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Saunders-Roe P.148

1951 COLD WAR X-PLANE

History

After World War II (1939-1945), Britain was ahead of the Allies in turbojet technology and was able to launch the first combat-capable fighter-oriented aircraft into the air. The first notable product was the Gloucester Meteor, which made its maiden flight in March 1943 and entered service in July 1944 (although its main purpose was to counter the V-1 missile threat to the British mainland) ). Nearly 4,000 such examples (described in detail elsewhere on this site) will be completed, and the design will also be sold to British allies around the world.

This classic aircraft is powered by 2 Rolls-Royce Derwent 8 Series turbojets, each delivering 3,600 pounds of thrust.

It was this foundation that helped Britain stay at the forefront of post-war jet fighters for years to come, and the technology allowed for a variety of aerodynamic designs to be considered - British engineers had no shortage of them.

In building one of the world's preeminent jet-flying services, the Brits considered a wealth of advice from the usual industry players of the day - Gloucester, Fairey, Sandersrow (SARO) And Westland, just to do justice some names throw hats in the ring. Known for its oversized airship designs used during World War II, Saunders-Roe created a Navy-grade "P.

148" available.

The P. 148 is a project aircraft developed by company engineers to meet the New Royal Navy Specification (N. 114T) of January 1951, requiring a 14-ton, two-seat, radar-equipped day/night hunting platform cover.

Authorities are looking for a jet that can fly more than 620 miles per hour at an altitude of at least 40,000 feet and a rate of climb of at least 10,000 feet per minute. The proposed weapon is a pure air-to-air weapon: 4 x 30mm ADEN autocannons as fixed forward-firing weapons and (rather optional) support for 4 x Air-to-Air Missiles (AAM).

The SARO's entry into crowded territory is characterized by a traditional, slender fuselage containing the cockpit, avionics, fuel storage (these are also housed in the wings) and the usual support systems. It is worth noting that the two seats are placed side by side, with only the pilot sitting under the bladder-like canopy, while the secondary crew members sit lower in the array (like the later de Havilland carrier-based fighter "Sea Fox") . soon - and detailed elsewhere on this page). As a result, the pilot's canopy was moved to port and the entire cockpit was located behind a circular nose cone assembly designed to accommodate an "air interception" (AI) radar.

The main biplane (with significant swept back) would be mounted along the shoulders on both sides of the fuselage and placed directly in front of the center of the boat. The fuselage then tapers gracefully back until it is covered by a small round cap. Above the tail is a single, rather drooping, vertical fin with a recessed horizontal plane on top (eventually arranged in a typical "T-shaped" or "multhopp tail").

For ground operation, a traditional retractable (all legs retracted into the fuselage) tricycle configuration will be used - although the legs are relatively short, making the vehicle appear crouched on the ground.

Dimensions include an overall length of 50 feet and a wingspan of 38.6 feet.

Aside from the cockpit appearance and interesting crew arrangement, one of the other unique physical aspects of this machine is the proposed turbojet arrangement: in the dorsal part of the fuselage spine, it also basically constitutes a single Bottom of the vertical tail. The single engine unit will be sucked in through the air intake above the midship and exhausted through the circular opening below the rudder fin, with a relatively simple ductwork in between for ease of construction, maintenance and general airflow. The engine of choice became the Rolls-Royce Avon RA. 10-series afterburning turbojets (9,150 to 11,400 lbs of thrust) - though the technological advances that Rolls-Royce eventually made eventually led to the RA.

Twelve afterburner turbojets (12,550 pounds of thrust) became the central engine. Engineers also included support for Rocket Assisted Takeoff (RATO) equipment to get the machine off the ground as quickly as possible (the acceleration of early turbojets proved to be limited, so rocket power was used to achieve this for balance).

As for the 4 x 30mm ADEN automatic cannons, they will be located on the ventral side of the fuselage under the cockpit floor - there are two guns on one side of the fuselage - and the "gun training" radar unit will be mounted on the right wing panel to aid accuracy sex. To this end, double shell casings for up to 36 (2 x 18) air missiles were added to the side of the fuselage located aft of the main landing gear doors.

Of course, the entrainment of the required air-to-air missiles (up to four) mentioned in the original requirements is also specified.

On paper, the P. 148 would be the perfect combination of performance, range and firepower. As mentioned, the fighter has a top speed of nearly 700 miles per hour, a top speed of nearly 50,000 feet per hour (requires cockpit pressurization and ejection seat), and a climb rate of 12,320 feet per hour.

In any case, the P.148 project fell through, and the final product for the Royal Navy's naval defense mission became de Havilland's classic "Sea Fox" two-armed fighter. The aircraft first flew in September 1951 and eventually entered service with the Royal Navy in July 1959, with a total of 145 completed.

These flew until 1972.