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“What’s that?” I well remember seeing the Miles M39B ‘Libellula’ flying over Reading in 1943 and its highly unusual shape created great interest among many local people. Although to most people it looked like a ‘tail first’ design, it was actually a ‘tandem wing’ configuration, with both wings contributing to the aerodynamic ‘lift’ and both fitted with elevators and flaps. The ‘Libellula’ concept — named after the generic name for the dragonfly - actually began life two years earlier, when George Miles designed what he saw as the ideal configuration for a carrier-based fighter. The story of this design and how he failed to convince both the Ministry of Aircraft Production and the Admiralty of its benefits, requires more space than I have available here. However, it convinced George Miles of the benefits of the ‘Libellula’ concept, on which he took out patents. Over the following years, he used it for many design projects, although the M39B, shown here - a five-eighths scale version of a high speed, lightly armed, high altitude bomber - was the only one to actually be built and flown. In the late 1980s, aged 70+, when he was still involved with various aviation projects and reluctant to talk about the past, George Miles did tell me he regretted never having the chance to build his Libellula bomber, which he felt could have rivalled the magnificent de Havilland Mosquito. ____________________ |
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Painted in watercolours. 2007. 210mm x 240mm. |