The Supermarine company developed already in the 1940s a single-seat naval jet fighter with the new propulsion jet engine under development. First flight was July 1946 and it had a Rolls Royce Nene engine. It was put into production and was the first carrier based jet fighter of the Royal Navy though service entry was August 1951. Developments in jet aviation went fast and although some 183 jets were manufactured, it already went out of FAA service in 1954. Some 36 "de-navalised" Attackers were also exported to Pakistan. They even flew with the PAF demo team Playbills.
Some data: single pilot; Rolls Royce Nene engine with 5,000 lbf thrust; max speed about 950 km/hr; wing span 11,25 m; length 11,43 m.
Attacker F.1
This ex- FAA Attacker F.1 , serial WA473, was retired in 1956. In 1961 moved to the Fleet Air Arm Museum, RNAS Yeovilton (U.K) where it is still on display. It has code "102".
Photographed November 2023 by Meindert de Vreeze (C), Copyright IPMS Nederland
A few plastic scale model kits exist of the Attacker.
In 1/72 scale there was an old Tri-ang/ Frog prototype kit (that repopped under various brands later on) and a Magna vacuform kit. AZ Models came with a short-run 1/72 kit in 2011 whereas CMK has a resin kit.
In 1/48 Falcon and Magna had a vacuform kit until Trumpeter came with an injection moulded kit in 2012.
In 1/32 scale IconicAir had a resin kit.
In 1/144 Miniwing has a kit.
This walk around page was first published on April 2024 by M. de Vreeze; note the Copyright!