PLANE OF THE MONTH

Typhoon Mk IB R8843 of Wg Cdr D J Scott, OC Tangmere Wing, Tangmere, September 1943

R8843 was the first Typhoon with a sliding hood to reach an operational unit, and was from a small batch of older Typhoons which had been in store awaiting adequate supplies of Sabre engines. These aircraft were brought up to the latest standard, and this included the fitting of the new canopy. The earliest ‘bubble-tops’ went to the COs of the Typhoon fighter squadrons, with another example being R8845, which was issued to Sqn Ldr Thornton-Brown of No 609 Sqn. Scott received his new Typhoon on 16 September 1943, and flew the aircraft until November, when he was posted to command RAF Hawkinge. Remaining at Tangmere, R8843 was damaged by flak while flown by Denys Gillam on 12 January 1944. Repaired by Taylorcraft, it was eventually issued to No 184 Sqn around D-Day. Transferred to No 175 Sqn a few days later, it was damaged and repaired again, whereupon it was issued to No 181 Sqn in September 1944. It was finally shot down by flak on 29 September 1944, with its pilot, Flt Lt TFRosser, becoming a PoW.