Scrap Heap For World's Fastest Plane
-Reuter,
(N.Z.P.A.—
Cowriaht)
Received Fridav, 7 p.m. LONDON, April 2. After tliree vears' work !»y mathem(iticians and aircraft technicians, andan expenditure of flaO.UUO. the .Miles 52 aircraft whieh was to have been the fastest in the world, has been broken up and sold for a few pounds for scrap. It was in 1943 that the Ministry of Air-raft Production issued a contract to Miles Aircraft to buiid ihe M52 to take innuediate advantage of Britain *s Hecret development of jet niotors anu to solve problems of faster than sound tiight. It was to flv at 1000 miles hourlv or some 300 miles faster than the speed of sound. Jp February, 1940 however, when the detail design was 90 peTcent. completed, the construction of the fuselage almost finished and the wing construction well advaneed, the Ministrv cancelled the contract 011 Ihe ground that the life of the pilot shotild not be risked. It was decided to experiment 'with a robot-piloted model aircraft driven by rocket niotors These trials are still held up owing to* failure of the rocket niotors.
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Bibliographic details
Chronicle (Levin), 3 April 1948, Page 5
Word Count
184Scrap Heap For World's Fastest Plane Chronicle (Levin), 3 April 1948, Page 5
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