Boulton Paul P.82 Defiant

For a description of the format and data included in Production Tables, see here.

Contents

Type Description

• P.82 Prototypes
• Two seat turret-armed defensive fighter to Specification F.9/35 to meet the requirements of O.R.20. The fuselage was an all-metal stressed skin monocoque structure, which was built in sections that were subsequently bolted together. The rear fuselage comprised two metal cones connected by a two-foot transitional section and a flat upper deck.The principal armament of the aircraft is its Boulton Paul Type A. Mk IID powered dorsal turret, a self-contained ‘drop-in’ unit with its own hydraulic pump and equipped with four 0.303 in Browning machine guns. The fuselage was fitted with aerodynamic fairings that helped mitigate the drag of the turret; they were pneumatically powered and could be lowered into the fuselage so that the turret could rotate freely. The Brownings were electrically fired and insulated cut-off points in the turret ring prevented the guns firing when they were pointing at the propeller disc or tailplane. The gunner could rotate the turret directly forward and transfer firing control of the guns to the pilot, with the guns firing along each side of the cockpit canopy; this was rarely done as the turret's minimum forward elevation was 19° and the pilot did not have a gunsight. To allow the turret a clear field of fire, two rather large radio masts were located on the underside of the fuselage, which retracted when the undercarriage was extended. The gunner's hatch was in the rear of the turret, which had to be rotated to the side for entry and exit. Tankage for up to 104 imp gal of fuel was housed within the wing centre section along with a large ventral radiator. The center section employed a two-spar arrangement, and the wing itself had removable wingtips. The main landing gear retracted into a broad mainplane section. One 1,030 h.p. Rolls Royce Merlin I (1st prototype) or 1,030 h.p. Rolls Royce Merlin II (2nd prototype) powerplant.

• P.82 Defiant Mk.I
• Initial production variant, similar to prototypes, to Production Specification 5/37. 1,030 h.p. Rolls Royce Merlin III powerplant.

• P.82 Defiant N.F. Mk.I
• Night-fighter conversion of F. Mk I. Flame damper exhausts, no radar.

• P.82 Defiant N.F. Mk.IA
• As NF. Mk I with AI Mk IV or VI radar fitted.

• P.82 Defiant N.F. Mk. II
• Improved production variant with larger rudder and deeper oil cooler and radiator. Same designation with and without radar. One 1,260 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin XX powerplant.

• P.82 Defiant TT.Mk.I
• Target Tug variant, based on the Mk II airframe, but with space formerly occupied by the turret now taken up with an observers station with a small canopy. A fairing under the rear fuselage housed the target banner, and a large windmill was fitted on the starboard fuselage side to power the winch. One 1,260 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin XX powerplant. New built or Mk.II conversions.

• P.82 Defiant TT.Mk.III
• As TT.Mk.I, but all Mk.I conversions.

• P.82 Defiant ASR.Mk.I
• Air Sea Rescue variant, equipped with a pair of underwing pods that each contained two M-type dinghies. All Mk.I conversions.

Projected Variants

• P.82 Defiant TT.Mk.II
• Reduced weight Target Tug variant with turret removed and winch installed. 1,620 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin 24 powerplant.

• P.82 Defiant Single-seat
  Fighter
• Single seat version with turret removed and armament of two 0.303 machine guns in each wing. Mock-up up built by converting first prototype.

• P.82 Defiant Trainer
• Dual-control trainer version with turret replaced by second cockpit. Design work stopped when 80% complete.

• P.85
• Naval fighter version of the Mk I with Bristol Hercules HE-ISM or Merlin powerplant.

• P.94
• Improved single-seat fighter version with One 1,260 h.p. Rolls-Royce Merlin XX powerplant, cut-down rear fuselage and wings equipped for 12 machine guns or four 20 mm cannon plus 4 machine guns.

Production Details

Notes

1. Boulton Paul did not allocate construction numbers to their aircraft, but the Defiants were given a "machine number", listed here as a c/n. [2]. It will be noted that in Brew [2], both N1580 and N1581 are given as c/n. 133, with all following being correspondingly shifted up to DR863, when the numbering resumes its logical pattern. This author assumes this to be a typographical error and has adjusted accordingly.

Production References

1. Boulton Paul Aircraft Since 1915,, Alec Brew (Putnam, 1993)
2. The Defiant File, Alec Brew (Air Britain (Historians), 1996)
3. The British Roundel (various issues)
4. RAF Air Historical Branch: Delivery Serial Ledger (A.M. Form 622) (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MF-1 thru 5)
5. RAF Air Historical Branch: RAF Aircraft Movement Card (A.M. Form 78) (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC-77-15-26)
6. RAF Air Historical Branch: Contract Delivery Cards (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records MFC-78-8-1)
7. Ministry of Aircraft Production Aeroplane Price Books (Dept of Archive and Aviation Records, RAF Museum, Hendon, Records X005-2126)