Let's build! A 1950's British fighter.

We have all been far too sensible. What about the money no object, difficulties bedamned, last of the great Victorian eccentrics, completely batshit insane option?

The natural successor to the Lightning- the English Electric P.10, naming suggestion Longbow ? http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234937581-english-electric-p10-sr2/

Say these words carefully. Wing burning- chamber ramjet biplane. Mach 2.5 sustained, 3+ dash. Twenty- five hundred mile radius. Huge equipment and weapon bays.

Extreme speed. Reconnaissance bomber role, originally, but adaptable as a heavy interceptor/ penetration fighter. Thrust deflector vanes in the wings and you could get the turn radius down to single digit miles at speed, or out- turn propeller biplanes at low speed.

Hell, if we're dreaming, why not dream big?

They did actually design a fighter version of the P10 called the P10E. It was shorter than the bomber version with length of v80ft and a span of 20ft. It had a 10ft long weapons bay carrying 2 missiles (allegedly AIR 2 Genies) with the crew being seated in tandem canopies. Rather that the 2 RB123 turbojets under the fuselage with the split-wing ramjets the P10E had 4 ramjets and 4 RB121 turbojets buried in the wing alternating with each other.

As a slightly more plausible all weather fighter you could use the English Electric P22. It was a fighter version of the P17 (Submission to GOR 339, eventually becoming TSR2) and had a radius of action of 1000nm. It could also loiter for 5 hours and had a higher climb rate than the Lightning! It could carry 10 Microcell rocket pods up to a total of 370 2 inch rockets or could carry 2 Blue Vesta IR missiles or like the P10E, 2 AIR2 Genies.
 

Archibald

Banned
were vastly superior to British cement

This was British humour as its best - for those who don't know the story:

Early batch of the mighty Tornado F3, the F2 (supposedly, a poor man's British Tomcat to shot down Soviet bombers over the North Sea) lacked the Foxhunter radar in the nose (too much development issues) and so they they were delivered with a cement ballast in the nose not to compromise the aircraft balance.
It happens that British weapon systems had a rainbow color system designation, radars being "blue - something" (the Sea Harrier Blue Vixen radar being an example)

then it also happens that a famous British cement maker was named Blue Circle Industries.

So the RAF pilots jokingly said their aircraft had the advanced blue circle radar :p
 
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