WesWorld

As is customary for Q3 of a year, the annual look ahead at what is cooking in the minds of the Air Staff and what requirements will soon be winging their way to the aircraft manufacturers who will soon be scribbling furiously on drawing boards and calculating on slide rules.

C.10/50: Issued for a fast long-range strategic transport to replace the Handley Page Hastings to fly service personnel and freight to any part of the world to accompany the new jet bomber fleet and to also be jet propelled and to have similar performance. Also to be developed into an identical airliner for BOAC use for new fast trans-oceanic routes and non-stop North Atlantic routes.
The contenders are;
Avro has offered a design based on the use of the 698 delta wings with a new pressurised 12ft 6in diameter fuselage, single tail and four wingroot 15,000lb RR Conway engines for a cruising speed of 600mph and AUW 200,000lbs. The airliner Avro Atlantic can carry 131 passengers at six abreast or 76 first-class passengers.
De Havilland has offered a stretched Comet (Comet 5) powered by four RR Avon or the new bypass Conway
Shorts is offering a new 50-seat (civil passengers) design with moderately swept wings and conventional tail with four Conway in nacelles mounted mid-span on the wings
Vickers Type 716, this is a variant of the Type 660 bomber with the wings moved to the low position and a new airliner fuselage but with identical Type 660 nose and tail units.
The winner is ?

N.14/50: Issued to Hawker Siddeley for a variant of the P.1067 [Hunter] as an interim day carrier-based fighter to replace the Sea Hawk with a minimal development time. Arrestor hook added, longer nosewheel leg and folding wings. First flight planned 1951 for service entry in 1953.

P.1/50: Issued for a new four-engined airliner to replace the Viscount in BEA service that can carry 120 passengers over 500 miles at a speed of 550mph.
The contenders are;
Bristol Britannia 400 with upgraded Proteus engines and stretched fuselage
De Havilland offers the Comet 4B
Vickers Viscount 800 with new engines and further fuselage stretch
Vickers VC.7 with improvements to the wings (new flaps and leading edge slots) for smaller airfield capability and lower gross weights
The winner is ?