This year's Specifications for new aircraft issued by the Air Ministry are;
F.10/38: Issued to Hawker to cover re-winged Tornado/ Typhoon powered by RR Griffon and Napier Sabre. First flight for mid 1939, 200 of each to be ordered as the Tempest.
Sidney Camm began thinking of ways to improve the Tornado/ Typhoon series under the project number P.1012. The initial thoughts were to fit a four-bladed propeller, six 20mm cannon in new wings with increased span and a new tail unit. The new wings are elliptical in planform and much thinner with 42ft span and a wing area of 300ft sq. The engine has been moved forwards to fit another fuel tank ahead of the cockpit and wing leading-edge radiators will be fitted. The Sabre powered Typhoon II offers 455mph at 26,000ft and a ceiling of 35,300ft. The Rolls-Royce Griffon will replace the troublesome Vulture on the Tornado II. The Air Ministry liked the proposals and F.10/38 has been written to cover development.
F.11/38: Issued the Vickers-Supermarine for development of the Spitfire Mk III with a Merlin V with a two speed supercharger and a revised armament of two 20mm Oerlikon cannon and four .303in Browning MGs. To enter service in 1939.
F.19/38: An interim fighter to carry the production infra-red airborne detection set as a night defence fighter. To be a conversion of existing twin-engined airframes with the detector located in the nose. Armament to be at least four 20mm cannon or eight .303in MGs.
Contenders are;
Bristol Beaufighter, a basic development of the Beaufort with IR equipment in nose, dorsal turret faired over for operators position, up-rated Hercules engines and six .303in MGs in wings (four starboard and two port wing)
Vickers Wellington with IR equipment in nose, no nose turret, tail turret faired over, dorsal turret new Boulton Paul four-gun type with .303in Browning MGs, ventral pack with four 20mm Orkileon, four crew.
The winner is ?
B.1/38: Issued to DH to cover DH.98 Mosquito bomber/ recon versions. First flight 1939, 50 on order.
B.1/38 was written in January 1938 in response to Volkert’s paper on the “Speed Bomber” and the subsequent enthusiasm for such a type within the Ministry and the RAF. In the light of probable Italian developments in their recent medium bomber contest in seems certain such a type of unarmed bomber is needed to penetrate modern fighter defences. De Havilland since last year has been developing such a “Speed Bomber” of all wooden monocoque construction for an extra smooth finish and light weight combined with great strength. Preliminary specifications for the DH.98 is; two RR Merlins, 1,500 mile range, two 500lb or six 250lb bombs, crew of two and a maximum speed of 405mph at 20,000ft. A variant will be equipped for fast high altitude day/night reconnaissance with camera equipment. Proposals the use the DH.98 as a heavy fighter are being studied.
B.4/38: Issued to Avro for Type 683 Lancaster as an interim bomber. First flight September 1940, 150 on order.
B.7/38: A Blenheim replacement with a maximum speed of at least 300mph, 1000lb bombload normally and a twin 0.50in dorsal turret. To be in service by 1940.
Contenders are; Blackburn B.28, Bristol 163 Buckingham, Handley Page unarmed bomber design and a Westland design.
Blackburn based their entry on an abortive twin-engined torpedo-bomber design. It is a twin-engined bomber with twin fins, powered by two RR Griffon inline engines for a maximum speed of 400mph at 18,000ft; armament comprises 1,000lbs of bombs in a bomb bay. A quad MG dorsal turret can be fitted but maximum speed would drop and Blackburn would prefer a new streamlined twin .50in turret to be developed or to omit all defensive guns. Wingspan is 54ft 9ins and length 39ft.
Bristol first looked at two proposals, the Type 161, a high-altitude medium bomber with a dorsal turret (four .303in MG) and two fixed rearward-facing MGs and the Type 162 based on Beaufort wings with a new twin tail, slim fuselage and Hercules radials. These studies became the 163. It is an all-new design designed to weight around 29,000lbs, powered by two new 2,520hp Bristol Centaurus II radials, it can carry 4,000lbs of bombs in a ventral bomb bay and is armed with a dorsal turret (four .303in MGs) and four fixed nose-mounted MGs and two more in a ventral blister. Provision for a torpedo may be added later. The 163 has a crew of four. Maximum speed should be 337mph at 14,400ft.
Handley Page based their design on Volkert’s High Speed Bomber proposal which he has refined with two RR Vultures for a maximum speed of 380mph. No defensive armament is fitted and only two crewmen are carried but bombload is up to 7,000lbs.
Westland offered a single-engined four-seat bomber powered by a Bristol Centaurus engine. It is a Delanne type with a tandem-wing, all bombs (1,000lb bombload) are carried internally and a four MG tail turret is fitted with excellent arcs of fire. Span of the main wing is 52ft, wing area is 360 sq feet and max weight should be 16,200lbs. Maximum speed is estimated at 290mph at 5,000ft.
The winner is ?
E.28/38: Issued to Gloster for the SS.42 variable-incidence wing research aircraft powered by the Napier Sabre and to be used for carrier trials and designed by Henry Folland. First flight planned for early 1940.
The Admiralty has called for research to examine the problem of growing aircraft weights and the problems caused during carrier take-offs and landings. This research programme will operate alongside the RAE’s with the Vickers Type 323 aircraft. The SS.42 will have variable-incidence ranges between -1 and +14 degrees and leading-edge slots and Fowler trailing-edge flaps will be fitted for maximum lift. When the plane lands the fuselage should be horizontal throughout due to the variable-incidence wing. Span will be 51ft 2ins, length 43ft, wing area 380ft sq, top speed 292mph and all-up weight 18,250lbs. This weight would give a minimum speed too great to land on a carrier with a normal wing. It is thought the SS.43 is a torpedo-bomber variant with normal wings and a dorsal turret, if development goes well an operational type with variable-incidence wings seems very likely.
C.20/38: Issued to Percival for 100 Proctors in a communications role.