I suspect the crux may be the Merlin issue – production was at full stretch and needed to be to supply existing aircraft. I imagine there simply would not have been enough Merlins to go around. That said, I doubt a P40, even Merlin engined, would have been able to hold its own against a Bf109G or a Fw 190A. There were of course some (Packard) Merlin powered P40s anyway – the F model? – and I’d be interested to see how these worked in terms of altitude performance and dogfight-ability.

We may never know how a Merlin powered Whirlwind would have fared, as to my knowledge most of the problems of this aircraft were related to its RR Peregine engines. I imagine the Mosquito would simply have been too big to get into dogfighting. The DH Hornet would have performed the task admirably, but was a lot later on the scene.

The Miles M20, had it gone into series production, might have found itself in this role as it had a considerably better range than contemporary Hurricanes and Spitfires.

There is a book that describes the combat between Hunters and Sabres. The Sabre being the much older design actually came out on top.

I’m sure that some one will add some facts to this brief statement, like who actually was at each other with them! (Possible India and A.N.Other).

I would be interested to hear more.

I’d also like to know which version of each aircraft it was and what the circumstances were. From the stats I am aware of, the Hunter F.6 was a cut above any Sabre apart, perhaps, from the Avon engined ones, in all but range.

The Hunter F1/F2, being an interceptor rather than an air superiority fighter like the Sabre, had considerably less time to hang around and fight (the difference was less with drop tanks) but was superior in terms of rate of climb and speed, and was of course much more heavily armed (two 30mm Aden cannon). All other things being equal the F6 would leave even the last Sabres for dead I imagine.

Returning to topic, the DH Venom was something of a stop-gap, with an uprated engine (DH Ghost instead of Goblin) and a new wing on a Vampire fuselage, while the Navy ummed and ahd over whether it wanted the DH110 (Sea Vixen) or not. It was not the latest technology and, while a big leap over the Vampire, would not have been able to compete on equal terms with Sabres and MiG 15s. By the time a new generation of fighters was being planned to match and exceed these first generation swept wing aircraft, engines had moved on too and we had the likes of RR Avon and Bristol Siddeley Sapphire to choose from.

Would it be fair to say that the Ghost was about on a par with the RR Nene, in terms of performance and the level of technology?

Also scrapped was as a long-range destroyer called the XB-70.

Yeah, but it made the Empire waste billions of credits on developing the Ti-Interceptor though.

Dave, thanks for PM. If you still need money I can probably add £100 to your total.

Very nice! Make sure you show us the finished article when the undercarriage is on. And how about a couple of ‘what if’ colour schemes too?!

Speaking of TSR2, I got this email from Models2U last week regarding the long awaited Airfix kit:

Models2U have been advised by Airfix that the moulds were approved last week and the model goes into production today, Monday 9th January. The estimated date of receipt into the UK given by Airfix is around the 20th February. This is still an estimate but at least it is now in production and the countdown to release has begun.

Our Despatch Department will be despatching in strict order with customers who selected Next Day handled first, then in the date the orders were received.

We will be contacting you later in the month to confirm your payment details and if your credit card details have expired etc.

We have an unprecedented interest in this model and have a number of people already on a waiting list if any spares become available (we have already sold all of our allocation). We would ask that if you have changed your mind in the many months since ordering (for some of you) and you no longer require it, we would be pleased if you could let us know as soon as possible, so that it can be re-allocated.

We have been promised it’ll be worth the wait by Airfix and we thank you all for your patience.

Sorry mate – no radial= no can do!

😀

TT

Two 11,380lb thrust turbofans are kind of radial. They have round bits…