FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0260.PDF
AN ARROW IN THE AIR English Electric's Supersonic Fighter Shown Off for the Camera ALTHOUGH taken some eighteen months ago, the photo-/\ graphs on these pages have only just been released for J- -m- publication by the Ministry of Supply and Air Ministry.Nevertheless they lose little on that account, for the fighter which they depict has changed only slightly—superficially, at least—inthe intervening period. It is WG 760, the first prototype English Electric P.I A (two Armstrong Siddeley Sapphires) flown fromthe company's airfield at Warton, Lanes, by W/C. Roland Beamont, D.S.O. and Bar, O.B.E., D.F.C. and Bar, D.F.C.(U.S.A.), A.R.Ae.S., the company's manager (flight operations) and chief test pilot. The photographic machine was a MeteorN.F.ll. The first flight of the P.I was on August 4th, 1954, andshortly after that event it was announced that in addition to the usual prototypes the Ministry of Supply had ordered some20 pre-production aircraft for development trials. This would make it possible to carry out many of the flying and equipmenttests concurrently, and so shorten the development period. With- in a few days the P.I exceeded the speed of sound in a dive onseveral occasions and shortly thereafter was regularly achieving supersonic speed in level flight without the use of afterburningor any other power-boosting device,
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
