Hastily made with a FTB profile and part of one of GTX's DO-335s. Don't know what it is but I like it. What's the engine in this bird?
The RR FTB was to be able to take any engine no matter what it's size or weight was (within reason), it was thought that a mid-engined arrangement would make it easier to do this than to try and convert an aircraft with the engine in the nose. This design came about because RR tried to fit the RR Griffon onto a Mustang just as they had converted a Mustang Mk.I to take a Merlin, but they came across some really big cg issues, like having to place nearly 300 lbs of ballast as far back in the tail as it would go. What with the heavier engine and all the ballast weight, it nullified any performance gained by the more powerful engine plus the structrual problems created by placing nearlyy 300 lbs in the tail.
So the original idea for the FTB (actually called the 'Private Venture Fighter') was be powered by a RR Griffon engine. Have a look at reply #4 in this thread and you'll see my two models I've made of the FTB/PVF, the camo'ed one is the Private Venture Fighter powered by a Griffon, the silver one is how the FTB would have looked like had it flown, with a Hawker Tempest tail. This model I've done being powered by the RR Crecy engine, a V-12 two-stroke sleeve valve arrangement.