A list of aircraft used by the British Royal Air Force, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, Army Air Corps and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC)[1] during the Second World War.
Fighters[]
Brewster Buffalo Mk I
Supermarine Spitfire Mk I
Hawker Hurricane Mk I
- Bell Airacobra (Royal Air Force) (Brief use)
- Blackburn Roc turret fighter (Royal Navy)
- Boulton Paul Defiant turret fighter (Royal Air Force)
- Brewster Buffalo (Royal Air Force)
- Bristol Blenheim night fighter (Royal Air Force)
- Curtiss Mohawk (Royal Air Force)
- Curtiss Kittyhawk and Tomahawk (Royal Air Force)
- de Havilland Mosquito night fighter (Royal Air Force)
- Douglas Havoc night fighter (Royal Air Force)
- Fairey Fulmar fleet fighter (Royal Navy)
- Gloster Gladiator (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Gloster Meteor jet fighter (Royal Air Force)
- Gloster Sea Gladiator (Royal Navy)
- Grumman Martlet/Wildcat (Royal Navy)
- Grumman Hellcat (Royal Navy)
- Hawker Hurricane (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Hawker Sea Hurricane (Royal Navy)
- Hawker Tempest (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Lightning twin engine fighter (Royal Air Force) (Brief use)
- North American Mustang (Royal Air Force)
- Republic Thunderbolt (Royal Air Force)
- Supermarine Spitfire (Royal Air Force)
- Supermarine Seafire (Royal Navy)
- Vought Corsair (Royal Navy)
- Westland Whirlwind twin engine fighter (Royal Air Force)
- Westland Welkin high altitude fighter (Royal Air Force)
Fighter bombers, Torpedo bombers, Army Cooperation and Ground attack[]
de Havilland 98 Mosquito
- Avro Rota Army cooperation autogyro (Royal Air Force)
- Blackburn Skua fighter/dive bomber (Royal Navy)
- Brewster Buccaneer dive bomber (Royal Navy)
- Bristol Beaufighter fighter-bomber (Royal Air Force)
- de Havilland Mosquito fighter-bomber (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Hawker Hurricane fighter-bomber (Royal Air Force)
- Hawker Typhoon fighter-bomber (Royal Air Force)
- Fairey Albacore torpedo/dive bomber (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Fairey Barracuda dive bomber (Royal Navy)
- Fairey Firefly fighter bomber (Royal Navy)
- Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber (Royal Navy)
- Grumman Tarpon/Avenger torpedo bomber (Royal Navy)
- Hawker Hector Army cooperation (Royal Air Force)
- Hawker Hind Army cooperation (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber (Royal Air Force)
- Vought Chesapeake dive bomber (Royal Navy)
- Vultee Vengeance dive bomber (Royal Air Force)
- Westland Wapiti general purpose (Royal Air Force)
Bombers[]
Avro Manchester Mk IA
Avro Lancaster
- Armstrong Whitworth Whitley (Royal Air Force)
- Avro Manchester (Royal Air Force)
- Avro Lancaster (Royal Air Force)
- Boeing Fortress (Royal Air Force)
- Bristol Beaufort (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Bristol Blenheim & Bisley (Royal Air Force)
- Bristol Bombay (Royal Air Force)
- Douglas Boston (Royal Air Force)
- Fairey Battle (Royal Air Force)
- Fairey Gordon (Royal Air Force)
- Handley Page Halifax (Royal Air Force)
- Handley Page Hampden & Hereford (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Hudson (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Ventura (Royal Air Force)
- Martin Maryland (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Martin Marauder (Royal Air Force)
- Martin Baltimore (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- North American Mitchell (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Short Stirling (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Valencia (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Vincent (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Wellesley (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Wellington (Royal Air Force)
Maritime Patrol and Coastal Reconnaissance[]
Short Sunderland
Consolidated Catalina Mk II
- Avro Anson (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Boeing Fortress (Royal Air Force)
- Blackburn Botha (Royal Air Force)
- Bristol Beaufort (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Consolidated Catalina (found Bismark) (Royal Air Force)
- Consolidated Liberator (closed Mid-Atlantic gap) (Royal Air Force)
- Fairey Seafox (used during attack on Graf Spee) (Royal Navy)
- Fokker T.VIII floatplane (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Hudson (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Ventura (Royal Air Force)
- Martin Mariner (Royal Air Force)
- Saro London (Royal Air Force)
- Saro Lerwick (Royal Air Force)
- Short Empire (Royal Air Force)
- Short Seaford (Royal Air Force)
- Short Singapore (Royal Air Force)
- Short Sunderland (Royal Air Force)
- Supermarine Walrus (Royal Navy)
- Supermarine Sea Otter (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Supermarine Stranraer (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Warwick (Royal Air Force)
- Vought Kingfisher (Royal Navy)
- Westland Lysander (Royal Air Force)
Photo Reconnaissance[]
- Bristol Blenheim (Royal Air Force)
- de Havilland Mosquito (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Hudson (Royal Air Force)
- North American Mustang (Royal Air Force)
- Supermarine Spitfire (Royal Air Force)
Trainers and Target Tugs[]
Avro Anson trainer
North American Harvard Mk.I
- Airspeed Oxford bomber trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Avro Anson navigation and bomber trainer (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Curtiss Cleveland ground instructional training (Royal Air Force)
- de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth primary trainer (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- de Havilland DH.86 radio trainer (Royal Air Force)
- de Havilland DH.93 Don radio trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Fairey Gordon obsolete bomber used as trainer and target tug (Royal Air Force)
- Handley Page Heyford obsolete bomber used as trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Hawker Hart obsolete bomber used as trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Hawker Henley target tug (Royal Air Force)
- Miles Magister primary trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Miles Martinet (Royal Air Force)
- Miles Master target tug (Royal Air Force)
- North American Harvard advanced trainer (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Percival Proctor radio trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Sikorsky Hoverfly helicopter (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Wellington obsolete bomber used as trainer (Royal Air Force)
- Westland Lysander target tug (Royal Air Force)
- Westland Wallace target tug (Royal Air Force)
Transport and Communications aircraft[]
De Havilland Dominie
- Airspeed Envoy (Royal Air Force)
- Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle glider tug (Royal Air Force)
- Armstrong Whitworth Whitley (Royal Air Force)
- Avro Lancastrian (BOAC)
- Avro York (Royal Air Force)
- Beechcraft Expeditor (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Boeing Clipper VIP transport (BOAC)
- Bristol Bombay (Royal Air Force)
- Bristol Buckingham (Royal Air Force)
- Consolidated Coronado (Royal Air Force)
- Consolidated Liberator - transport variants (Royal Air Force)
- de Havilland Dominie (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- de Havilland Flamingo (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, BOAC)
- de Havilland Mosquito (BOAC)
- Douglas Dakota (Royal Air Force)
- Douglas Skymaster (Royal Air Force)
- Fairchild Argus (Royal Air Force)
- Grumman Goose (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Grumman Gosling (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Handley Page Halifax - transport variants (Royal Air Force)
- Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow (Royal Air Force)
- Percival Petrel (Royal Air Force)
- Percival Proctor (Royal Air Force)
- Percival Vega Gull (Royal Air Force)
- Lockheed Lodestar (Royal Air Force, BOAC)
- Miles Mentor (Royal Air Force)
- Short Hythe (BOAC)
- Short S.26 G-Class Empire VIP transport (Royal Air Force, BOAC)
- Short Stirling - transport variants (Royal Air Force)
- Sikorsky Hoverfly helicopter (Royal Air Force)
- Stinson Reliant (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Stinson Sentinel (Royal Air Force)
- Stinson Vigilant (Royal Air Force, Royal Navy)
- Taylorcraft Auster (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Valentia (Royal Air Force)
- Vickers Warwick (Royal Air Force)
- Westland Lysander spy dropping (Royal Air Force)
Gliders[]
- Airspeed Horsa (Royal Air Force)
- General Aircraft Hamilcar (Royal Air Force)
- General Aircraft Hotspur training glider (Royal Air Force)
- Slingsby Hengist (Royal Air Force)
- Waco Hadrian (Royal Air Force)
References[]
- Owen Thetford: Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918 6th edition. Putnam & Co., London 1976, ISBN 0-370-10056-5.
- ↑ Used for logistics support with RAF crews.
See also[]
- List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
- List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm
- List of aircraft of World War II
The original article can be found at List of aircraft of the United Kingdom in World War II and the edit history here.