Fairey Delta 2
Encyclopedia
The Fairey Delta 2 or FD2 (internal designation Type V within Fairey) was a British
supersonic research aircraft produced by the Fairey Aviation Company in response to a specification from the Ministry of Supply
for investigation into flight and control at transonic
and supersonic
speeds.
The aircraft was the first to exceed 1000mph, and held the Air Speed Record for over a year.
delta
monoplane
, with a circular cross-section fuselage
and engine air-inlets blended into the wing roots. The engine was a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.14R
with an afterburner
. The Delta 2 had a very long tapering nose which obscured forward vision during landing, take-off and movement on the ground. To compensate, the nose section and cockpit
drooped 10°, in a similar way to that used later on Concorde
. Two aircraft were built: Serial numbers
WG774 and WG777.
The FD2 was used as the basis for Fairey's submissions to the Ministry for advanced all weather interceptor designs leading to the Fairey Delta 3 for the F.155 specification
, but it never got past the drawing board stage.
. On 17 November 1954, WG774 suffered engine failure on its 14th flight when internal pressure build-up collapsed the fuselage collector tank at 30,000 ft (9,100 m), 30 mi (50 km) from Boscombe Down
. Fairey pilot Peter Twiss
, ex-Fleet Air Arm
, managed to glide to a dead-stick landing at the airfield. Only the nose gear had deployed, and the aircraft sustained damage that sidelined it for eight months. Twiss, who was shaken up by the experience but otherwise uninjured, received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.
The FD2 test programmme did not resume until August 1955. On 10 March 1956 the aircraft broke the World Air Speed Record, raising it to 1,132 mph (1,811 km/h), an increase of some 300 mph (480 km/h) over the record set in August 1955 by an North American F-100 Super Sabre
. It thus became the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) in level flight. This record stood until December 1957 when it was surpassed by a McDonnell JF-101A Voodoo
of the USAF.
The first Delta 2, WG774, was later rebuilt by British Aircraft Corporation
(BAC), who had absorbed Fairey, in 1960 as the ogee
-ogive
wing form aircraft BAC 221. This was for aerodynamic research as part of the Concorde
development programme. It featured a new wing, engine inlet configuration, a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.28, modified vertical stabiliser and a lengthened undercarriage
to mimic Concorde's attitude on the ground. It first flew in this form on 1 May 1964. It was used from 1964 until 1973.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
supersonic research aircraft produced by the Fairey Aviation Company in response to a specification from the Ministry of Supply
Ministry of Supply
The Ministry of Supply was a department of the UK Government formed in 1939 to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Minister of Supply. There was, however, a separate ministry responsible for aircraft production and the Admiralty retained...
for investigation into flight and control at transonic
Transonic
Transonic speed is an aeronautics term referring to the condition of flight in which a range of velocities of airflow exist surrounding and flowing past an air vehicle or an airfoil that are concurrently below, at, and above the speed of sound in the range of Mach 0.8 to 1.2, i.e. 600–900 mph...
and supersonic
Supersonic
Supersonic speed is a rate of travel of an object that exceeds the speed of sound . For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C this speed is approximately 343 m/s, 1,125 ft/s, 768 mph or 1,235 km/h. Speeds greater than five times the speed of sound are often...
speeds.
The aircraft was the first to exceed 1000mph, and held the Air Speed Record for over a year.
Design and development
The design was a mid-wing taillessTailless aircraft
A tailless aircraft traditionally has all its horizontal control surfaces on its main wing surface. It has no horizontal stabilizer - either tailplane or canard foreplane . A 'tailless' type usually still has a vertical stabilising fin and control surface...
delta
Delta wing
The delta wing is a wing planform in the form of a triangle. It is named for its similarity in shape to the Greek uppercase letter delta .-Delta-shaped stabilizers:...
monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
, with a circular cross-section fuselage
Fuselage
The fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo. In single-engine aircraft it will usually contain an engine, although in some amphibious aircraft the single engine is mounted on a pylon attached to the fuselage which in turn is used as a floating hull...
and engine air-inlets blended into the wing roots. The engine was a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.14R
Rolls-Royce Avon
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopaedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9-External links:**** a 1955 Flight article on the development of the Avon...
with an afterburner
AfterBurner
The AfterBurner is a lighting solution for the Game Boy Advance system that was created by Triton-Labs.Originally, portablemonopoly.net was a website created to petition Nintendo to put some kind of light in their Game Boy Advance system...
. The Delta 2 had a very long tapering nose which obscured forward vision during landing, take-off and movement on the ground. To compensate, the nose section and cockpit
Cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft, from which a pilot controls the aircraft. Most modern cockpits are enclosed, except on some small aircraft, and cockpits on large airliners are also physically separated from the cabin...
drooped 10°, in a similar way to that used later on Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
. Two aircraft were built: Serial numbers
United Kingdom military aircraft serials
In the United Kingdom to identify individual aircraft, all military aircraft are allocated and display a unique serial number. A unified serial number system, maintained by the Air Ministry , and its successor the Ministry of Defence , is used for aircraft operated by the Royal Air Force , Fleet...
WG774 and WG777.
The FD2 was used as the basis for Fairey's submissions to the Ministry for advanced all weather interceptor designs leading to the Fairey Delta 3 for the F.155 specification
Operational Requirement F.155
Operational Requirement F.155 was a specification issued by the British Ministry of Supply for an interceptor aircraft to defend the United Kingdom from high-flying supersonic bombers....
, but it never got past the drawing board stage.
Testing
The first FD2 was aircraft WG774 which made its maiden flight on 6 October 1954, flown by Fairey test pilot Peter TwissPeter Twiss
Lionel Peter Twiss, OBE, DSC and Bar was a British test pilot who held the World Air Speed Record as the first man to fly at a speed greater than 1,000 mph.-Early life:...
. On 17 November 1954, WG774 suffered engine failure on its 14th flight when internal pressure build-up collapsed the fuselage collector tank at 30,000 ft (9,100 m), 30 mi (50 km) from Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down
MoD Boscombe Down is an aircraft testing site located at Idmiston, south of Amesbury, in Wiltshire, England. It is run and managed by QinetiQ, the company created as part of the breakup of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency in 2001 by the UK Ministry of Defence...
. Fairey pilot Peter Twiss
Peter Twiss
Lionel Peter Twiss, OBE, DSC and Bar was a British test pilot who held the World Air Speed Record as the first man to fly at a speed greater than 1,000 mph.-Early life:...
, ex-Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
, managed to glide to a dead-stick landing at the airfield. Only the nose gear had deployed, and the aircraft sustained damage that sidelined it for eight months. Twiss, who was shaken up by the experience but otherwise uninjured, received the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the Air.
The FD2 test programmme did not resume until August 1955. On 10 March 1956 the aircraft broke the World Air Speed Record, raising it to 1,132 mph (1,811 km/h), an increase of some 300 mph (480 km/h) over the record set in August 1955 by an North American F-100 Super Sabre
F-100 Super Sabre
The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
. It thus became the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) in level flight. This record stood until December 1957 when it was surpassed by a McDonnell JF-101A Voodoo
F-101 Voodoo
The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic military jet fighter which served the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force...
of the USAF.
BAC 221
British Aircraft Corporation
The British Aircraft Corporation was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs , the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft in 1960. Bristol, English Electric and Vickers became "parents" of BAC with...
(BAC), who had absorbed Fairey, in 1960 as the ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
-ogive
Ogive
An ogive is the roundly tapered end of a two-dimensional or three-dimensional object.-Applied physical science and engineering:In ballistics or aerodynamics, an ogive is a pointed, curved surface mainly used to form the approximately streamlined nose of a bullet or other projectile.The traditional...
wing form aircraft BAC 221. This was for aerodynamic research as part of the Concorde
Concorde
Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde was a turbojet-powered supersonic passenger airliner, a supersonic transport . It was a product of an Anglo-French government treaty, combining the manufacturing efforts of Aérospatiale and the British Aircraft Corporation...
development programme. It featured a new wing, engine inlet configuration, a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.28, modified vertical stabiliser and a lengthened undercarriage
Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
to mimic Concorde's attitude on the ground. It first flew in this form on 1 May 1964. It was used from 1964 until 1973.
Survivors
- WG774, in BAC 221 form, is now on display alongside the British Concorde prototype at the Fleet Air Arm MuseumFleet Air Arm MuseumThe Fleet Air Arm Museum is located north of Yeovil, and south of Bristol. It has an extensive collection of military and civilian aircraft, as well as models of Royal Navy ships, especially aircraft carriers. Some of the museum has interactive displays...
at Yeovilton. - WG777, is preserved at the Royal Air Force MuseumRoyal Air Force Museum CosfordThe Royal Air Force Museum Cosford is a museum dedicated to the history of aviation, and the Royal Air Force in particular. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and a registered charity...
at RAF CosfordRAF CosfordRAF Cosford is a Royal Air Force station in Cosford, Shropshire, just to the northwest of Wolverhampton and next to Albrighton.-History:...
, alongside many other supersonic research aircraft.
Specifications (Fairey Delta 2)
See also
- Flight airspeed record
- Peter TwissPeter TwissLionel Peter Twiss, OBE, DSC and Bar was a British test pilot who held the World Air Speed Record as the first man to fly at a speed greater than 1,000 mph.-Early life:...