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Sure, the BAC 221 was one of several small scale prototypes built to test potential wing designs for the Concorde SST project. It was not actually a
brand new aircraft at all but was converted from the Fairey FD.2 in which Peter Twiss became the first man to set a world air speed record in excess
of 1,000pmh in 1956. The FD 2 was also said to the plane that gave Marcel Dassault the idea for the Mirage III when he saw it testing in France during
1954-55 as a better solution that the Mirage I and II he was then building, there may be an element of truth in this as Dassault said ' you English
could have built the Mirage first if only you had stuck at it'.
When converting it to the 221, BAC gave it a fuselage extension and a completely new ogival wing which faired right up to the tip of the nose.
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Sure, the BAC 221 was one of several small scale prototypes built to test potential wing designs for the Concorde SST project. It was not actually a
brand new aircraft at all but was converted from the Fairey FD.2 in which Peter Twiss became the first man to set a world air speed record in excess
of 1,000pmh in 1956. The FD 2 was also said to the plane that gave Marcel Dassault the idea for the Mirage III when he saw it testing in France during
1954-55 as a better solution that the Mirage I and II he was then building, there may be an element of truth in this as Dassault said ' you English
could have built the Mirage first if only you had stuck at it'.
When converting it to the 221, BAC gave it a fuselage extension and a completely new ogival wing which faired right up to the tip of the nose.
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Beautiful looking aircraft. Shame we never progressed with it whereas the French got the Mirage III we ended up with the EE Lightning, fast but god
damn ugly!
Jensy
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