Boutlon Paul Defiant Mk1 for MSFS

About this aircraft ...
The Defiant Mk1 is a British World War II-era two-seat, single-engine, day / night military interceptor developed by Boulton Paul Aircraft. The Defiant took its maiden flight on August 11, 1937, and it entered service in December of 1939. Boulton Paul Aircraft manufactured just over 1,000 of the design. Only one non-flying example remains in existence, as a static museum display. In the mid-1930s, the Royal Air Force sought to procure a new type of aircraft that could defend against raids comprising masses of unescorted long-range German bombers. This concept culminated in the April 1935 Air Ministry release of Specification F.9/35. This outlined a two-seat, day/night interceptor aircraft comprising a powered, freely rotating turret with 360-degree field of fire that housed an array of machine guns. Such an aircraft would, as per the specification, engage bombers in formation from aside and from beneath them. Called a “turret fighter,” the Boulton Paul Defiant was constructed with aluminum skin over a metal airframe. It has a low-wing cantilever monoplane design with a standard empennage and a retractable standard undercarriage. The electro-hydraulically turret is mounted just behind the cockpit on the dorsal aspect of aircraft. When operational, the turret comprised four parallel-mounted .303-caliber Browning machine guns and accommodated a single gunner. Upon its debut, the Boulton Paul Defiant proved successful against unescorted German bombers. However, the Germans quickly learned to counter the aircraft by attacking it head-on, as it did not possess any forward-firing armament. The Royal Air Force withdrew the fighter from daytime use, focusing on nighttime missions, including missions that used onboard radar. These radar-equipped Defiants made critical defensive contributions to the effort against the German “Blitz” of 1940 to 1941. In the latter days of the war, the Defiant was used for gunnery training and search and rescue missions. The Defiant Mk1 measures 35 feet, 4 inches in length, stands 11 feet, 4 inches tall, and has a wingspan of 39 feet, 4 inches. When operational, it was powered by a single Rolls-Royce Merlin III V12 engine that produced up to 1,030 horsepower and turned a 3-blade, constant-speed propeller. The Defiant had a maximum range of 500 miles, a service ceiling of 31,000 feet above sea level, and a maximum climb rate of 2,000 feet per minute. It cruised at 175 miles per hour and had a top speed of 304 miles per hour.
Liveries included :
- Defiant F.Mk.1 :
PS-A, No. 264 Squadron, RAF Hornchurch, August 1940.
PS-T, No. 264 Squadron, RAF Martlesham Heath, March 1940.
AF-V, Air Fighting Development Unit, RAF Duxford, April 1941.
- Defiant NF.Mk.1 :
JT-T, No. 256 Squadron, RAF Squires Gate, October 1941.
DZ-Z, No. 151 Squadron, RAF Wittering, January 1941.
EW-D, No. 307 (Polish) Squadron, RAF Kirton-in-Lindsey, September 1941.
Features :
- available for MSFS2020 and MSFS2024.
- highly detailed undercarriage and wheel wells.
- realistic crew figures in correct period garb.
- 6 liveries - 3 day fighter (camo), 3 night fighter (all-black).
- sharp 4K textures with fine rivet details, paint damage and small text decals.
- ability to rotate and open turret doors to exit position (on ground only).
- turret auto-rotates to rear-facing flight position on gear-up state.
- pitot cover and wheel chocks on shutdown.
- VR ready. Control yoke latch-on enabled.
- Wwise sounds package, Merlin engine, switch clicks and other unique cockpit sounds.
- detailed cockpit with numerous animations and mousable controls.
- start-up smoke fx.
- in-game checklist.
- 15-page illustrated User Operating Manual
