Fairey Delta 2

infobox Aircraft
name = Fairey Delta 2
type = high-speed research aircraft
manufacturer = Fairey Aviation Company Limited, Hayes, Middlesex.

---

caption = World speed record holder WG774
designer = Robert Lickley (Chief Engineer / Technical Director), H.E.Chaplin (Chief Designer)
first flight = 6 October 1954
introduced = Experimental
retired = 1966 ("WG777"), 1973 ("WG774")
status = WG777 displayed at RAF Museum, Cosford. WG774 displayed (as BAC 221) at Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton.
primary user = Royal Aircraft Establishment
more users =
produced =
number built = 2
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = BAC 221 (WG774 only).

The Fairey Delta 2 or FD2 (internal designation Type V within Fairey) was a British supersonic research aircraft produced by the Fairey Aviation Company in response to a specification from the Ministry of Supply for investigation into flight and control at transonic and supersonic speeds.

Design and development

The design was a mid-wing tail-less delta monoplane, with a circular cross-section fuselage and engine air-inlets blended into the wing roots. The engine was a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.14R with an afterburner. The Delta 2 had a very long tapering nose which obscured forward vision during landing, take-off and movement on the ground. To compensate, the nose section and cockpit drooped 10 degrees, in a similar way to that used later on Concorde. Two aircraft were built: "WG774" and "WG777".

The FD2 was used as the basis for Fairey's submissions to the Ministry for advanced all weather interceptor designs leading to the Fairey Delta 3 for the F.155 specification, but it never got past the drawing board stage.

Testing

The first FD2 was aircraft "WG774" which made its maiden flight on 6 October 1954, flown by Fairey test pilot Peter Twiss. On 10 March 1956, this aircraft broke the World Air Speed Record raising it to 1,132 mph (1811 km/h), an increase of some 300 mph (480 km/h) over the record set in August 1955 by an F-100 Super Sabre, and thus became the first aircraft to exceed 1,000 mph in level flight.

BAC 221

The first Delta 2, "WG774", was later rebuilt by British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), who had absorbed Fairey, in 1960 as the ogee-ogive wing form aircraft BAC 221. This was for aerodynamic research as part of the Concorde development programme. It featured a new wing, engine inlet configuration, a Rolls-Royce Avon RA.28, modified vertical stabiliser and a lengthened undercarriage to mimic Concorde's attitude on the ground. It flew from 1964 until 1973.

urvivors

"WG774", in BAC 221 form, is now on display alongside the British Concorde prototype at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton. The second FD2, "WG777", is preserved at the Royal Air Force Museum at RAF Cosford, alongside many other supersonic research aircraft.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Aircraft Establishment

pecifications (Fairey Delta 2)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet
ref=Fact|date=September 2008
crew=1
length main=51 ft 7 in
length alt=15.7 m
span main=26 ft 10 in
span alt=8.2 m
height main=11 ft
height alt=3.4 m
area main=360 ft²
area alt=33 m²
empty weight main=11,000 lb
empty weight alt=4,990 kg
loaded weight main=13,884 lb
loaded weight alt=6,298 kg
max takeoff weight main=13,884 lb
max takeoff weight alt=6,298 kg
engine (jet)=Rolls-Royce RA.5
type of jet=turbojet
number of jets=1
thrust main=10,000 lb
thrust alt=4,536 kg
max speed main=1,132 mph
max speed alt=1,811 km/h
range main=830 mi
range alt=1,340 km
ceiling main=48,000 ft
ceiling alt=14,640 m
climb rate main=15,000 ft/min
climb rate alt=76.2 m/s
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=

ee also

* Flight airspeed recordaircontent
related=
* Fairey Delta 1
similar aircraft=
* English Electric P1A
* Bristol 188
* Avro 707c
lists=
* List of experimental aircraft

References

* Taylor, H. A. "Fairey Aircraft since 1915". London: Putnam, 1974. ISBN 0-370-00065-X.
* Twiss, Peter. "Faster than the Sun". London: Grub Street Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-902304-43-8.
* Winchester, Jim. "Concept Aircraft: Prototypes, X-Planes and Experimental Aircraft". Rochester, Kent, UK: Grange books plc, 2005. ISBN 1-84013-809-2.