CF105

Winner!

Designed as a "bomber destroyer", the idea was the Defiant would deploy with Hurricanes or Spitfires to protect them from enemy fighters. From the research I've done, I don't think that tactic was ever actually employed. They had their best success over Dunkirk, when they shot down 37 enemy planes in two sorties - actually setting an RAF record for the most air to air victories in a day.

Apparently pilots enjoyed flying the Defiant (although perhaps not so much in combat). I doubt the air gunners were as happy - they had to wear a special "slipper suit" that included their parachute in order to squeeze into their turret. And should they have to bail out, they exited through a circular hatch in the bottom of the aircraft (not unlike early versions of the F-104 I suppose!).

The belief that the Defiant had no forward firing weapons wasn't exactly correct. The turret could traverse 360 degrees, and there was provision for the pilot to fire the guns should the gunner be incapacitated. In fact, one former Defiant crewmember stated that the procedure for the air gunner, should he be wounded, was the lock the turret in the forward position and switch firing control to the pilot before becoming incapacitated (somehow I doubt that ever worked in combat!). However the pilot had no gunsight, and the guns were elevated at an angle (13 degrees I think?), so hitting anything would be more luck than anything.

Boulton Paul also pitched a more conventional version that eliminated the turret and moved the guns to the wings. However by this time Hurricane and Spitfire production had built up enough that it wasn't needed.