Boulton Paul P.92

Boulton Paul Aircraft · United Kingdom · never flew (project 1941) · fighter

The Boulton Paul P.92 was a British design for a two-seat, turret-armed, twin-engine heavy fighter and ground-attack aircraft to Specification F.11/37. Only a half-scale piloted flying model, the P.92/2, was built, to check the aerodynamics.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	8.38 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Half-scale flying model of a turret-armed heavy fighter design
Two de Havilland Gipsy Major engines on a small single-seat airframe
Built by Heston Aircraft as the P.92/2 (Heston JA.8)

A small single-seat twin-engined monoplane with two de Havilland Gipsy Major engines, built as a half-scale replica of the planned turret fighter with a span of about 10 m.

Specifications

The Boulton Paul P.92 has a length of 8.38 m (27 ft).
It has a wingspan of 10.08 m (33 ft).
Its maximum speed is 245 km/h (152 mph).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The full-size P.92 was to mount four 20 mm cannon in a shallow domed turret built into a thickened centre wing. After wind-tunnel tests, Heston Aircraft was contracted in May 1939 to build the P.92/2, which was completed in early 1941 and first flown at Heston by Flight Lieutenant Cecil Feather.

Variants

The full-size prototypes, to be powered by Rolls-Royce Vulture or Napier Sabre engines, were cancelled in May 1940. Only the single-seat P.92/2 (Heston JA.8, serial V3142) was built.

Where you'll see it

The P.92/2 went to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down in June 1943, and was later returned to Boulton Paul, where it may have been used as a runabout.

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