alternatehistory.com

As title says. Like many other people I have long been stricken by the way British aerospace industry was carefully destroyed after 1945.
There was a host of miscalculated, silly decisions that piled up onto each others until, in the 80's, not many things were left.

I tried to list all that siliness and correct it.

I did this list nearly 10 years ago - one of my first forays into alternative history, so don't be too harsh with me. I've cleaned it somewhat before posting.

Let's start from 1945...

1- The agreement with the USA over transport aircrafts is denounced in 1944. Avro York is produced in large numbers.

2- The Malta class carriers are build from 1946, modernised in 1957-59 to serve up to the 80’s. Most others carriers are withdrawn, scrapped, or rebuild as helicopter carrier / ASW ships.

3 - Tigers and Vanguard cruisers and battleship are scrapped, not build or rebuild.

4- Miles M52 is not cancelled and reach mach 1 in 1949.

5- Great Britain numerous, small, scattered and inefficient aircraft companies are slowly integrated into a single, large group* (kind of British Aerospatiale)

6- Hawker P.1052 is build as an interim, swept wing fighter for both RN and RAF perform well in Korea…

7- The Hunter replace it as the RAF main day fighter.

8- DH-110 Vixen is the only all weather, night interceptor (for both RN and RAF). No Gloster Javelin drag queen

9- The Victor is the only V-bomber.

10- Avon, Conway, Medway/Spey are the way to go (they receive priority over the others, so only the most interesting such as the Pegasus are developped.) Only RR and HS remain as engine makers.

11- After 1958 : The Buccaneer is RAF low level bomber (no TSR-2, AFVG, F-111K and Tornado) replacing the Canberra.

12- The Victor receive the Blue Steel (later mk2) becoming a standoff missile carrier to complete the Buccaneer for nuclear deterrent.

13- Hawker P.1121 become RAF main all weather fighter, and fighter bomber - eventually a navalized variant is build for the RN modernized Maltas. It is modernized again and again, like the Phantom. No Lightning, no F-4K.

13- After Valiant cancellation (the plane was unuseful due to the Victor) the Vickers VC-7 is funded by the RAF as transport (and later tanker).
A civiliant variant is a success, kicking the ass of Boeing 707.

14- The Rotodyne is developed into a powerful tactical transport for the Army, RN... and BEA.

15- More Short Belfast are ordered.

16- The Trident keeps 121 passenger seatings and not more -flying with RB-141 Medways.

17- Development of the Blue Dolphin SARH.

18- no Jaguar - rather a subsonic, tri-service trainer (Alpha-Hawk, France/ GB/ Germany)

19 - no CVA-01 fiasco. The RN build a 50 000 tons carrier derived from the French Pa-58 Verdun, itself a much heavier derivative of the Clemenceau class.

20- The Nimrod AEW 3 is based, not on a Comet but on a much larger VC-7 airframe.

Feel free to "correct" others silly decisions- provided we stay in the aerospace domain at large (and Great Britain - sorry for the Avro Arrow fans !)

*nota bene: before 1936 France, too, had dozens of aircraft companies, small, scattered and inefficient. A wide restructuration process was started in 1936 and ended in 1970 with the creation of Aerospatiale. Aerospatiale concentrated all French airframe manufacturers with a notable exception: Dassault (which had just swallowed Breguet, the only other aircraft company that had escaped Aerospatiale buildup)
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