Vickers Type 432

Vickers Type 432
Type:	Fighter aircraft project
Design country:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Vickers-Armstrong
First flight:	December 24, 1942
Commissioning:	-
Production time:	-
Number of pieces:	1

The Vickers Type 432 was a prototype high-altitude interceptor of the 1940s and the last fighter from the manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd., which also broke new constructive territory. The intended pressurized cabin was no longer installed.

history

Even before the Second World War , the British aviation industry was concerned with the use of pressurized cabins in aircraft construction. The Directorate of Civil Research and Production published the two specifications 14/38 for a long-haul transporter and 15/38 for a short to medium-haul aircraft for European routes in 1938 . Until the outbreak of war, however, only a test aircraft was built , the General Aircraft GAL 41 , which flew for the first time on May 11, 1939.

In 1939 the specification F.22 / 39 for a twin-engine high altitude fighter was issued, after which Vicker-Armstrongs Ltd. of Weybridge, Surrey, proposed their Type 414 project. The armament should consist of a 40 mm Vickers cannon in a rotating turret. The project was quickly completed and revised in order to be submitted as a draft Type 420 for the new specification F.16 / 40, also a high altitude fighter with cannon armament. Both requirements specifications were drawn up against the background of a possible threat from high-flying German bombers, which could not be reached by existing RAF fighter aircraft.

The final requirements for a high altitude fighter were finally addressed to Westland Aircraft in Yeovil and Vickers on April 26, 1941 with the specification F.7 / 41. Westland designed the P.14 pattern, which led to the Welkin , while Vickers offered a revised version of the Type 420 as Type 432. Constructed by Rex Pierson, the 432 was the last Vickers hunter construction, but at the same time it was also the first real construction with a stressed skin . Two prototypes (RAF serial numbers DZ217 and DZ223) were commissioned.

Accompanying the construction work, investigations were carried out in the wind tunnel with models on a scale of 1:13 and 1: 6.5 , which showed a flow separation in the area close to the fuselage at high angles of attack . These problems could, however, be remedied by new inlets for the wing coolers and by pulling the leading edge of the wing forward between the fuselage and the engines.

In December 1942, the completed 432 was dismantled to be brought to Farnborough for the first attempts at taxiing . The poor directional stability found there could be significantly improved by relocating the chassis by 7.5 cm to the rear. On December 24, 1942, the first flight of the DZ217 was more unintentional than the machine took off from the ground during quick attempts at taxiing. The flight attempts led to an exchange of the Irving ailerons for those of the Westland type. Which were as bad Trudel properties assessed, so that with a 1: 32 model in the vertical wind tunnel in Farnborough additional experiments with differently shaped tail fins and -ruderflächen were made, but which led to no satisfactory result.

Likewise, the engine problems that led to the regular failure of both Merlins on flights at top speed at an altitude of 8000 m could never be solved. Construction of the second prototype was canceled on May 1, 1943, as the threat posed by high-flying bombers and reconnaissance planes was no longer viewed as significant. The program was officially ended at the end of 1943 after a total of 28 Type 432 flights. However, the machine was kept in an airworthy condition until December 1944 and was used in connection with the testing of the control systems of the planned Windsor bomber (B.3 / 42). After three flights, however, it was finally scrapped.

construction

A special feature of the construction of the wing was the structure of the torsion box, which, including the leading edge of the profile, was shaped like a lobster tong in cross section. A thick sheet metal skin formed a thickened profile that was supposed to replace the usual spars. To achieve this, additional tension wires had to be used inside the wing. The rear part of the profile, which adjoined the torsion box, was covered with fabric. The ailerons were hinged via arcuate slots in the leading edge, into which cams in the aileron fairing engaged (cam disks provided). Longitudinal movement of the cams then enabled the ailerons to rotate about their joints. A strip of fabric covered the area between the ailerons and the wing sections and prevented the flow from being disturbed. The tail surfaces were all-metal constructions.

The drive was provided by two Rolls-Royce Merlin 61, which were equipped with two-stage two-speed loaders. The engine cowling consisted of a long nacelle that also extended well beyond the rear edge of the wing. Four-blade Rotol constant-speed propellers were used .

The two-part fuselage was an aerodynamically designed, all-metal monocoque tube with planking riveted to the bottom on the closely spaced frames . The pressurized cabin was located in the front part, the dome-shaped cockpit hood being made up of two layers, similar to that of the Wellington V and VI bombers, which were also pressurized . The fogging took place between the shifts. The pilots' cotton helmets had an incorporated metal foil to reduce the effects of solar radiation at high altitudes. The fairing of the six cannons, each with an ammunition supply of 120 rounds, was attached under the fuselage at the height of the wing trailing edge. The armament, like the pressure cell, was probably never installed.

Technical specifications

Parameter	Data
crew	1
length	12.00 m (39 ft 3 in)
span	17.34 m (56 ft 10.5 in)
height	4.19 m (13 ft 9 in, tail up)
Wing area	41.80 m² (450 ft²)
Wing extension	7.2
Empty mass	7427 kg (16.373 lb)
Takeoff mass	8953 kg (19,721 lb)
drive	two Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 in- line engines with 1520 hp each at a speed of 3000 min −1 and at an altitude of 13,000 ft
Top speed	696 km / h (435 mph) at 8,540 m (28,000 ft) altitude 512 km / h (320 mph) at sea level
Rate of climb	13.98 m / s (2750 ft / min) near the ground
Service ceiling	13,270 m (43,500 ft)
Range	2,400 km (1500 ml)
Armament	six cannons 20 mm (Hispano)

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Philip Jarrett: Nothing Ventured, Part 23, Vickers 432 , in Airplane Monthly, March 1992, pp. 26-30