In 1955, Britain's Avro company began to develop plans for a high-altitude Mach 2.5 reconnaissance aircraft. Several configurations were examined, but all centered around a straight-wing design featuring a thoroughly enclosed cockpit with no windscreen to reduce drag, large canards, and two engine nacelles, each containing multiple power plants. (Early plans called for wing-tip nacelles, but these were later moved closer to the fuselage.) A retractable periscope would be used to aid the pilot with take-offs and landings.

 

By December 1956 the final design had been developed. The plane would carry a crew of two a pilot and a navigator who would sit by-by-side. Each nacelle would contain four Armstrong-Siddeley P.176 engines. And, most important of all, the plane could also function as a bomber, carrying either a specially designed short-course weapon or Britain's Red Beard tactical bomb.

 

Unfortunately, the project was cancelled in 1957, a victim of the U.K.'s infamous Defense White Paper.

• Scale: 1:144
• Length: 13.5 inches
• Material: Resin
• Number of Pieces: 39
• Detailed Cockpit, Landing Gear, Bomb Bay and "Red Beard" Tactical Bomb included.
• Decals by JBOT
• Master by Scott Lowther
• Casting by Replicant Casting Co.

Requires assembly & painting.