Gloster F.5/34

nathanclawfish · June 25, 2025, 8:23pm

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                        Gloster F.5/34

Design and History:

The Gloster F.5/34 was a design put forward in an attempt to meet Air Ministry Specification F.5/34, which requested an airframe carrying eight machineguns and an air-cooled engine suitable for operations in the tropics. The F.5/34 would be Gloster’s first monoplane fighter, along with the last design done by H.P. Folland for the company, before he left to form Folland Aircraft, famous for the later Gnat trainer.

The initial design for the F.5/34 took the form of a low wing monoplane based on the existing Gladiator. By 1935 though the design had changed, to include more modern features, such as metal stressed skin for the airframe, a fully enclosed and glazed canopy, similar to the one used in the production gladiator, increasing vision from the cockpit. Though apart from these changes the overall dimensions of the airframe remained the same beyond an increase of length of 3 feet. This change was done to improve high-speed handling and improve spin recovery.

The engine selected for this design was the 840 hp Bristol Mercury IX nine-cylinder poppet-valve radial engine. A change from the initially intended Perseus, but due to the similar dimensions, the change didn’t require any major alterations to the nose of the aircraft, with the intention of the more powerful Perseus being installed during the actual production of the aircraft. In terms of Armament, like all other specification F.5/34 Aircraft, the plane was equipped with 8 .303 Browning machine guns.

Unlike the other entrants to the F.5/34 specification, Gloster had two prototypes ordered, against the normal practice of the standard one being ordered. This break in protocol was also followed by the Spitfire and Hurricane, showing the Ministry had high hopes for the design. The initial development for the F.5/34 was delayed due to demands in Gladiator production, with the first prototype not flying until December of 1936 and the second in March of 1938.

Unfortunately, these delays would ultimately kill the project, as though it compared better than the Bristol Type 146, Martin-Baker M.B.2 and the Vickers Venom, which it was competing with, by the time flight tests had begun, the on par hurricane was in service, and the spitfire was going into production, creating an aircraft for a niche that was no longer required, resulting in further development of the F.5/34 being abandoned. The two prototypes were relegated to experimental and training purposes before being ultimately scrapped in 1941.

Aircraft Specification:

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft 2 in (11.63 m)
Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
Wing area: 230 sq ft (21 m2)
Airfoil: root: NACA 2218; tip: NACA 2209[9]
Empty weight: 4,190 lb (1,901 kg)
Gross weight: 5,400 lb (2,449 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Mercury IX 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 840 hp (630 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed variable-pitch propeller

Performance

Maximum speed: 316 mph (509 km/h, 275 kn) at 16,000 ft (4,877 m)
Service ceiling: 32,500 ft (9,900 m) [10]
Time to altitude: 20,000 ft (6,096 m) in 11 minutes
Wing loading: 23.5 lb/sq ft (115 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.156 hp/lb (0.256 kW/kg)

Armament

Guns: 8x 0.303-in (7.7-mm) Browning machine guns

Additional Photos: