Death at Farnborough

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The Coming Delta. Most interesting sights of the show for future-minded airmen were carefully guarded glimpses of the Gloster GA5 Javelin interceptor and the Avro 698 bomber. Both are delta-wings, which British (and some American) designers believe are the coming thing for practical supersonic flight. Neither plane was permitted to show its full performance, but the big Avro 698, flown by hot-rod Test Pilot Roland Falk, went into a vertical bank 200 ft. above the viewing stands. It was only the fourth flight for the 698. Said a top U.S. plane manufacturer as the Avro shot past: "That pilot ought to be shot. He risked the lives of dozens of the top aviation brains in the free world."

Whether flown by hot rods or not, the delta-wings are the hottest thing in aviation. They reflect the British philosophy of design. Britain needs speedy interceptors, like World War II's Spitfire, which can climb rapidly to great height. They must take off from small fields. They do not need great range.

All this adds up, say British designers, to low wing-loading (plane weight per square feet of wing area). And the best way to get plenty of wing and still have a plane that will fly fast enough is to use the delta shape. Since the wing is broad from front to back, it can be fairly thick (and therefore strong), but still be "thin" in the aerodynamic sense.* Such wings are fast and have minimum trouble when passing through the speed of sound. They have large area and therefore plenty of lift, and there may be more room inside them for the multiplying gadgets that modern airplanes must carry.

For Mach 1.5. American designers, say their British colleagues, have neglected delta-wings because they are necessarily preoccupied with long range. To get range, they designed planes with long, slender wings and high wing-loading. These tend to be fine for range, but not so good for takeoff, climb, ceiling and maneuverability. Many British designers believe that they are also inferior to delta-wings for speeds up to Mach 1.5 (1½ times the speed of sound).

Comments from U.S. airmen on the Farnborough show were generally critical. Some, conceding that the British are forward-looking in design, refused to admit that the British have anything that the U.S. cannot match. Others pointed out that the British exhibit their designs (e.g., the ill-fated DH-110) long before they have been properly tested. Another criticism : the new British military planes look good in design and in flight test, but they have not yet passed the big test of battle, or even of service in tactical units. And they are not likely to get the big test soon: Britain's aircraft industry, flying high in design, is woefully weak in production (see BUSINESS).