Fairey Delta 2

FD2 WG 774

Thanks for the pics Miggers

I wouldn’t have recognised the old girl. She was purple when I worked on her and as it was the 60s we called her “The pink purple people eater”. Who remembers that?
I am on my way from Northants to Yeovilton in March for my first visit.

Thanks to this forum I can look forward to my past !

Paddy R

WG777 was also natural metal and I was wondering when it got painted dark blue, as it is now at Cosford, and why?
Did it ever fly in this colour, or was this a scheme applied after it was grounded and initially part of the RAF Finningly collection?:confused:

Earliest photo I have of WG777 in dark blue (b&w photo) is 1965

Here you go Paddy.

http://aircraftwalkaround.hobbyvista.com/BAC221/bac221.htm

Some good shots of the brute in captivity

Miggers

WG774 was natural metal overall when it broke the speed record, then was painted purple around 1958. WG777 was also natural metal and I was wondering when it got painted dark blue, as it is now at Cosford, and why?
Did it ever fly in this colour, or was this a scheme applied after it was grounded and initially part of the RAF Finningly collection?:confused:

How many parts where taken of one of the Fairey Delta’s and a person who has the stick, that his father took out when he worked there.

God dont tell Rocketeer or 682al they’ll torture you for the location!

🙂

TT

Always thought the FD.2 was a great looking aircraft, anyone have any ideas on why it had such a long undercarriage thus causing a restricted forward view?

I’m not sure but I’ve got both the FD2 and BAC 221 in Fs2004 and that long u/c makes for some very high aoa landings!!

I’ve also got both in model form.The FD2 is the old Frog kit which is pretty accurate in dimensions and outlines and with a little work a nice model can be made from it.
The BAC 221 is the “Whirlybird” vac-form.A bit basic but it looks good in outline and has a full whitemetal u/c and a good decal sheet.
I thought of doing a bit of a diorama with the Resitech TSR2 I also have and the FD2 and ‘221.
Sort of a British prototypes theme to it.
The FD at Cosford(WG777) is in very nice condition,although she has no engine fitted(look up the spout and you can see out the intakes-bit like the Frog model).

There is a website out there with some very good pics of WG774 in her ‘221 form as she’s now at Yeovilton with the rest of the test a/c’s associated with the Concorde programme.
I’ll find it and post a link for you.

Mark:cool:

Always thought the FD.2 was a great looking aircraft, anyone have any ideas on why it had such a long undercarriage thus causing a restricted forward view?

FD2 undercarriage wasn’t as long as the BAC 221’s (which was needed because of greater angle of attack for low speeds with the ogee wing I believe) but it was really the very long nose and low canopy both necessary for the high speeds it was intended to achieve. Interestingly, Peter Twiss once suffered a loss of hydraulic pressure and landed with the nose in the ‘up’ flight position. He concluded that it actually wasn’t too difficult and reflected that perhaps weight and space could have been saved on the nose tilt mechanism. Of course, the latter became essential after conversion to the 221.

The wing of the BAC 221 was new (retaining the existing spar structure), as was the air intake trunking, which went from the wing roots to over the wings. The fuselage was extended with a plug partly to allow the full ogee wing to be created and partly to allow a longer front UC leg (which incidentally came from a Fairey Gannet).

You can see the Delta 2 lineage in the 221, less so since they changed the canopy. There is a book on the 221 and FD2 out at the moment, and in the cover is a very rare photo of WG774 post-conversion and WG777 flying together.

Always thought the FD.2 was a great looking aircraft, anyone have any ideas on why it had such a long undercarriage thus causing a restricted forward view?

WG774 in 1966 for you..

How many parts where taken of one of the Fairey Delta’s at Thurleigh. I met a man at Sutton Bank who had a compass in his glider, which he took when he worked there and a person who has the stick, that his father took out when he worked there.

Hi Paddy,
As Robert has said, WG774 became the BAC221 and is on display as part of the Leading Edge exhibition at the Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton. The second FD.2, WG777, wasn’t modified though so you can still go and see a pure FD.2. She’s now on display at RAF Museum Cosford. 🙂

Well it’s at Yeovilton but it was converted to the BAC221 with a new wing so its really different aircraft!