Miles Master fighter

Thanks. Been wanting to modify a model to fighter spec to try to confure the Scouts. Always thought they were a lovely looking aircraft – but would not have wanted to go to war in one (although they’d possibly have been better than some of the aircraft we used on some fronts).

In addition to the prototype, 25 were built and delivered to OTUs/FTSs. Details and a couple of photos are in the Peter Amos volume mentioned above, published in December.

Peter Amos’s 2nd volume on Miles Aircraft has just been published by Air Britain. If there are any photos, they’ll be in there.

I’ve got a cut-away diagram in the cupboard somewhere that’s shows a Master II with a ring-and-bead sight fitted on top of the engine cowling in front of the wind shield. Can’t remember if/how the guns were fitted though.

I know Master II’s were kitted out to carry small bombs (e.g. AZ104) and rockets (DL852) as well.

“At that time [1939] plans were made to equip the master with six .303 Browning guns, thereby converting it into quite an effective single-seat fighter. Admittedly the performance would have been very much lower than that of the Hurricane or Spitfire, or of the Messerschmitts which it would be fighting. Some two dozen Masters were thus converted before the danger was over and the Battle of Britain won, and it was not until some time later that the Master Fighter was duly allotted its M number.”

Don L. Brown ‘Miles Aircraft since 1925’ (Putnam, 1970)

The photograph reproduced below appears at p.119.