Vickers Type 432

History

Since 1911, the UK has focused on aircraft delivered by Vickers for the military and civilian markets. In the years following World War I (1914-1918), the company focused more on large bomber programs, and during World War II (1939-1945), with the Vickers Wellington This commitment was reinforced by the arrival of the Vickers (11,461 produced) and the Warwick (842 produced).

During the Cold War, the company delivered the legendary Vickers "Valliant" as a third of the "V-Bomber" trio (including the classic Avro "Vulcan" and the nuclear bomber trio of Handley Page "Sieger") . The company's work on fighter-level secondary developments during World War II was little and far between, although there was one notable development - the "Type 432", which became a contender for the high-altitude fighter role.

Even before the war began in September 1939, Vickers attempted to respond to the Air Department's F. 6/39 specification, which called for the use of two-seat combat platforms at speeds of 400 mph. The timing is just right, and the company is already working on a similar form with armament centered on a nose-mounted large-caliber 40mm automatic cannon. The cannon mounts are designed to be easily trained to increase tactical flexibility and improve first strike capability, rather than simply aiming the aircraft at the target and firing.

The 40mm gun provided devastating single-stroke power against most aerial threats of the day. To further sell the idea, Vickers engineers created various draft concepts, including a version with a fixed cannon weapon.

The Ministry of the Air Force showed sufficient interest in a fixed-arms version of the 1939 F.22/39 specification and ordered two prototypes as "Type 414". Her layout will be traditional as the centralized hull will be used to accommodate a multi-person crew and many of the major onboard systems. The empennage is a twin tail unit, and the main wing of the wing has an overall oval shape - reminiscent of the classic Supermarine Spitfire fighter.

The pilots in the cockpit are arranged side by side, similar to the arrangement seen in the competing de Havilland Mosquito twin-engine heavy fighter. The barrel of the 40mm gun protrudes significantly from the tip of the nose. The twin-engine arrangement mounts each engine into streamlined nacelles that extend forward of the leading edges of the wings and terminate at their respective trailing edges.

The rear trailer landing gear will be used.

Although a prototype of this design was ordered, the Type 414 plan did not materialize. Instead, attention has been drawn again to a new variant that will mount no less than eight 20mm Hispano automatic cannons. The tail was simplified to a single tail, while all other aspects of the aircraft were intended to remain largely traditional.

This model became the "Type 420" and came out in April 1940, when Britain was already committed to the war. The F. 15/40 specification was created to accommodate the development of this design, and a Rolls-Royce "Griffon" inline engine was selected to power the aircraft.

The situation changed again with the new design that appeared in early 1941, this example with a crew of two, powered by a Rolls-Royce "Merlin" engine. The aircraft became the corporate model "Type 432" and continued to evolve into a single-seat, high-performance, twin-engine, high-flying heavy fighter. The eight-gun armament was reduced to six guns, which were concentrated on a belly mount. The engine is a Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 inline engine.

The pressurized cabin should be available for flight above 20,000 feet. The Air Force was persuaded to contract two airworthy prototypes for testing.

Work on the aircraft began in 1942, and its maiden flight took place on December 24 of that year. The design is a sleek and fairly modern product, keeping the cockpit at the front of the fuselage but behind the short nose cone. The fuselage is streamlined, with the tail tapering to reveal a single rudder fin. The engines are housed in a streamlined nacelle, the full chord of the wings, which themselves are centrally mounted on either side of the fuselage.

Each nacelle was fitted with main landing gear legs, and the tail of the aircraft was supported by a small tail wheel. Cockpit visibility is largely hindered by the sides - a price to pay for the twin-engine configuration. Each engine drives a four-bladed propeller.

All in all, the Type 432 is a large aircraft.

Test times for the Type 432 were long by wartime standards, which could have resulted in designs going from paper to mass production within a few months - although this is not the norm. The prototype was used in a series of tests that extended to 1944 and found persistent problems with handling, particularly on approach and tight cornering control.

Takeoff is known to have its own challenges and performance is reduced when flying above 25,000 feet due to engine limitations.

Many of the Type 432's performance and handling issues were never resolved, and the aircraft's long gestation period resulted in the aircraft being eventually scrapped by the Air Force. Of all the time and effort on the project, only one airworthy prototype was realized and twenty-nine flights were collected from this airframe.

By this point in the war, the de Havilland Mosquito twin-engine fighter had commanded a variety of combat roles for the RAF, leaving the Type 432 with no more battlefield roles to fill. Vickers continued to use its factories and workers to produce large bombers throughout the war, and the forgotten Type 432 was the venerable company's last major foray into military combat platforms.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes