As designed, the F.5/34 would be powered by a single Bristol Mercury IX 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine of 840 horsepower driving a three-bladed propeller at the nose. The cockpit would be installed just aft of this and the tail unit would incorporated a basic single-rudder, twin-stabilizer arrangement. The undercarriage consisted of a tail-dragger configuration for ground-running. The mainplanes were set well-forward of midships and were straight in their general design with rounded tips. Construction involved both metal alloys and fabric with a Duralumin skinning process used. its external appearance was akin to that of the classic Japanese Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" and the British design may have inspired this famous airplane.
A first-flight was recorded in December of 1937 and a second prototype followed the next year.
The aircraft exhibited a length of 32 feet with a wingspan of 38.1 feet and a height of 10.1 feet. Empty weight was 4,200lb against an MTOW of 5,400lb. Top speed reached 316 miles per hour and the listed service ceiling was 32,500 feet with 20,000 feet of altitude being reached in 11 minutes. Proposed armament was the requested 8 x 7.7mm machine gun fit.
During testing, the Gloster F.5/34 had a good showing but it faced an uphill battle for a new war in Europe was brewing and the Royal Air Force was already committing to an inventory of Hawker Hurricane as well as Supermarine Spitfire fighters which were more-than-capable gunnery platforms for the foreseeable future. After war official broke out in September of 1939, the Gloster aircraft was relegated to testing duties and ended its flying days in May of 1941.
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