British Experimental Combat Aircraft Of WWII: Prototypes, Research Aircraft and Failed Production Designs

This new book by Tony Buttler, a first of its kind, describes the British fighter, bomber, and research aircraft produced in the run up to and during World War II. Detailed coverage of aircraft that were built and flown as prototypes only, combine with others such as the Westland Welkin which entered production but never reached a squadron. Un-built design projects are explained and all types are covered separately, along with a large selection of photographs, some of which have rarely been seen before. This book covers basic short-term insurance fighters such as the Miles M.20, the Martin-Baker M.B.5, and Supermarine Spitfire, which represented the ultimate in piston fighter development, the Fairey Spearfish torpedo bomber and the four engine Vickers Windsor, oddities like the Blackburn B.20 flying boat, and Britain's first jet aircraft, the Gloster E.28/39. A comprehensive appendix, with the use of photographs and brief details, examines one-off examples of standard production types that were fitted with non-standard features. Gathered from archival sources, renowned author Tony Buttler presents a wealth of information on these historic aircraft.

Table of Contents:
Introduction ...7 Acknowledgements...9 One Blackburn B.20 and B.40...11 Two Blackburn B.44 ...16 Three Blackburn B-48/Y.A.1 'Firecrest'...19 Four Boulton Paul P.92 and P.92/2 ...29 Five Bristol and Handley-Page B.1/39 Bombers...36 Six Bristol Buckingham...41 Seven de Havilland DH.99/DH.101/DH.102 ...49 'Super Mosquito' Eight Fairey Spearfish and Strike Fighter...55 Nine Folland Fo.108 and Fo.116...63 Ten Folland Fo.117...69 Eleven Gloster F.5/34 ...72 Twelve Gloster F.9/37 ...77 Thirteen Gloster E.28/39, E.5/42 and Rocket...88 Fourteen Handley-Page HP.75 Manx...97 Fifteen Hawker Hotspur ...105 Sixteen Hawker Tornado...109 Seventeen Hawker P.1005 ...118 Other Twin-Engine Bombers...123 Eighteen Hillson Bi-Mono and 'Slip-Wing' Projects ...125 Nineteen Martin-Baker M.B.2...128 Twenty Martin-Baker M.B.3...133 Twenty-One Martin-Baker M.B.5...138 Twenty-Two Miles M.20 ...149 Twenty-Three Miles M.35, M.39 and M.39B Libellula ...154 Twenty-Four Napier-Heston Racer...164 Twenty-Five Saunders-Roe A.37 'Shrimp'...169 Twenty-Six Short S.31...173 Twenty-Seven Short S.35 Shetland...175 Twenty-Eight Short S.36 and other Four-Engine Bombers ...182 Twenty-Nine Short S.38 Sturgeon Torpedo Bomber...186 Thirty Supermarine B.12/36...192 Thirty-One Supermarine 322 'Dumbo'...195 Thirty-Two Supermarine Spiteful and Seafang ...200 Thirty-Three Vickers 432...214 Thirty-Four Vickers Windsor...221 Thirty-Five Westland Welkin ...235 Appendix One-Off Modifications to Production Aircraft:...250 A Photographic Gallery Glossary ...262 Bibliography and Sources ...264 Index...265

About the Author :
Tony Buttler is a freelance aviation historian authoring more than 23 books. He also writes numerous articles for popular historical aviation magazines. He regularly lectures to the Royal Aeronautical Society and other historical aviation groups.