# another british project cancelled



## woljags (Dec 18, 2011)

MAGE SOURCE PAGE: x planes


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## Readie (Dec 18, 2011)

A pity.
It almost seems like something from Dan Dare now.
We threw a lot away in those early days
John


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## Matt308 (Dec 18, 2011)

Interesting. Looks like the US Bell X-1 airplane. Almost identical.


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## evangilder (Dec 18, 2011)

You're right, Matt. It looks a LOT like the X-1.


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## nuuumannn (Dec 18, 2011)

Hmmmm, one of ther great 'what if's of the post war era. The M.52 was powered by a Whittle turbojet with an early form of reheat and there are many who believe that it would have exceeded the speed of sound in 1946. As for the X-1, Bell directly benefitted from research into the all moving tailplane that was to be fitted to the M.52; the British jet came before the American rocket. It was canned because Ben Lockspieser, a British politician decided that humans could not stand the forces at supersonic speeds, so the lot was dropped. From then on the M.52 became known as "Ben's Blunder".


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## A4K (Dec 23, 2011)

Looks like the love-child of a V-2 and Betty bomber!


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## vikingBerserker (Dec 26, 2011)

Ben sounds like an idiot.


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