Different Martin Baker MB.2

[PMN1]

What if the MB2 when it was designed and flown was more like the OTL MB5 in terms of design and construction but with a Merlin rather than a Griffon.

It’s with an early Merlin, it’s not going to have the MB5 performance, but would it have sufficient performance for the design to break into the fighter market at this time?

 

[Schneiderman]

One of the reasons for designing the MB2 was specifically not to use the Merlin, which was in short supply.
The Merlin was over 300lbs heavier than the Dagger and then there would be all the extra weight and plumbing for the cooling system. It was also around 10" wider which would mean a complete redesign of the engine mounts and front fuselage.
So basically a Merlin-engined MB2 would be a completely different aircraft, an MB2.5, and its guesswork as to how that may have performed relative to the aircraft then in service. So no meaningful conclusion can be drawn as to how that may have impacted on RAF procurement.

 

[PMN1]

Which is why i've said more like an MB5 in terms of design and consturction, what would a 1938 Merlin engine in a MB5 airframe shape be able to do?

 

[Schneiderman]

You can't just pull 1944 technology forward into 1938, especially for a company that had only built one light aircraft at that time.
Whatever Merlin-powered fighter they could have built in 1938 would have been most unlikely to have any material advantage over existing Merlin powered types and negligible chance that it would have been ordered. RAF requirements at this point were already looking towards twin-engine types and more powerful singles, with Sabre, Vulture or whatever. Its a spurious 'what if?' question.

 

[PMN1]

It does say Alternate History in the board header...........

 

[kitnut617]

The Griffon engine was in it's infancy back then too (it was based on the Schneider race engine), as the MB fighters were all designed around a larger engine than the Merlin, this would be a better candidate for your idea.

 

[Schneiderman]

It does say Alternate History in the board header...........

Yes it does, but you still have to remain within the bounds of plausibility otherwise in is Fantasy History