aircraft that should have been built

[Just Leo]

Another option the RAF could have chosen was a stretched version of the Mirage IV with Spey turbofans and British avionics. I've always thought the standard Mirage IV was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever but it was never developed to its full potential

Here is a thread from another forum that about an RAF Mirage that has some profiles of what it could have looked likez

There was a pondered version of Mirage IV with a pair of P&W J-75s, but it was deemed too expensive.

 

[SactoMan101]

Another option the RAF could have chosen was a stretched version of the Mirage IV with Spey turbofans and British avionics. I've always thought the standard Mirage IV was one of the most beautiful aircraft ever but it was never developed to its full potential

The problem with the Mirage IV was the fact the bomb load was just too small--after all, if I remember correctly, it only carried a single nuclear weapon for its primary nuclear deterrent mission! The F-111K could have carried a very large variety of bomb loads like the F-111D/E/F models; carrying two WE177 nuclear bombs internally plus four external fuel tanks, the F-111K probably had an operational radius probably well into the Soviet Union from British bases.

 

[viewcode]

Some aircraft were too good to cancel, and some of them could have had a major impact. My favourite is the MiG ye8, that should have replaced the MiG21 and made the MiG23 unnecessary.
The TSR and Arrow come to mind, as does the He100 from 1939.

If we widen the field to include spacecraft, may I suggest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle-Derived_Heavy_Lift_Launch_Vehicle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIRECT

 

[Cook]

Pity that the RAF didn't take up on the F-111K order...And through various upgrades (e.g., modified Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engines and an electronics suite similar to that of the F-15E Strike Eagle), these planes would still be operational even in 2012.

Don't count on it; Australia retired its F-111 fleet in 2010, and had for several years been operating them on restricted flight hours. They'd simply racked up too many hours on the airframes to keep them operational any longer.

 

[wietze]

If we widen the field to include spacecraft, may I suggest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuttle-Derived_Heavy_Lift_Launch_Vehicle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DIRECT

how about these

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HOTOL
http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/saegerii.htm