Avro 730 (1956)
British Supersonic Bomber Concept
Production Run: 2005-2013
About the Design
In 1955, Britain's Avro company began to develop plans for a high-altitude Mach 2.5 reconnaissance aircraft. Several configurations were examined, but all centered around a straight-wing design featuring a thoroughly enclosed cockpit with no windscreen to reduce drag, large canards, and two engine nacelles, each containing multiple power plants. (Early plans called for wing-tip nacelles, but these were later moved closer to the fuselage.) A retractable periscope would be used to aid the pilot with take-offs and landings.
By December 1956 the final design had been developed. The plane would carry a crew of two -- a pilot and a navigator -- who would sit by-by-side. Each nacelle would contain four Armstrong-Siddeley P.176 engines. And, most important of all, the plane could also function as a bomber, carrying either a specially designed short-course weapon or Britain's Red Beard tactical bomb. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled in 1957, a victim of the U.K.'s infamous Defense White Paper. |
About the Model
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