims in good faith indeed his apparent success of the defiant at Dunkirk
initially seemed to suggest the validity of the turreted, bomber destroyer
Defiant certainly damaged many German aircraft forcing them to ditch, bombs, smoke or dive, away
Yet these planes often recovered and returned home there's, also
No, evidence that proves that German pilots mistook the defiant for hurricanes. A statement often made after a British officer
Who, had not been involved in the fighting
Had suggested this possibility. In fact the Luftwaffe, was aware of the defiant since the previous year.
As Alec Brew notes the defiant, had appeared at the Royal Aeronautical
society's garden party on the 14th of May 1939 and
Photographs of the aircraft together with technical descriptions appeared in German aeronautical magazines. The Luftwaffe already knew, about the
Defiant and what to expect
Furthermore when German 109's ran into the defiant on May 13th 1940
Shooting down five out of six
Two were examined after crashing in France. Never mind their actual success, the defiants pilots fought, well with what they
Had and were rather fond of the aircraft their fight continued with the battle of Britain. In four engagements the crews
Claimed 19 German, bombers vs.
11 defiants lost. Based on these losses it began to dawn on the RAF the defiant was out of its depth
The losses might sound low
Overall but they were not considered sustainable. This could have indeed been the end of the defiant and for many it is
Popular, memory stops here
Ridiculing the plane as a flawed outdated concept, that had no place in world war two
Indeed the original concept of an unopposed single-engine turreted, bomber destroyer had failed completely
The RAF was in somewhat of a predicament it had ordered a substantial amount of defiants
Even invested in upgrades all in all over one thousand would be produced
Production, had picked up and new squadrons could be formed but, what could be done with all these planes, when operationally they didn't deliver
Pragmatism, was the order of the day if the defiant couldn't succeed at day, why
Not try it at night, after all at
This, point the RAF had few planes to oppose German, night bombing. Planes such as the Beaufighter
Had yet to arrive in substantial numbers. The crews, had to learn a, whole new
Way of combat. Initial success was minimal, accidents frequent, and frustration mounted with a
Near, complete stop of German night intrusions there, wasn't much to shoot at anyway. During this time a, new, tactic was developed
Spotting an enemy from
Above the pilot dove below the enemy set himself up slightly behind the intruder closed the distance and ordered the gunner to let fly
This allowed the defiant a good clean shot at the engine and wings usually with total surprise
7 night fighter squadrons of defiants now stood ready as German activity picked up, while they had
Some credible success especially during times of high German activity the defiant
Was no match to the Beaufighter, soon defiant squadrons began retraining to this aircraft
Even the installation of airborne interception radar on defiants did not reverse their fortune
By, mid 1942 the last squadrant
Had traded in their defiants. Let us look at the final victory tally of the defiant based on a publication
By, Alec Brew. Their claimed victories amount to 152
Losses to 37. Losses only include aircraft shot down by Germans and it does not include operational losses based on other factors
The claimed victories are harder to guarantee as true victories
Especially considering the factors, we alluded, to earlier. As such take, these figures with a grain, of salt as he author himself mentions
Trying to keep score in aerial combat is a minefield of contentions the following figures are therefore open to all kinds of
Interpretation i do not claim that they are anything but a guide to the performance of the defiant squadrons in aerial combat
my, personal estimate of their achievement
And so ends the story of the defiant
Child of an arguably
flawed concept that nonetheless soldiered on through adversary but hold on the defiant actually had
One last salute. It was now used as a testing ground for new turret designs
ejection seats
As a target tug
And occasionally as trainers especially for aerial defensive gunnery
It also, saw service in early electronic warfare by combating German radar in 1942 and 43
And as an air sea rescue aircraft
These are all practical and significant ends to one of history's more bizarre aircraft designs
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Would like to know something about your night fighting click here and if you, want to check out
My video on clearing up spitfire misconceptions click here. As always have a great day, good hunting and see younis guy