Cold War Delta Prototypes

The Fairey Deltas, Convair Century-series, and Avro 707

Cold War Delta Prototypes cover

Cold War Delta Prototypes

The Fairey Deltas, Convair Century-series, and Avro 707

Description

At the dawn of the supersonic jet age, aircraft designers were forced to devise radical new planforms that suited the new power of the jet engine. One of the most successful was the delta wing.

Although Gloster produced the delta wing Javelin, and Boulton Paul –its P.111 research aircraft – Fairey and Avro were the champions of the delta in Britain. Meanwhile in America, with the exception of Douglas's Navy jet fighter programmes, Convair largely had the delta wing to itself. These development lines, one on each side of the Atlantic, had essentially the same objective – to produce high-­speed fighter aircraft. In Britain, the Fairey Delta 2 went on to break the World Air Speed Record in spectacular fashion, but it failed to win a production order. In contrast Convair received major orders for two jet fighter types and one jet bomber. At the same time, the British Avro company built the 707 family of research aircraft, which led to the famous Vulcan, to show how the delta wing could be adopted for a highly successful subsonic bomber.

This book examines the development of the delta wing in Britain and America, and the way in which experimental aircraft like the Fairey Deltas proved their potential and versatility. In Britain it covers the Fairey Delta 1 and Fairey Delta 2, the proposed Fairey Delta Rocket Fighter and huge Delta 3 long range interceptor, and the Avro 707. On the American side, it examines the Convair XF-92 and XF-92A, the development of the Delta Dagger/Delta Dart family, and the Convair Sea Dart – the world's only supersonic seaplane.

Table of Contents

1. Fairey Delta 1
2. Fairey Delta 2
3. Fairey Rocket Fighter and 'Delta 3'
4. Convair XF-92 and XF-92A
5. Convair F-102 and F-106
6. Convair Sea Dart
7. Avro 707 Series
Further Reading
Index

Product details

Published 24 Dec 2020
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 80
ISBN 9781472843340
Imprint Osprey Publishing
Illustrations Illustrated throughout with around 50 photos and at least 5pp of colour artwork
Series X-Planes
Short code XPL 15
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Tony Buttler

Tony Buttler joined High Duty Alloys in 1974 as a…

Illustrator

Adam Tooby

Adam Tooby is an internationally renowned digital…

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