Just back from hols so missed most of this debate - but had to comment on this!
Quote:
Originally Posted by tcolvin 
Surely the 400mph Typhoon was vulnerable to the 452mph Bf109K, to the 472mph FwTa152C, to the 474 mph Ar335, and to the 541mph Me262. It was another myth, and RAF rationalisation, that the fighter-bomber could revert to being a fighter and defend itself. For a start the RP rails could not be jettisoned.
Pierre Clostermann flew the 440mph Tempest, and said this about the Typhoons' vulnerability in February 1945 in his book 'The Big Show'; "Typhoon formations frequently lost six or seven machines out of twelve in encounters with Fw190s and Bf109s. The Spitfire was powerless. It was to remedy this state of affairs that 122 Wing was sent to Volkel equipped with Tempests. It was a crack unit and on it depended the entire offensive and tactical system of the British front".
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The first paragraph was just intended to be provocative (surely?). As Nick has pointed out 'maximum' speeds are not a particularly useful tool in comparing aircraft combat capabilities. What about manouverability, dive/climb speeds, roll rate, weapons, gunsights, abililty to survive damage, etc? The Typhoon could out-turn a Fw190 at low level, particularly if the Typhoon pilot dropped 10 degrees of flap.
As Nick also says, let the results speak for themeselves. At a quick count I reckon some 38 Typhoons were lost or believed to have been lost to German fighters in the air between D-Day and VE-Day. In the same period Typhoons were credited with 43 'confirmed' claims, including 17 Bf109, 15 Fw190 and 3 Me262 (I don't recall any 262 claims for Typhoons ....). 14 of these 35 claims for fighters were made by RP Typhoons the rest by bombers which were not encumbered by RP rails. The ratio of RP to bomber Typhoon squadrons was approximately 2 to 1.
I do like the correspondent's sense of humour, quoting 'The Big Show' as a statistical source. The statement about Typhoon losses would be correct only if you substituted 'never' for 'frequently'. The worst Typhoon loss in air combat occurred on 17 August 1944 when 8 Typhoons of 183 sqn were bounced by '50 plus' German fighters and lost four. There were a couple of other occasions when 3 were lost. Air to air combat with the Luftwaffe was relatively rare (I know one pilot who flew nearly 200 sorties during the period in question and never saw a Luftwaffe aircraft in the air), but when it did occur the Typhoon pilots could look after themselves as the above results show. The USAAF shot down more Typhoons in the first 3 months of 1945 than did the Luftwaffe ....
Re earlier posts, yes, the Typhoon was armoured. Mod 346 (55 lbs of fixed armour) and 347 (496 lbs of removable armour) were introduced in spring 1944. I am not sure of the exact disposition of this armour but photos show trial installations of sheet armour applied to the cockpit sides and floor and around the radiator. Nor do I know to what extent this armour was employed on operations. However many photos of Typhoons from D-day onwards show stencilling on the radiator fairings - "This fairing is armoured" - as a warning to groundcrew who might be removing the fairing.