The Diemert Defender was an emergency fighter project invented by Bob Diemert of Manitoba. [1] It was designed in the Cold war as a mass produced counterinsurgency aircraft against the possibility of invading soviet troops. [2] It was later documented into a film.
The aircraft was designed by stunt pilot and WW2 warbird restorer Bob Diemert who previously worked on movies such as The Battle of Britain and was working on restoring Mitsubishi A6M Zero that were salvaged from the jungles of the south pacific. [3] During the 1980s, he designed his own aircraft which could be mass produced and a cost effective point defense aircraft for the RCAF.
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from 1940 to 1945. The A6M was designated as the Mitsubishi Navy Type 0 carrier fighter, or the Mitsubishi A6M Rei-sen. The A6M was usually referred to by its pilots as the Reisen, "0" being the last digit of the imperial year 2600 (1940) when it entered service with the IJN. The official Allied reporting name was "Zeke", although the name "Zero" was used colloquially as well.
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber in the ground-attack role. Its primary armament was eight .50-caliber machine guns, and it could carry 5-inch rockets or a bomb load of 2,500 lb (1,100 kg). When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to 8 tons, making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war.
The CAC Boomerang is a fighter aircraft designed and manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation between 1942 and 1945. Approved for production shortly following the Empire of Japan's entry into the Second World War, the Boomerang was rapidly designed as to meet the urgent demands for fighter aircraft to equip the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). It was the first combat aircraft designed and constructed in Australia.
Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort or MCAS Beaufort is a United States Marine Corps (USMC) air base located 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) northwest of the central business district of Beaufort, a city in Beaufort County, South Carolina, United States. About 4,700 personnel serve at the station, and it is home to four Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet fighter-attack squadrons and one F-35B Lighting II training squadron.
A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 100 Squadron, or the South African Air Force Museum Historic Flight.
The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a radial-engine military trainer aircraft manufactured by North American Aviation and used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s. Besides its use as a trainer, the T-28 was successfully employed as a counter-insurgency aircraft, primarily during the Vietnam War. It has continued in civilian use as an aerobatics and warbird performer.
Planes of Fame Air Museum is an aviation museum at Chino Airport in Chino, California.
The Goodyear F2G Corsair, often referred to as the "Super Corsair", is a development by the Goodyear Aircraft Company of the Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft. The F2G was intended as a low-altitude interceptor and was equipped with a 28-cylinder, four-row Pratt & Whitney R-4360 air-cooled radial engine.
The Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke is a maritime patrol aircraft and trainer used by the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. Produced by Fairchild-Canada, it was a license-built version of the Bristol Blenheim Mk IV bomber.
The CAC Wirraway is a training and general purpose military aircraft manufactured in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) between 1939 and 1946. It was an Australian development of the North American NA-16 training aircraft. The Wirraway has been credited as being the foundation of Australian aircraft manufacturing.
The Aichi H9A was an Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service flying boat used during the first years of World War II for crew training. An uncommon type, it was not encountered by Allied forces until spring 1945, and was never assigned an Allied reporting name.
The Douglas BTD Destroyer is an American dive/torpedo bomber developed for the United States Navy during World War II. A small number had been delivered before the end of the war, but none saw combat.
The Nakajima Ki-34 was a Japanese light transport of World War II. It was a twin-engine, low-wing monoplane; the undercarriage was of tailwheel type with retractable main units. During the Pacific War, the Allies assigned the type the reporting name Thora.
The Mitsubishi Ki-83 (キ83) was a Japanese experimental long range heavy fighter designed near the end of World War II. It did not reach production status.
The Kugisho B3Y, or Navy Type 92 Carrier Attack Bomber, also popularly titled Yokosuka B3Y, was a Japanese carrier-based torpedo bomber of the 1930s. It was designed by the Naval Air Technical Arsenal at Yokosuka, and while unimpressive during testing, it was ordered into service by the Imperial Japanese Navy and used until replaced by more capable aircraft.
The Kawasaki Ki-28, World War II Allied reporting name "Bob", was an experimental fighter aircraft designed for the Imperial Japanese Army and meant as a replacement for the Kawasaki Ki-10. It flew in 1936, but was never produced for actual use as the Army chose the Nakajima Ki-27.
An emergency fighter is an aircraft designed or adapted for use as a fighter at short notice, during an emergency period in war.
The World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft were reporting names, often described as codenames, given by Allied personnel to Imperial Japanese aircraft during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The names were used by Allied personnel to identify aircraft operated by the Japanese for reporting and descriptive purposes. Generally, Western men's names were given to fighter aircraft, women's names to bombers, transports, and reconnaissance aircraft, bird names to gliders, and tree names to trainer aircraft.
The Defender is a 54-minute Canadian documentary film, made in 1988 by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and directed by Stephen Low. The film depicts the building of the Diemert Defender, an emergency fighter aircraft project by Bob Diemert, an eccentric Canadian aviation engineer. His dream of building the next Canadian strike fighter aircraft to challenge the might of the Soviet Union in the event of invasion was dependent on selling a restored warbird.
The CAC Mustang is an Australian variant of the North American P-51 Mustang. It was built under license by Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation in the final stages of World War II, and though it was too late to see combat, it did participate in the Occupation of Japan after VJ-Day.
