Jets and rockets

With the advent of the jet engine a number of projects was started, sometimes as private ventures, more usually as a response to a formal specification. There was not necessarily an intention to proceed to production but neither were the types listed below purely intended for research.

Gloster GA.1 Ace and GA.2

The Gloster Aircraft Company had unprecented experience with jet aircraft, having built the E28/39 vehicle for Whittle's first engine. This important aircraft, W4041/G flew for the first time on 15 May 1941. The single engined Gloster G.42 was built to specification E.1/44 which called for a small fighter with two cannon and a maximum speed of 485mph. The original specification had been E.5/42 which would be powered by a Halford engine; serials NN648, 651 and 655 were allocated. The later specification was based around the Nene engine and serials SM801, 805 and 809 were now allocated to what was due to become the GA.1. In due course work was abandoned on the first two aircraft and the third, now designated GA.2, was completed and transported by road to Boscombe Down; en route it was wrecked in a road accident. A further three GA.2 aircraft had been ordered as TX145, 148 and 150 followed by two orders for 20 aircraft each serialled VP601-620 and VR164-183. TX145 made the first flight of the type on 9 March 1948 with a low-set tailplane. TX148 flew with a higher tailplane which was later fitted to the Meteor Mk 8. The third prototype was due to be fitted with the Ghost engine as the GA.3 but it was not completed. The Meteor met all likely needs against which the aircraft had been built and the pre-production orderes were cancelled. The two completed aircraft went to the RAE where they were used until 1951.

Saunders Roe SR.A/1

The idea of a small jet-powered flying-boat fighter originated in the need to pursue an island-hopping campaign against the Japanese and specification E.6/44 was issued to Saunders-Roe. Three prototypes were ordered, serials TG263, 267 and 271, and the first flew from Cowes on 16 July 1947. The aircraft was relatively large with a high straight wing with cleanly retracting underwing floats. Four 20mm cannon were located on the upper nose. Two MetrovickVickers F.2/4A Beryl turbojets were fitted, with the intake in the nose and the exhausts behind the wing trailing edges. TG267 and TG271 flew with uprated engines and the latter reached 516mph. Given the end of the war and thus the original need, the SR.A/1 remained experimental. The first aircraft survived to be preserved at Duxford while the other two aircraft were destroyed in 1949, one killing the pilot Sqn/Ldr K A Major.

Supermarine straight-wing designs - Types 392, 508, 529

Specification E.10/44 resulted in the Type 392 laminar flow wing design based on the Spiteful wing and powered by the Nene. The prototype was TS409 which flew on 27 July 1946 and it was joined by TS412 on 17 June 1947. There was no RAF interest but the design was developed as the Type 398 Attacker for the Royal Navy. The Type 508 was a twin-jet design with butterfly tail around which specification N.9/47 was written. The engines were mounted side by side on the fuselage with cheek intakes below the cockpit and the exhausts behind the wing trailing edge. The original design was to have featured no undercarriage and hence very thing wings, but trials with the Vampire were not promising and the idea was dropped in favour of a tricycle undercarriage. The prototype VX133 flew on 31 August 1951 and deck-landing trials on HMS Eagle followed in 1952. The second prototype, VX136, was designated Type 529 and had a slightly re-designed tail with variable incidence and strakes and changed intakes. Through the Type 525 the aircraft became the Scimitar.

Supermarine swept wing designs - Types 510, 517, 525, 528, 535, 545

The Supermarine Type 510 (VV106) was intended as a high speed fighter built to specification E.38/46; it flew on 29 December 1948. It had swept wings and tail combined with an Attacker fuselage and incorporating the latter's tailwheel undercarriage. In due course it was fitted with an arrestor hook and as the Supermarine 517 made carrier deck landings on HMS Illustrious. It is preserved at Wroughton. The second prototype (VV119) was designated Type 528 and its first flight was on 27 March 1950. It was later fitted with an afterburning Nene engine, a lengthened nose and tricycle undercarriage as the Type 535. From there it was developed to the unsuccessful Swift fighter. The Type 525 was a swept wing development of the straight-winged Type 529. It featured a conventional tail assembly and to help with handling at relatively high landing speeds included blown-flaps. It led to the Scimitar naval strike aircraft. The Type 545 supersonic fighter was a derivative of the Swift, with nose intake for the Avon engine and a thin crescent wing. Two prototypes, XA181 and 186 were ordered to specification F.105D2 and the first was almost completed when it was cancelled.

Hawker straight wing designs - P1040, P1072

The Hawker P1040 was the Company's first jet design which became specification N.7/46. The type began as a jet-engined Fury (P.1035) then progressed to the P.1040 with a bifurcated jet pipe. The non-navalised prototype, VP401, was powered by the Nene 1 and flew on 2 September 1947, and although in many respects the type was less advanced than the Attacker, its development was later and slower and it eventually superseded the Attacker in service as the Sea Hawk. The P1072 was an additional P1040 prototype, VP401, fitted with a Snarler rocket in addition to the Nene. It first flew on 16 November 1950 under turbojet power only and it first flight with rocket assistance was on 20 November. Although the combination worked well it was relatively complex and improvements in afterburner design made the concept of such a mixed power arrangement uneccesary.

Hawker swept wing designs - P1052, P1081

Specification E.38/46 was issued against the P1052 which was a swept wing version of the P1040 retaining all the characteristics of the original apart from the wing. Two prototypes were ordered and the first, VX272, flew on 19 November 1948 from Boscombe Down and it flew on trials until 1953 by which time it had been fitted with a swept tailplane. It is preserved at RAF Cosford. The second aircraft was destined to become the sole P1081. TheP1081 was fully redesigned with swept tail surfaces and the jet exhaust through the rear of the fuselage. The second P1052, VX279, was rebuilt and flew on 19 June 1950. It crashed on 3 April 1951 flying from Farnborough killing the pilot Sqn Ldr T S Wade. Experience with the P1081 supported the development of the Hunter.

SARO SR.53

In the light of experience of the German Me163B Komet the decision was taken to issue specifications for a rocket powered interceptor. The main problem with the rocket was its thirst and thus the short practical range of aircraft powered in this way; the Me163B climbed to 40,000ft in just two minutes before fuel was expended. Specification F.137D was addressed by Avro (Type 720) while Saunders-Roe responded to specification F.138D. The SR.53 was a delta-wing design with a T-tail and small intakes on the fuselage just to the rear of the cockpit for the Viper engine of 1,750lbs thrust. For fast acceleration a 8,000lbs thrust Spectre rocket was fitted. The first of two prototypes, XD145, flew on 16 May 1957 from Boscombe Down piloted by Sqn/Ldr J S Booth, who was killed in the second aircraft, XD151 when it crashed on 5 June 1958. The S.R.53 reached Mach 1.33 in level flight and climbed to 50,000ft in two minutes but the type and its intended successor the S.R.177 were casualties of the 1957 Defence White Paper and work stopped in late 1958. XD145 is preserved at Cosford. The Saro SR.53 led to Admiralty interest in a development powered by a Gyron engine with Spectre rocket, designated SR.177. Nine were ordered (XL905-907 and XL920-925) but the type was another casualty of defence cuts when the prototype was nearing completion.

British Aerospace EAP

In 1982 the partners in the Tornado aircraft, Panavia, agreed to cooperate on the design and manufacture of a new agile fighter to meet NATO staff requirements. The type was intended to secure and maintain air superiority in combat and at long range and would have to be capable of short field performance in all weathers. Shortly afterwards the German and Italian parties withdrew from the programme but British Aerospace continued with development of the Experimental Aircraft Programme (EAP). The first and only example of the aircraft (ZF534) flew on 8 August 1986. Powered by two RB.199 Mk 104D turbofans, it embraced many advanced features. The fact that BAe kept the project alive through the demonstrator probably ensured that the specification was resurrected as revised ESR-D later to become the Eurofighter Typhoon.