Culture post day 2

i just realised that limiting this post to only rocketry and planes is quite difficult to mantain as an active daily post so i have decided to expand the contents.

on todays post, we approach to one of the best planes that never went into production, for years the fastest plane on earth until others such as the sr-71 or the x-15 got released.
Today we will be talking about the Fairey Delta II…

Soon after the first supersonic (level) flight was achieved by the infamous Bell X-1, the first of the long lasting X plane series, and the posterior development of the first supersonic fighters, among others the F-100 Super Sabre wich will later see combat during the cold war, specially during the corean war, where he gained several kills. The UK wanted to stay at the vanguard of aerial superiority and so started doing research on supersonic aerodynamics, they wanted to test those on real aircraft but neither the US or the USSR accepted to sell any of theyr supersonic airplanes so, in an attempt to prove that the british industry and engineering was far above the others, they asked local aircraft companies to develop a proposal. The contract was won by Fairey and the project was given the Air Ministry Specification ER.103. Two planes were produced, units WG777 and WG774.
Not only just one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built, it also was extremely advanced and, obviously, fast. Indeed, it was so fast it broke the previous speed record held by an F-100 by almost 300mph (500kmh). It was the first plane to fly faster than 1000mph (1600kmh). The design featured a tilting cockpit to give better visibility. One of the most amazing performance facts about this craft, was that it could go supersonic without afterburner use.
Since its maiden flight the 6th october 1954, the craft didnt stop breaking speed records, achieving the one that will remain for almost a year: 1132mph (1811kmh) or mach 1.73. This speed record was achieved on March 10 1956 and was held until it was beaten by a US air force JF-101 Voodoo. Most of the tests were carried out in France, and the design was so capable that Dassault used a very similar shape on the Mirage III, which ironically first flew two days after the FD II left the country. The tests were carried without any major incident but in November 1954 one of the planes caught fire and had to be crash landed, the plane was repaired in eight monts, no one was hurted.
Something curious was that afther the UK rejected allowing Fairey to test supersonic flights inside its territory, the government decided to test it on Norway, however the insurance cost was 1000£ per flight in Norway so they decided to fly in France, which only asked for 40£ flight (xD). The record attempt wasnt supported by the government or by Rolls Royce, which made the Avon engine on the craft and told Fairey that the engine will deintegrate at mach 1,5 and that the intakes will not survive the test. We all know what happened, Fairey said hold my tea cup and the plane reached mach 1,73 in one piece.
The aircraft is now exposed in a museum.