1/72 Unicraft Airspeed AS.31 - (AS31)
Resin Model Kit, Box Condition: Sealed NM
Still factory tape sealed. Very rare model of this fascinating British design. Nicely detailed, limited-run resin kit. From the website 'unusual british aircraft.htm' - The British specification 35/35 was for an experimental high-speed aircraft with the option of turning it in to an 8-gun fighter, as in the Hurricane & Spitfire. There were four firms who replied to this specification the most un-conventional was the Airspeed A.S.31 which was a tractor monoplane in which the tailplane, on twin metal booms, carried the pilot in an eggshaped nacelle. No rudder or fin surface was indicated on the general arrangement drawing. Split flaps were fitted across the trailing edge of the wing between the booms, with wide-span ailerons outboard of the booms. A widetrack undercarriage was depicted . The aircraft was to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin E engine. No details of its potential performance are recorded. Its wing span was 33 ft. and its length 29.5 ft. The other contenders were the Bristol 151 single seat monoplane, powered by a Bristol Hercules engine. Its speed, with 100-octane fuel, was estimated to be 440mph. The General Aircraft GAL.28 was a single-seat aircraft, powered by a single Hercules engine, with a wing of variable area. The Hawker design was a Hurricane variant. The specification not proceeded with.
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