Supermarine Type 508      VX133

                                  

                                       Here's some really heavy metal.  In 1947 the Royal Navy evoked interest in a jet fighter which
                                       had no undercarriage and was designed to land on a soft "carpet-like" deck.   Presumably take
                                       off would have been accomplished via catapult.   This would allow not only a weight saving, but
                                       also a very thin (laminar flow) wing.  However, results with a Vampire on this theme were not
                                       encouraging and hence the Supermarine Type 508, which was built to this specification, was
                                       changed to have a conventional tricycle landing gear.  The prototype, seen above with its Swift
                                       chase plane, first took to the air on 31 August 1951.  The second prototype was designated the
                                       Type 529 and differed in having a variable incidence tail with dorsal fin strakes.  Both these types
                                       led to the development, and later adoption of, the Type 525 Scimitar which was used by the RN
                                       in quantity the late 1950s.