Biplanes of World War II Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gloster Gladiator

The Gloster Glaidator was introduced into service in 1937, and was obsolete almost from the start. For all of that, it had many innovative features, like an enclosed cockpit, and a powerful Bristol Mercury engine that, with the light airframe, gave it exceptional maneuverability and a fixed, but internally sprung, undercarriage.
Despite being somewhat passé as a design, the Gladiator sold well on the export market and saw quite successful service, especially in the Middle East and over Malta.

Answer: Fiat Cr. 42 Falco

The Fiat CR. 42 was quite possibly the last frontline biplane fighter in history. The aircraft was incredibly maneuverable and possessed a reasonable top speed, but was slightly underarmed and took heavy casualties in combat over the desert against better armed RAF monoplane fighters like the Hawker Hurricane.
It was repurposed as a ground aircraft, but was hampered by its small bomb load. After the surrender of Italy in 1943 some examples were used in this role by German forces.

Answer: All of the above

The HS-123 was like a biplane Stuka. It was reliable, could carry a useful load, and, above all, it could absorb a huge amount of punishment. In the Spanish Civil War and in World War Two it proved itself a useful ground attack aircraft, hardier and cheaper to run than the Ju87 Stuka.

By the start of 1945, however, its lack of spare parts due to the worsening war situation, need for high-octane fuel, and the very obsolescence of biplanes in what had become a monoplanes' war finally grounded it for good.

Answer: I-153

The I-153 was actually a better fighter than the revolutionary I-16 monoplane since it had a faster top speed and the manueverability of a biplane. However, its very stout fuselage made handling a little difficult for inexperienced pilots, of which the Red Air Force had many.

Answer: Fairey Albacore

Oddly enough, the Fairey Albacore was worse than the Swordfish it was designed to replace. It was faster, could carry more, was better armed, and had an enclosed cockpit, but reliability problems with its Bristol Taurus engines and its extremely heavy controls made it unpopular with its pilots.

Answer: Latvia

Built in Czechoslovakia, a few of the Avia B-534 were used by the Romanian, German, Hungarian, and Slovakian Air Forces too. The B-534 was a modern and agile design, hampered by the extra wing slowing it down somewhat. Most notably, in Bulgarian service the type was used to intercept USAAF B-24s during the Ploesti raids in 1943.

Answer: Belgium

In 1939, the Belgian Air Force still had 100 Foxes on the books, and although terribly outmatched and mostly destroyed on the ground, they still managed to make 75 sorties and one of them even made a kill, bringing down a single Luftwaffe Bf-109 in combat.

Answer: The Night Witches

The all-women 588th Night Bomber Regiment were very reluctantly authorised by Stalin in October 1941, when a lack of trained pilots was making the Red Air Force a lot less fussy about the details of its pilots. It turned out to be a good decision, as the Regiment was extremely competent and disciplined, and under its commander, Marina Raskova, went on to win 26 Hero of the Soviet Union Awards.

Answer: Breguet 19

The Breguet 19 had been an incredible export success, serving operationally with over fifteen air forces in between the wars, seeing combat in the Gran Chaco War of 1933-35 and in the Spanish Civil War with the loyalist Republican forces.
Sadly, it was well over the hill by the time of WWII and the only operational sorties it made were with the Greek Air Force, where they were very roughly handled by the more advanced Italian designs.
The Breguet 19 also saw combat action with the Yugoslavian Royal Air Force against the invading Germans in the Spring of 1941. The Croatian Air Force used them extensive in attacks against Tito 's partisan group and those same Yugoslavian partisans operated a defected Croatian Air Force Breguet 19 in June-July of 1942 until it was shot down. Another two were captured by forces of the new Communist government, and used in the pursuit of the "Ustashe" (Croatian Revolutionary Movement).
(Many thanks to Vagabob for the extra information about the Yugoslav machines).

Answer: Hawker Fury

A truly beautiful aircraft, the Hawker Fury was the fastest ever RAF aircraft on entering service in 1931, and the design of the later Hawker Hurricane owed a lot to it. An airworthy example is kept by the Imperial War Museum Collection at Duxford in the UK; it sometimes still flies on airshow days.

The Fury had a short combat service in WWII; most of the Yugoslav aircraft were destroyed on the ground and of the remainder, only one made a confirmed kill, possibly in a ramming attack (accounts vary). The SAAF ones were slightly more successful, downing two Italian bombers in the 1941 East Africa Campaign. Sadly, by then the age of the biplane was well and truly over.