Gloster Sea Gladiator N5519/G6A, No,802 NAS, HMS Glorious, 1939

Scale: 1:72
Limited Edition: Yes
Wingspan: 135mm
Aviation Archive Special Features: Fine Rigging Detail

Gloster Sea Gladiator N5519/G6A, No,802 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Glorious, June 1939
The beautiful Gloster Gladiator represented the absolute pinnacle of biplane ?ghter design, but entered service just as the ?rst of the fast monoplane ?ghters were already dictating the future of aerial warfare. A thoroughbred aircraft in every sense of the word, the Gladiator was the last biplane ?ghter to enter RAF service and the ?rst to feature a fully enclosed cockpit. Highly manoeuvrable and extremely fast by biplane standards, the Gladiator also served with the Royal Navy, with aircraft modi?ed for operations at sea by the inclusion of a strengthened fuselage, arrester hook and catapult spools, as well as provision for the stowage of an in?atable dinghy. Sea Gladiator N5519 wears the attractive pre-war colours of No.802 NAS, serving on board HMS Glorious, with the black ?n marking this aircraft as the Squadron Commander's mount. All twelve of 802 Squadrons Gladiators were lost in June 1940 when HMS Glorious was sunk by the German Battleship Scharnhorst, during operations in the defence of Norway.