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Short SA.4 Sperrin

1951 COLD WAR X-PLANE

Short SA. 4 Spelling's story

The RAF's "V-Bomber" unit is a trio of capable advanced jet bombers that provide Britain with a much-needed strategic nuclear strike capability. This allowed the country to respond more flexibly to the looming Soviet threat and reduce its reliance on the United States in the event of an all-out war in Europe during the Cold War (1947-1991).

Comprising the Avro Vulcan, Handley Page Victor and Vickers Valiant classes, the aircraft remained in their original nuclear deterrent role until 1982 - this unit ended their stint as a new generation of tactical nuclear aircraft retrofitted aerial tankers day. capable aircraft.

Before the trio came to fruition, however, the design plans for such a bomber had been drawn up in the final stages of World War II (1939-1945), when turbojet technology came to the fore. The B.14/46 specification was written for this aircraft in the postwar world, and this requirement evolved into the B.35/46 specification.

The main aircraft, including the appropriate control surfaces, was set near the midship and heavily swept along the leading edge, tapering only slightly on the trailing edge. Notably, Short Brothers engineers advocated a fully swept wing design to compete with the bombers of the day, but this desire was rejected by authorities seeking a fail-safe bomber.

The tip of each element is cut off, and each wing has a paired casing for two of the game's total four turbojets. In a rather unique but awkward fashion, the engines are stacked one above the other in an arrangement, with the nacelle extending beyond the leading and trailing edges.

The internal crew consisted of five people, including two pilots, a bombardier, a flight navigator, and a radio operator. The bombardier occupies the nose position (prone position), while the remaining three crew members sit behind the pilot, facing the stern.

Interestingly, only the pilot was given an ejection seat, the rest of the crew tried to parachute in WWII fashion.

The first prototype (designated "VX158") had a barrel length of 102.2 feet, a wingspan of 109 feet, and a height of 28.5 feet. Empty weight reaches 72,000 lbs and total weight is 115,000 lbs. Power comes from 4 Rolls-Royce "Avon" turbojets.

Performance includes a top speed of 565 mph, a cruising speed of 500 mph, a service ceiling of up to 45,000 feet and a range of up to 3,860 miles.

All proposed weapons would be housed in an internal bomb bay, including either an impressive conventionally thrown bomb or a single airborne "Blue Danube" nuke - with an estimated wartime payload of at least 20,000 lbs (though never in built-in tests).

The prototype VX158 originally appeared with the RR Avon RA. On August 10, 1951, the 2-Series turbojet with a 6,000-pound power output made its maiden flight. However, with solid progress on the project to produce Vickers Valliant, the Sperrin project was officially cancelled by the authorities - despite the fact that the war might continue in an experimental sense.

This additional work then resulted in a second prototype "VX161" being added to the program. The VX161 first entered service on August 12, 1952, except that it was powered by an RR Avon RA. 3 turbojets with 6,500 lbs of thrust each.

The VX158 eventually received a de Havilland "Gyron" turbojet for testing, which was installed in an existing nacelle on the port side to replace the original Avon engine - although the increase in engine size now forced an increase as a result , the size of the engine for that particular pod. In this case, the bomber program first flew on July 7, 1955, and the experimental configuration continued to test the array until early the following year.

Later in 1956, the aircraft received a pair of de Havilland "Gyron" Gy2 series engines for additional flight test work - these engines each had an impressive 20,000 pounds of thrust and were powered by Each nacelle was powered by an existing Avon turbojet (Gyron engines gained a lower position in each nacelle). It then made its first flight in this modified configuration on June 26, 1956.

Meanwhile, the VX161 prototype continued its own development phase and flew over the public during Farnborough in 1956. It existed until it was demolished and officially scrapped in 1957.

The prototype VX158 continued to test its various experimental engine configurations until it was finally abandoned in 1958.

Meanwhile, the V bombers were useful to the RAF, taking on a more conventional role beyond nuclear deterrence before the end (despite the fact that all three bombers were accepted to play the same role on the battlefield ,first). This makes Sperrin just a footnote in the V-Bomber program.