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JR 500 was flown by F/O R.N. MacDonald on Nov 3, 1944 when he lost his life in a mock dogfight. It was a 3 bladed Tiffie.
I don't have a picture of Saver's rig but most pics of 439 Squadron tiffies show 4 bladed props but there are some with 3. Shaver's 262 shoot down occurred on Feb 14, 1945 and, according to my reference, he was flying Typhoon MN144. Fraser was in RB281, the subject of the first profile.
Thanks very much for the info. So would Shaver's aircraft be 5V H instead of 5V X?
Dave,
Yes, digging a bit further in my reference "Typhoon and Tempest - The Canadian Story" by Halliday, MN144 is stated to be 5V-H. No pics though I'm afraid.
At some point during production of MN or MP serials, the 4 blade became standard. MN235 in RAF Museum is a 3 blade, so MN144 is probably also a 3 blade. Subsequent batches ( PD, RB and SW serials ) were equipped with 4 blade propellers
Typhoon IB Performance Data
Careful about using the RAF Museum Typhoon as a reference. It was never used by the RAF, spending it's life in the USA until returned and restored in the 1970s. On return from the 'States, many parts were missing, and some American additions were included, such as the instrument panel marking and pilots notes! Most of the cowling panels are replica facsimiles, the radiator is from a truck, with cardboard trunking, and the prop spinner is a two-part representation from a different aircraft type.
That said, when produced and sent to the USA, it would have had the three-blade prop.
It's often difficult to ascertain which Typhoons had the later tail plane and four blade prop, as these were often retro-fitted to earlier airframes also. One clue, although by no means definite, is the position of the Sky tail band if worn. The larger tail plane normally infringed into the trailing edge of this band.
Of course, almost every variation and combination could be seen within the same squadron, with four blade prop and 'old' tail, three blade prop and 'new' tail, and both types serving alongside each other at the same time.
Finally I found a picture of a Typhoon 5VoX of the squadron with interesting info in its caption.. The pic and profile source Osprey - Aircraft of the Aces 027 - Typhoon and Tempest Aces.
The Mosquito pylons were similar to those used on the later Typhoon. The bomb carried was normally short-tailed, so you may have to alter the Mosquito bombs.