The greatest aircraft designer of all time.

Airspeed Fleet Shadower was again attempt to sate the demand of airforce,
Not air force, but FAA. The Shadower was to be carrier based. See folded wings below.

AS.39.-31.jpg


But even if we forgive Airspeed, what the hell was happening at General Aircraft?

440px-Gal56-1912-3y.jpg
 

Insider

Banned
Not air force, but FAA. The Shadower was to be carrier based. See folded wings below.

AS.39.-31.jpg

Well, the only point, why I am defending the design team - squeezing a four engine airplane to operate from aircraft carrier is no mean feat. The idiots asked for a ugly duckling and engineers tried to deliver. The configuration they came up with simply begs to shear the wings and install rotors, but that was too much and too early to ask for.
But even if we forgive Airspeed, what the hell was happening at General Aircraft?

440px-Gal56-1912-3y.jpg
They build the exact thing FAA demanded, but not what they wanted. The General Aircraft Fleet Shadower looked aardvark on land, but it was the Airspeed design that lacked stability in the air.

Yes, a known pacifist. Not third reich metality
My internal Dethclock says: Brutal
 

Archibald

Banned
It would have needed a lot of steam and plenty of punk to suceeded in the sucidal missions it flew in 1940, that is, bomb panzers at low level like a freakkin' Hawker Typhoon or Il-2.
 
Camm was always one generation behind in his designs. Yes, they were sufficient for their times, and the RAF was damn happy to have Hurricanes over Gladiators.

However, when leading designers were making all metal fighters, Camm's Hurricane was half fabric covered. By the time his Hunter jet was sorted the USSR had moved on to the supersonic Mig-19 and MiG-21. To his credit, Camm's Kestrel was innovative, and likely saved the Falklands.

To be fair the MoS wanted to skip trans-sonic designs which is why all those trans-sonic Hunter evolutions, Fairey and Supermarine designs never got built.
 
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