Gladiator Mk IIF
Contents
This page is about the aircraft Gladiator Mk IIF. For other uses, see Gladiator (Disambiguation) |
Description
The Gladiator Mk IIF is a gift Rank I British fighter with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB) and 1.3 (RB/SB). It used to be a part of Britain's reserve aircraft before it and the Gladiator Mk IIS were removed and replaced by the Fury and Nimrod aircraft.
At Rank I and a battle rating of with a battle rating of 1.7 (AB) and 1.3 (RB/SB), this plane will typically be one of the first fighters a new player will research. However, the Gladiator, like its sea-based cousin, may be difficult to seek success in, especially in Realistic Battles mode. Within RB, when uptiering comes into play, it will have to deal with not only biplane adversaries such as the CR.42, F3F and the very manoeuvrable Ki-10, but also more advanced fighters such as the P-40E, early Bf 109s, I-16s, and Ki-43s. All these plane types have several varying advantages against the Gladiator, which can make early grinding a bit unbearable for some players.
General info
Flight Performance
Characteristics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stock | |||||||
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m) |
Max altitude (meters) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (meters/second) |
Take-off run (meters) | |||
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | ||
? | ? | ?,000 | ??.? | ??.? | ??.? | ??.? | ??? |
Upgraded | |||||||
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m) |
Max altitude (meters) | Turn time (seconds) | Rate of climb (meters/second) |
Take-off run (meters) | |||
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | ||
? | ? | ?,000 | ??.? | ??.? | ?.? | ?.? | ? |
Details
Features | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Combat flap | Take-off flap | Landing flap | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
X | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
Limits | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Wing-break speed (km/h) |
Gear limit (km/h) |
Combat flap (km/h) |
Max Static G | |
+ | - | |||
560 | 450 | 520 | ~12 | ~6 |
Optimal velocities | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ailerons (km/h) |
Rudder (km/h) |
Elevators (km/h) |
Radiator (km/h) |
< 300 | < 380 | < 380 | > 190 |
Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
---|---|---|
Setting 1 | ||
Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | |
4,160 m | 840 hp |
Survivability and armour
- No armour plating
- No armour glazing
- Critical components located at front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
- More fuel tanks located in wings near fuselage
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Gladiator Mk IIF is armed with:
- 2 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine gun, fuselage-mounted (600 rpg = 1,200 total)
- 2 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine gun, fuselage-mounted (400 rpg = 800 total)
Usage in the battles
There are a couple of issues with the Gladiator, all of which can make it an easy target at times:
- Its power plant configuration, which includes an engine with no WEP capability and a three-blade fixed-pitch propeller, can make the Gladiator a slug in acceleration and climb. In flight testing the Gladiator can usually only sustain at most around 3,000 fpm (roughly 15 m/s) in a climb at around 180-200 kph (111-124 mph) indicated airspeed, and its top speed isn't great either (at sea level it can only manage around 335 km/h, and testing has yielded 396 kph at 4000 m altitude).
- The Gladiator manoeuvres well. However, it bleeds a lot of speed in sharp turns, and while its turn radius is good enough to shake off reserve planes, the loss of speed can make the plane a slower and henceforth more vulnerable target to any other enemy planes in the area. Using flaps does help a bit with decreasing the amount of speed lost in a turn, but it is not beneficial enough to allow for minimal loss of speed. And like most early British fighters, it hates high speeds in dives.
- The Gladiator has four 7.7 mm (.303) Browning machine guns with a total of 2,000 rounds on hand. As with most other 7.7 mm guns the default rounds for the Brownings can be a bit weak in stopping power, but when equipped with tracer belts the four guns on this plane can be a deadly force to be reckoned with, as they can trigger fires and do a considerable amount of damage as a result.
Manual Engine Control
MEC elements | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
Oil | Water | Type | ||||
Controllable | Not controllable | Not controllable | Not controllable | Separate | Not ontrollable | Not controllable |
Modules
Tier | Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | Fuselage Repair | Radiator | |||
II | Compressor | Airframe | |||
III | Wings Repair | Engine | |||
IV | Engine Injection | Cover |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Armament is equal to or better than other fighters in its BR class
- Good manoeuvrability in a turn
- Tracer belts, like all other planes fitted with Browning machine guns, can be deadly
- Has flaps, unlike most other biplane fighters
Cons:
- Sluggish in acceleration and top speed (fixed-pitch propeller and lack of WEP can emphasise this problem)
- Performance deficiencies can make it an easy target for experienced or more difficult adversaries
- Not the best climber
- Bleeds speed in turns, even when using flaps
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main
template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.
Media
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Read also
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- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
Sources
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- topic on the official game forum;
- page on aircraft encyclopedia;
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