AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft Plate 94 / 120

Plate 94 of 120 · Early jet age · Supersonic delta research aircraft

Fairey Delta 2

FD2, painted as WG777, the second of the two Fairey Delta 2s: a single-seat tailless delta research aircraft with a thin wing swept about 60 degrees, powered by a reheated Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet fed from intakes in the wing roots, with a nose and cockpit that drooped 10 degrees for take-off and landing; its sister WG774 set the world air speed record of 1,132 mph in March 1956 and was later rebuilt as the BAC 221, while WG777 kept its original form and is displayed at the RAF Museum Midlands, Cosford; painted as it is shown there: gloss dark blue overall with a cream cheat line from the nose to the fuselage roundel and on the tail cone, a gold emblem on the nose, ‘FAIREY DELTA’ in small white capitals, Type D roundels on the fuselage and upper wings, a red, white and blue fin flash and the cream serial ‘WG777’ on the tail cone, with the nose shown undrooped as displayed; the museum's nose probe is longer than the 1956 record probe on the drawings and its exact length is estimated from photographs, and the underside is left unmarked because no photograph shows markings there.

3D model

Turn it over

A procedural model built in Blender from published dimensions, drawings and photographs, painted as WG777, the second of the two Fairey Delta 2s: a single-seat tailless delta research aircraft with a thin wing swept about 60 degrees, powered by a reheated Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet fed from intakes in the wing roots, with a nose and cockpit that drooped 10 degrees for take-off and landing; its sister WG774 set the world air speed record of 1,132 mph in March 1956 and was later rebuilt as the BAC 221, while WG777 kept its original form and is displayed at the RAF Museum Midlands, Cosford; painted as it is shown there: gloss dark blue overall with a cream cheat line from the nose to the fuselage roundel and on the tail cone, a gold emblem on the nose, ‘FAIREY DELTA’ in small white capitals, Type D roundels on the fuselage and upper wings, a red, white and blue fin flash and the cream serial ‘WG777’ on the tail cone, with the nose shown undrooped as displayed; the museum's nose probe is longer than the 1956 record probe on the drawings and its exact length is estimated from photographs, and the underside is left unmarked because no photograph shows markings there. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · download .glb (865 KB)

Data plate

Specification

First flight, number built and top speed are for the whole family (); engine, crew and dimensions are for the FD2 modelled here.

History

The FD2

In the late 1940s the Ministry of Supply wanted to know how a thin delta wing behaved at supersonic speed, and Fairey, which had already flown the small Delta 1, was given a contract for two aircraft to Specification ER.103. The Delta 2 was built round a Rolls-Royce Avon with reheat, fed from intakes in the wing roots, with a slender fuselage and a thin wing swept about 60 degrees at the leading edge. Because the long, pointed nose blocked the pilot’s view on the approach, the whole nose and cockpit hinged down by 10 degrees for take-off and landing, an idea that returned on Concorde.

WG774 first flew from Boscombe Down on 6 October 1954 in the hands of Fairey’s chief test pilot, Peter Twiss. A month later its engine stopped at 30,000 ft; Twiss glided back to Boscombe and landed it with only the nose wheel down, and the aircraft spent months under repair. On 10 March 1956 he flew it over a measured course between Chichester and Ford at an average of 1,132 mph, the first world air speed record above 1,000 mph and more than 300 mph faster than the previous one, set by an American F-100 Super Sabre. Supersonic flying over Britain was then restricted because of the noise, so much of the later high-speed testing was done from Cazaux in France, where Dassault took a keen interest in the aircraft.

The second aircraft, WG777, first flew in February 1956 and spent its working life on research flying, later with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Bedford, until 1966. Fairey proposed a fighter based on the design, but the 1957 Defence White Paper ended the hope of new manned fighters and nothing came of it. WG774 was rebuilt by the British Aircraft Corporation as the BAC 221, with a longer fuselage and an ogee wing like Concorde’s, and flew from 1964 to test that wing shape at low and high speeds; it is now at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton.

This airframe

FD2 WG777

WG777The airframe modelled

WG777 was the second of the two Fairey Delta 2s and the only one still in its original form, because its sister WG774, the record breaker, was rebuilt as the BAC 221. After its research flying ended it passed to the Royal Air Force Museum, which displays it at Cosford in its later dark blue scheme. The model shows it as photographed there: gloss dark blue overall with a cream cheat line from the nose to the fuselage roundel and another on the tail cone, a gold emblem on the nose, “FAIREY DELTA” in small white capitals, Type D roundels on the fuselage and upper wings, a red, white and blue fin flash and the serial “WG777” in cream on the tail cone. The nose is shown undrooped, as displayed. The museum aircraft’s nose probe is longer than the record probe on the drawings, so its length is estimated from photographs, and no photograph shows markings under the wings, so the underside is left plain.

See it at Royal Air Force Museum Midlands

Where to see one

In the gazetteer

The gazetteer records the FD2 in 2 UK collections. The airframe modelled here is marked.

Every airframe and serial All 120 plates

Profiles and models are procedural interpretations built in Blender from published dimensions, three-view drawings and photographs of each airframe. Treat the museum aircraft as the reference.