Supermarine 545
1950s British cancelled fighter aircraft / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Supermarine 545 was a supersonic jet fighter project designed by the British aircraft manufacturer Supermarine. A single aircraft was built, but remained unflown, largely due to the project having fallen out of political favour.
Supermarine 545 | |
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The Supermarine 545 in use as a training airframe at the College of Aeronautics at Cranfield in 1960 | |
Role | Supersonic fighter aircraft |
National origin | United Kingdom |
Manufacturer | Supermarine |
Status | Completed, but not flown |
Number built | 1 |
Developed from | Supermarine Swift |
The project commenced during the early 1950s in response to interest in transonic aircraft within the Royal Air Force. Supermarine, who was at the time engaged in the development of another front-line fighter, the Swift, decided to use this existing programme as the Type 545's starting point. Major differences from the proceeding Swift was the adoption of a crescent wing and a more powerful powerplant in the form of the reheated Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine; amongst its performance capabilities, Supermarine claimed that the aircraft would be readily capable of achieving Mach 1.3.
During February 1952, the company received an order for a pair of prototypes to be built. However, by the time that the first was completed, the project had become politically unpalatable due to the considerable shortcomings of the Swift. Having lost confidence in Supermarine, on 25 March 1956, the contract was cancelled prior to the first aircraft ever taking flight. After a brief period in storage, the sole Type 545 was donated as an instructional aid to College of Aeronautics at Cranfield Airport, Bedfordshire; it was eventually scrapped in 1967. A few years later, Supermarine ceased to exist as an independent company.