A quick diversion from the 'ground targets'. This was prompted by an SPF discussion (
Alternative Supermarine Swift Scenario?) which basically asked: what if the
Swift hadn't been such a turd? One detail I noticed was that all of the RW proposed 'improved'
Swift concepts - the Type 545, Type 548, etc. - maintain that troublesome extended inboard wing leading edge. So, not much to go on there but, hey, that's what whiffery is for
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https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/alternative-supermarine-swift-scenario.35378/_____________________________________________________
Super Swift - A 'Silk Purse' out of Supermarine's 'Sow'?The Vickers-Supermarine Type 546
Swift F.4 was fitted with a variable-incidence tailplane to cure the type's deadly pitch-up issue. After establishing a briefly-held world speed record, the prototype
Swift F.4 prototype was rebuilt as the Type 546PV (Private Venture) by fitting an imported Svenska Flygmotor RM5 powerplant. The Swedish engine - specifically its afterburner - solved the
Swift's reheat-at-altitude issue. From that work evolved the Type 546M with a raised, all-flying tail and a revised nose profile. This variant entered RAF service as the
Swift F.6 which the RAF regarded as an interim fighter type pending further development and refinement of the airframe.
Top Vickers-Supermarine Type 546M
Swift F.6 of No.79 Squadron, RAF Guterslöh, West Germany, late Sept 1956
The source of the
Swift's pitch-up problem had been extending the wing leading-edge to accommodate the RAF's demanded doubling of gun armament. Joe Smith
et al curbed the issue with the all-flying tailplane but knew that this was not a complete cure. It was decided, for the
Swift to have any of the flying qualities of its illustrious ancestors, a completely new wing design was needed. And since the rival Hawker
Hunter was being favoured by RAF planners, the Supermarine design would need to provide a 'quantum leap' in performance. To that end, a radical solution was arrived at.
The Vickers-Supermarine Type 549 would begin as another Private Venture exercise. The original Type 546PV was stripped of its wings and had its fuselage and tailplane rebuilt to
Swift F.6 standards. A new wing centre section was fitted which accommodated the main undercarriage, twin 30 mm ADEN cannons, and new missile pylons (which extended upwards to act as wing fences). Outboard of those fences, Wing pivot mechanisms to provide variable-sweep. Compared with the F.6's 40° wing sweep angle, the Type 549's variable-geometry allowed the outer wing panels to be 'swung' aft to 60° to achieve transonic speeds. For sustained subsonic flight, a wing sweep of 45° would be selected. To ensure good slow-flying control For landing, sweep could be reduced down to 28°.
The direct inspiration for the 'Swing-Wing
Swift' was said to have come through discussions with Saab in Sweden. [1] Swing-wing concept was already under investigation at Vickers - where the Head of the Vickers-Armstrongs Research & Development Department, Barne Wallis was working on his supersonic 'Wild Goose' project. A simplified version of Wallis' mechanism would be employed on the Type 549. Wallis' work was aimed at the supersonic Vickers
Sparrow ... which prompted a re-naming suggestion, with the 'Swing-Wing
Swift' becoming the
Sparrowhawk. Ultimately, Vickers-Supermarine management rejected this name. [2]
Following marketing department recommendations, the Type 549 was dubbed the Vicker-Supermarine '
Switchblade' in advertising. [3] The RAF was having none of it and the service designation became
Swift F.10. Initially, it was planned to arm the new fighter with two ADENs and twin 'Blue Jay' Mk.1 missiles (aka 'Red Hawk'. This de Havilland missile - which ultimately became
Firestreak in service, was a large, cumbersome system. Vickers proposed a less complex development - in effect, a scaling-down of their 'Red Dean' missile. The proposed 'Red Deacon' air-to-air missile took inspiration from the US
Sidewinder-1. 'Red Deacon' would also be infrared-guided and based around a single rocket booster. [4] This 'Red Deacon' proposal was accepted for service use as the
Firedrake IR-guided missile.
Bottom '
Switchblade' - Vicker-Supermarine
Swift F.10 of No. 2 Squadron, RAF Guterslöh, West Germany, 1958 (later moving to RAF Brüggen). Note Vickers
Firedrake Mk.1 short-range AAM on wing fence pylon and nose radome for GEC AI.16R ranging radar. [5]
After initial guidance issues were cured, the
Firedrake shed its unflattering sobriquet of '
Firebrat'. Through three marks, the Vickers
Firedrake gave good service. Ultimately, the larger Vickers 'Red Dean' was a failure - the pulse-Doppler radar proving beyond the contemporary state-of-the-art. As a result, neither
Swift proposals with 'Red Deans' saw the light of day. These were the radar-equipped
Swift F.11 and the gunless
Swift F.14 (with 'Red Deans' on inboard pylons and
Firedrakes outboard). Also gunless was the
Swift T.12 tandem-seat trainer which did see limited service (prior to an RAF decision to standardize on side-by-side
Hunter trainers.
____________________________
[1] Postwar, the Swedes had received details on the Messerschmitt Me P.1101 concept (which was refined into the 1951 Bell X-5 - the first variable-geometry jet aircraft to fly). Supermarine officials were in Linköping to fly the new Saab 32
Lansen - both to investigate its Svenska Flygmotor reheat unit and to discuss possible UK license production should the RAF express interest in the
Lansen.
[2] Other rejected name proposals for the swing-wing fighter were Supermarine
Scythe and
Stiletto.
[3] Presumably, this marketing effort was aimed at the export market - in British usage, a 'switchblade' would be more commonly referred to as a 'flick knife'.
[4] The 6-inch diameter 'Red Deacon' solid fuel motor - the
Malabar - was a lengthened derivative of one of the DH
Firestreak's twin
Magpie boosters.
[5] Despite its designation, the AI.16R ('R' for Ranging) had nothing in common with the AI.16 - GEC's losing bid to provide an air intercept radar for the Gloster
Javelin all-weather fighter. The AI.16R was, instead, a GEC-built variant of the US AN/APG-5 ranging radar used on the RAF's Canadair
Sabres.
BTW: These sideviews are based on the box-art for the Xtrakit
Swift.