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During the process of evaluation of the proposals to F.155T, De Havilland wanted to make a alternative last minute submission, and Saro was strictly prohibited from this.

Yet what if the board had instead allowed all the firms submitting, the chance of a last minute submission?

We know Saro proposed that if the weapony and or equipment was relaxed they could offer up to 3 different solutions
1. A twin Gyron Junior powered machine.
2. A single Gyron powered machine
3. An uprated version of the P.177.

I'm curious as to what alternative DH might have come up with...?

EE must have had another Lightning variant up it's sleeve. Or perhaps a version of the P.6D

Vickers.....no idea

Fairey did have a late Delta II with Red Hebe.....

AWA...?

Hawkers.....a P1125-type might have been forthcoming.
 
On this specific topic I would recommend the following to you, a lot of extra information on the submissions and around the competition / decision:

 
Yet what if the board had instead allowed all the firms submitting, the chance of a last minute submission?

Sooner or later, you have to say "enough" and make a decision (even if it's eventually to call the whole thing off).

The comical absurd extreme I am picturing is a bunch of Saunders-Roe aerodynamicists in their late nineties wheezing "Wait! Just one more draft, please?", and the P.177 going forward to equip squadrons on board Prince of Wales and Queen Elizabeth alongside the F-35. :p
 
The problem that Saunders Roe had was that they were often given requirements for something which was, to be polite, somewhat out of the ordinary, such as their hydrofoil missile. The extraordinary thing about the company is that they produced designs which fulfilled the requirements perfectly, but then the powers that be recognised that the requirement was, again to be polite, somewhat absurd.
 
The problem that Saunders Roe had was that they were often given requirements for something which was, to be polite, somewhat out of the ordinary, such as their hydrofoil missile. The extraordinary thing about the company is that they produced designs which fulfilled the requirements perfectly, but then the powers that be recognised that the requirement was, again to be polite, somewhat absurd.

It's why I feel so sorry for them with regard to SR.177 - they had everything ready, including a production line and the first few prototypes part-built, when the whole thing went under. So close and yet so far. Same as for the Javelin evolution.
 
It's why I feel so sorry for them with regard to SR.177 - they had everything ready, including a production line and the first few prototypes part-built, when the whole thing went under. So close and yet so far. Same as for the Javelin evolution.

The chap in charge of Saro was called Stanton Jones, and his papers are now in the archives of Churchill College Cambridge. I went thru them years ago. The SR 177 lingered on in a sort of half life throughout 1957, and the axe finally fell at the end of December. His diaries of that period don't make happy reading.
 
It's why I feel so sorry for them with regard to SR.177 - they had everything ready, including a production line and the first few prototypes part-built, when the whole thing went under. So close and yet so far. Same as for the Javelin evolution.

The chap in charge of Saro was called Stanton Jones, and his papers are now in the archives of Churchill College Cambridge. I went thru them years ago. The SR 177 lingered on in a sort of half life throughout 1957, and the axe finally fell at the end of December. His diaries of that period don't make happy reading.
Yes I’ve been meaning to visit there one day.
 

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