Gloster Gladiator Mk.I
China (Nationalists), 28th Squadron,
Code: 2909
Changsha, China 
1937-1938.



History courtesy of Jan Tuma:

In October 1937 the Chinese Government placed an order for 36 Gladiator Mk.Is 
with Vickers Mk. V machine guns for use in the war against the Japanese. 
In late November, early December 1937 these aircraft accompanied by a 
Gloster working party arrived by sea at Hong Kong for assembly at Kai Tak 
Airport. Under pressure from the Japanese the British Government refused 
to give the Chinese the technical support required to assemble these aircraft.
 
The Gladiators were moved to Guangzhou via the Kowloon Guangzhou Railroad 
and then by junk up the Pearl River. Due to regular harassment by Japanese 
aircraft only three or four Gladiators were assembled. The remainder of the first
 batch of twenty aircraft were assembled at a variety of places, including 
Shougouling Air Base, or to give its more poetic name Tienhe (Constellation), 
and even a cemetery. During the next few weeks the Gladiators were quickly 
put together under the most primitive conditions. These completed machines 
were then dispersed into the interior to keep them out of harms way until pilots 
could be trained to fly them. 

The first twenty aircraft were issued to the 17th, 28th and 29th Fighter Squadrons 
of the 5th Fighter Group. The final sixteen were also issued to the 28th and 29th FS, 
mainly as a means to replace attrition. During the training period several aircraft 
were either damaged or written off due to the inexperience of the Chinese pilots. 

At the beginning of 1938 the Chinese Air Force consisted of some 320 aircraft of 
various nationalities, these comprised of Tupolev SB-2, Vultee V-11, Martin 139 WC, 
Northrop Gamma 2E, Heinkel He111, Fiat CR30, Curtiss Hawk III, Polikarpov I-15, I-16 
and Gladiators. 

The Gladiators were dispersed as follows; 
17th FS 4 Gladiators, 16 I-15s based at Xian, Hankou and Xinyang. 
28th FS 16 Gladiators based at Gunzhou, Hengyang, Changsha, Kanko and Nanchang. 
29th FS 16 Gladiators operated from same bases as 28th FS. 


At the end of August 1938 most of the Gladiators had been lost or was 
unserviceable due to combat damage even if later missions with Chinese 
Gladiators are known (the "guerrilla campaign" waged by Major Chin Shui-Tin 
and two other pilots in Kwangsi between August and December 1939). 
The three remaining Gladiators were used as training aircraft. 



________________________________________________
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION:

Country: _________Great Britain
Type:_____________Fighter
Year______________1935
Span:_____________9,83 m
Lenght:___________8,36 m
Empty weight______1562 kg
Engine:___________Bristol Mercury IX - 840 HP
Max speed:________414 km/h
Range:____________708 km
Service ceiling:__10120 m
Armament:_________4x .303" Vickers machine guns

_________________________________

EAW MODEL DESCRIPTION:

Credits:

HR Skin:__________________________ Jan Tuma
HR 3Dz model:_____________________ Jan Tuma
Middle & Long Range view models:__ Jan Tuma
HR VC Wing View :_________________ Jan Tuma
Virtual Cockpit:__________________ Claudio Wilches



Version description:

1.0 - 27/08/2006 - New Hi-Res Model & Skin by Jan Tuma



EAW Compatibility:

Slot: Sp09.
With the ECA Panel use as Gladiator Mk.I, or Jan Tumas "China-Nomonchan" campaign. 



(c) Jan Tuma  27.8.2006
http://www.tenzor.cz/tuma