Gloster Gladiator Aircraft

Gladiator I, Lithuanian Air Force. Copyright: Arvo Vercamer

Production Details

Design Company:

Gloster Aircraft Company, Hucclecote

First Flight:

12 September 1934

Prototype:

1 - Gloster Aircraft Ltd

Gladiator I:

378 - Gloster Aircraft Ltd

Sea Gladiator (Interim):

38 - Gloster Aircraft Ltd

Sea Gladiator:

60 - Gloster Aircraft Ltd

Gladiator II:

270 - Gloster Aircraft Ltd

Type Specification

Applies to:

Gloster Gladiator I

Type:

Single seat multi gun fighter

Wing:

Single bay, equal span biplane. Centre section carried above fuselage by splayed out struts, one pair of parallel struts on either side of fuselage. Metal wing structure, covered with fabric. Ailerons on upper and lower wings

Fuselage:

Rectangular metal structure, faired to an oval section and covered forward with metal panels and aft with fabric over a light metal structure in the form of hoops and stringers

Tail Unit:

Normal monoplane type. Steel tube and duralumin strip framework, covered with fabric

Landing Gear:

Single strut cantilever type

Power Plant:

One 830 hp Bristol Mercury IX nine cylinder air cooled radial, driving a 10 ft 9 in diameter Watts two blade fixed pitch wooden propeller

Accommodation:

Pilots enclosed cockpit aft of trailing edge of upper wing

Armament:

Four machine guns, two mounted in troughs in the sides of the fuselage, and two mounted below the lower wing

Span:

32 ft 3 in

Length:

27 ft 5 in

Height:

10 ft 4 in

Wing Area:

323 sq ft

Empty:

3,217 lb

Loaded:

4,594 lb

Max Speed:

253 mph at 14,500 ft

Service Ceiling:

32,800 ft

Preserved in British Museums

Gladiator I:

K8042 - Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon - Display 423 - Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome - Airworthy

Gladiator II:

N5628 - Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon - Forward Fuselage N5903 - The Fighter Collection, Duxford Aerodrome - Restoration N5914 - Jet Age Museum, Gloucestershire Airport - Offsite

Sea Gladiator II:

N5579 - Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton - Stored Frame

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