Perhaps a continued development of the
type 146 results in a Parallel development of a radial fighter to the Merlin powered Spitfire and Hurricane
By 1940 a 1200 HP Bristol Taurus XIII (A Taurus XII but configured with a more powerful Supercharger with 8+ Boost and rated for 100 Octane fuel) powered fighter called the Buzzard is being produced in low rate production - it equipped 2 FAA squadrons tasked with protecting Scapa flow during the Battle of Britain
Eventually by 1941 the fighter is equipping RAF and Commonwealth squadrons operating overseas in Tertiary theaters
Due to the continued reliability issues with the Taurus - Winston Churchill - then Minister for War Production and Lord Beaverbrook - then Minister of Air Production arrange for Bristol to build the PW 1830 Twin wasp under Licence (primarily due to the US production then not able to even approach British orders)
Although the move was resisted by both Pratt and Whitney as well as Bristol and caused several angry sittings in Parliament regarding the building of a US design, Churchill and Beaverbrook with US President Roosevelt's backing forced this change through using a combination of tact and bullying.
By mid 41 all Taurus powered Aircraft then in production had switched the the US Engine and this had an immediate effect on both the development of this Engine and the performance of the Buzzard.
Equipping many Commonwealth Squadrons in the DAK (Desert Air Force) and units in the Far East it gave those forces a reliable easily maintained fighter that could hold it own verse the enemy fighter of the day.
Indeed while its top speed was lower than the Hurricane MK II it was slightly more maneuverable at up to 18,000 feet and while heavier than the Japanese A6m and KI-43 of the Japanese Navy and Army, and shorter ranged its extra engine power allowed it to maneuver with those designs and its 8 x browning 303 MGs while now effectively obsolete in the ETO was devastating to the lightly built Japanese fighters who lacked pilot protection and any form of self sealing in the aircrafts considerable fuel tanks allowing Commonwealth and Dutch forces (who were largely equipped with the aircraft) to maintain relative air parity for much of the Malaya campaign.
The Dutch units experimented with removing the outer 2 guns reducing the armament to 4 MGs as well as removing items such as the lifeboat and many of the Dutch pilots claimed that this allowed the Buzzard to outperform the Japanese planes during the Malayan campaign in 1942
While eventually overshadowed by later aircraft the Buzzard soldiered on in the Far East in commonwealth and Dutch service until 44 when the last airframes had used up their airframe life and Squadrons had replaced them with more modern types.
The Chinese National Army however used them well into the 50s and even many of the former Commonwealth and Dutch aircraft that were 'life expired' ended up in the Chinese air force and many of the airframes produced ended their lives in China.
Several hundred were sent to Russia during the late 41 and almost all of the Canadian produced Buzzards went to Russia as well - many of these were used up by 1943 although several dozen ended up in service with the Chinese Communists and there are several recorded instances of Buzzard verses Buzzard clashes during the civil war which almost always were won by the Nationalists who had been using them for years.
The Sea Buzzard built by Follands and Cunliffe Owen started to replace the Fulmar Fighter in RN service in early 41 and 623 (all marks) were produced in 1941 and 42 before Martlet/Wildcat and later Seafire/Corsair/Hellcat became the principle fighters and production was halted in late 42.
The Sea Buzzard differed with a folding wing, arrester hook and an armament of 4 and later 6 Browning AN2 .50 MGs - most of these ended up in Dutch service as CAS aircraft in the Far East and served until the late 40s - and many ended up in service (mostly as spares) for the Chinese national Army's relatively large force of Buzzards.