Airfix 1/72 S.R. 53

[Ron Bell]

In the early 1950's the West was scrambling to develop an intercepter that could take out Russian bombers before they could nuke U.S. cities. At that time, the problem was that with the radar at hand at the time, the speed of the bombers and the climb rate of the aircraft then in service, the bombers would be over their targets before the intercepters got to their altitude. So, the search was on for an aircraft that could climb very fast to get up there to get the job done. However, none of the jet engines available had the power to do so fast enough so thought turned to using a rocket motor. But the rockets at that time did not have the staying power to last through an entire interception and not wanting to repeat the almost suicidal ME-153 concept, thoughts turned to a hybrid with the rocket motor providing the thrust to get the aircraft to altitude and then a second, jet, engine to power the aircraft through the interception and return flight. The US had several examples such as the F-91 Thunderceptor and this is the British answer to the question, the Saunders-Roe H-53. It was to be armed with the Firestreak missile carried on rails on the wing tips much like the U.S. Sidewinder often is. Despite the crash of one of the two prototypes, the aircraft proved to climb very fast and was maneuverable as well. However, more powerful jet engines and other new more capable aircraft designs were coming on line that made the concept un-necessary so the project, like those in the U.S, was cancelled. This kit dates from 1958 and was pretty primitive. It comes with two very chunky looking Firestreak missiles and since the aircraft was just a prototype I assumed they were either dummies or inert so I left them off. I just did it OOTB with extensive cleaning up including removing the trench-like panel lines one the fuselage but leaving the control surface ones. The pilot looked like the villain in the 1950's Sci Fi movie "Robot Monster" so I used one I got from the spares box. The decals were shot, so  put some together from the spares box, cobbling together the serial numbers piece by piece from rub-on lettering. In the end, it produced a very pleasing looking aircraft I believe. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Ron Bell

[ghodges]

Nice clean build that emphasizes the clean and eye appealing lines of the plane! I really like those "T" tail designs from that time period too!

 

Gil 

[Nick Filippone]

Ron,  Beautiful job on a challenging kit. 
 

An additional note about the mixed power interceptor concept in the U.K. The S.R. 53 was not so much a prototype as a technology demonstrator. It was never intended to be an operational interceptor. The S.R. 177 was to be the aircraft with mixed power that would actually be armed and fill the interceptor role. A mock-up was built and some metal was cut before the whole program was cancelled. It was to be a much bigger aircraft. 
 

It was not dissimilar to the relationship between the Hawker P.1127 Kestrel ( the VTOL technology demonstrator) and the P. 1154 (the intended operational supersonic version). The P. 1154 was cancelled but, in this case, the P. 1127 went on to be produced as a sub- sonic attack and close support fighter we know as the Harrier.

Nick