Both F.9/37s were finished in the fighter camouflage of the period, with dark green and dark earth top surfaces, silver under the tail surfaces, rear fuselage, and engine cowlings, matt black beneath the port wing, and white beneath the starboard wing.
First of the two Gloster F.9/37s, L7999 (Experimental Aeroplane 108), as flown in the later months of 1940, by which time Taurus T-S(a) III engines were fitted and Type B (red and blue) roundels applied.
One more photograph showing the first F.9/37 shortly after completion.
When Specification F.9/37 was issued in September 1937, Folland’s replacement at Gloster, George Carter, dusted off his predecessor’s design to F.34/35 which, with a number of revisions, became the G.39.
The Peregrine engines greatly enhanced the F.9/37's lines, but the weight penalty incurred by this installation was detrimental to the aeroplane's performance. The main undercarriage doors were revised on L8002.
The first F.9/37, L7999, in natural metal finish shortly after completion. The Bristol Taurus engines drove Rotol variable-pitch propellers.
The Gloster F9/37 prototype L8002 of 1939. This design was revamped for Specification F18/40 for a night-fighter, but gave way to jet developments.
One more photograph showing the first F.9/37 shortly after completion. The narrow, oval-section fuselage is apparent in the front view.
Although L7999 had red and blue roundels on the fuselage sides and on the upper wing surfaces, and L8002 had three-colour roundels in those positions, there were none on the wing undersides and no fin flashes. While L7999 had its serial number writ large under the wings, L8002 seems to have had only the rear-fuselage serials.
