General Aircraft from ST.1 to GAL.65 — THE DEFINITIVE INDEX

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C-W "Swan"

Type: twin-engine transport
Powerplants: two de Havilland Gipsy Six inline engines (see below)
Dates: 1936 (early C-W design), 1937 (redesign), 1938 (General Aircraft takeover)

The C-W Swan was an advanced design for a small size passenger transport. Initially envisaged as a light transport with boom-like rear fuselage to be powered by two Villiers-Hay engines, the Swan was completely redesigned. With its sturdy appearance, its twin tail and streamlined fuselage, the new Swan echoed American types such as Lockheed's Electra Jr. and Hudson transports. Power was to be provided by a choice of two de Havilland Gipsy Six variants, with the American Wright Whirlwind and Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior considered for the more powerful versions. In fact, the latter was to equip the planned prototype (already registered as G-AERO, no less!), but all work on the Swan was halted when the company was closed in 1938.

When General Aircraft took over the assets of the bankrupt C-W Aircraft, the Swan design was also part of the package. However, there is no evidence that the company ever considered to produce the type. Actually, the fact that it did not receive a "GAL." number seems to indicate that the project was shelved for good and that only the Cygnet was seen as potentially marketable for the company — which is kind of a shame considering the fact that the whole Monospar family was nearing the end of its production and General Aircraft would have benefitted from a modern small transport to replace it.


Number built: none [registration G-AERO reserved]


Figures below are given for (1) the de Havilland Gipsy Six I, (2) the de Havilland Gipsy Six II, and (3) the Wright Whirlwind or P&W Wasp Jr.

Specifications
Span: 46 ft
Length: 36 ft
Height: 10 ft
Empty weight: 3460 lb (1), 3660 lb (2), 4460 lb (3)
Loaded weight: 5800 lb (1), 6000 lb (2), 7000 lb (3)

Performance
Maximum speed: 190 mph (1), 205 mph (2), 250 mph (3)
Cruising speed: 165 mph (1), 175 mph (2), 225 mph (3)
Cruising range: 660 miles, 700 miles (2,3)
Rate of climb: 900 ft/min (1), 1000 ft/min (2), 1500 ft/min (3)

 

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GAL.42 "Cygnet" II

Type: two-seat sporting/training monoplane
Powerplant: one 150 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major II engine
Date: 1939

On the basis of their experimenting with the Cygnet I prototype, General Aircraft built a second tricycle gear prototype as the Cygnet II with a shorter, more streamlined fuselage and a few refinements. this was followed by 10 Cygnet II production aircraft (this number may be approximate). Several of these were impressed during the Second World war and only four survived.


Number built:

• 1 prototype [G-AFVR]
• @10 production aircraft [including G-AGAL=DG566, G-AGAW, G-AGBA=HM495, G-AGAX, G-AGAS=LV-FAH, G-AGAU]

Specifications
Length: 23 ft 3 in
Height: 7 ft
Wing span: 34 ft 6 in
Wing area: 179 sq ft
Empty weight: 1475 lb
Loaded weight: 2200 lb

Performance
Maximum speed: 135 hp
Cruising speed: 115 hp
Climb rate: 800 ft/min
Service ceiling: 14000 ft
Range: 445 miles



An excellent photo gallery of all the Cygnets can be found here:
http://nhungdoicanh.blogspot.fr/2012/04/general-aircraft-gal-42-cygnet-ii.html

 

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GAL.43

Type: engine test-bed aircraft
Powerplant: one 2000 hp Bristol Centaurus (GAL.43A), one 2080 hp Napier Sabre (GAL.43B)
Date: 1938
Number built: none

The GAL.43 was an engine test-bed aircraft design submitted to Spec. 43/37. Two variants were considered: the GAL.43A for the Bristol Centaurus, and the GAL.43B for the Napier Sabre. Eventually the GAL.43 lost to the Folland Fo.108.

 

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GAL.44

Type: transport
Powerplants: two 445 hp Alvis Leonides Major engines
Date: 1939
Number built: none

 

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GAL.45 "Owlet"

Type: light trainer
Powerplant: one 150 hp Blackburn Cirrus Major I engine
Date: 1939
First flight: 5 September 1940

This was an open-cockpit two-seat tandem training variant of the Cygnet II. No production ensued, and the sole prototype was impressed into RAF service in May 1941.


Number built: 1 prototype [G-AGBK=DP420]


Specifications
Length: 24 ft 7 in
Height: 7 ft 3 in
Wing span: 32 ft 5 in
Wing area: 176 sq ft
Empty weight: 1597 lb
Loaded weight: 2300 lb

Performance
Maximum speed: 127 mph
Cruising speed: 110 mph
Climb rate: 790 ft/min
Range: 410 miles

 

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GAL.46

Type: high-altitude pressurized fighter
Powerplants: two 1270 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin engines
Date: 1940
Number built: none

This was a single-seat high-altitude fighter project submitted to Spec. F.4/40 (Operational Requirement OR.81). It was to be pressurized and featured a tricycle undercarriage with twin wheels on all units. Four 20-mm cannons were clustered in fairings located on either side of the cockpit area. The design lost to Westland's P.14 Welkin.

 

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GAL.47

Type: observation aircraft
Powerplant: one 90 hp Blackburn Cirrus Minor engine
Date: 1940

This twin-boom pusher was meant as a Flying Observations Post (FOP), but after a brief evaluation the single prototype didn't lead to any production, and eventually the Taylorcraft/Auster type met the requirements for this mission. The prototype GAL.47 was destroyed in 1942.


Number built: 1 prototype [T47=T-0224=G-AGBL]


Specifications
Length: 25 ft 9 in
Wing span: 37 ft 10 in
Loaded weight: 1615 lb

Performance
Cruising speed: 75 mph

 

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GAL.48 "Hotspur" I

Type: troop transport/training glider
Date: 1940
First flight: November 1940 (other source has March 1941)

The Hotspur was an all-wood glider with plywood covering, originally designed to Spec. 10/40 which required a transport glider for eight troops. The troops exited upon landing via the removable top decking of the upper fuselage. This early version can be recognized by its small rounded off canopy and long wings. As it was not found satisfactory, only 22 were built and used for training.


Number built:

• 2 prototypes [BV136, BV139]
• 20 production aircraft

Specifications
Length: 39 ft 3 1/2 in
Height: 10 ft 10 in
Wing span: 61 ft 10 3/4 in
Wing area: 272 sq ft
Empty weight: 1661 lbs
Loaded weight: 3598 lbs

Performance
Towing speed: 10 mph
Gliding speed: 90 mph
Landing speed: 56 mph

 

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GAL.48 "Hotspur" II & III

Type: training glider
Date: 1940

When it appeared that the Hotspur's capacity was smaller than required, and that it could never be fit as a transport glider, the design was rethought as a dedicated trainer, which led to the Hotspur II and Hotspur III versions. These had clipped wings for shorter wingspan, a larger reinforced canopy, modified flaps and ailerons, a revised entrance door; the Hotspur III had dual controls for two pilots in tandem. A total of 1012 of both versions were built, subcontracted to Harris Lebus.


Number built: 1012


Specifications
Same as Hotspur I except
Wing span: 45 ft 10 3/4 in
Empty weight: 1755 lbs
Loaded weight: 3635 lbs

Performance
Same as Hotspur I

 

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GAL.48B "Twin Hotspur"

Type: troop transport glider
First flight: August 1942
Number built: 1 prototype [MP486/G]

The Twin Hotspur was an attempt to create a troop transport glider of more capacity by joining two Hotspur airframes and outer wings together with a new wing center section and tailplane. Only one prototype was built.

 

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GAL.49 "Hamilcar" I

Type: tank transport glider
Date: 1940
First flight: 27 March 1942

The Hamilcar was designed to Spec. X27/40. To help speed up its design, a half-scale version, the GAL.50, was built and test-flown beforehand. The Hamilcar was a tank-carrying glider of wooden construction with plywood and fabric covering. Capable of carrying either 60 troops, a single 7-ton tank or several scout cars, gun carriers or mobile guns, it was the largest and heaviest glider used by the Allied Armed Forces during World War Two.


Number built:

• 1 prototype [DP 206]
• 22 production gliders by General Aircraft
• 390 production gliders by sub-contractors, including the Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co., Ltd.

Specifications
Length: 68 ft
Height: 20 ft 3 in
Wing span: 110 ft
Empty weight: 19500 lb
Loaded weight: 36000 lb

Performance
Towing speed: 145 mph



Two of the images below are from a good gallery of Hamilcar photos that can be found here:
http://arnhemjim.blogspot.fr/2011/09/general-aircraft-gal-50-other-wwii.html

 

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GAL.50

Type: experimental glider
Date: 1940

The GAL.50 was a half-scale flying model of the GAL.49 Hamilcar transport glider meant to speed up its development.


Number built: 1 prototype [T-0227 > DP226]


More pictures of the great model depicted below can be found here:
http://imodeler.com/2013/05/general-aircraft-gal-50/

 

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GAL.51

Type: ground-based landing trainer
Date: circa 1941
Number built: 1

This has been described as a" synthetic day landing trainer" to give landing and take-off training — in other words, a forerunner of modern day flight simulators.

 

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GAL.52

Type: wing-fold design
Date: circa 1941

When the idea of a mechanism to fold the wings of the Supermarine Seafire (the sea-going version of the Spitfire) was suggested, General Aircraft (which already subcontracted the construction of the Seafire's tail unit) put forward a proposal for folding the wings backwards instead of the upwards so-called "concertina" type favored by both the Admiralty and Supermarine. Despite its being simpler, the GAL.52 mechanism was also heavier than what Supermarine proposed and was therefore rejected.


Source: Supermarine Seafire (Crowood Aviation Series)

 

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GAL.53

Type: naval jet fighter
Powerplant: one 1600 lb Power Jets W.2B
Date: 1942
Number built: none

The GAL.53 was a single-seat naval jet fighter project with four 20 mm cannons in the nose.

NOTE: The mention "also low wing layout" attached to this designation is ambiguous: was it also assigned at some point to a completely distinct low wing design, or does it mean that an alternate proposal for the same fighter had the wing positioned in a different way?

 

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GAL.54

Type: light transport glider
Date: circa 1942
Number built: none

The GAL.54 remained a project but it led to the GAL.55 training glider prototypes.

NOTE: the designation may have been re-used for an auto-trimmer device design.

 

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GAL.55

Type: training glider
Date: 1943

Based on the unbuilt GAL.54 light transport glider project, this was a mid-wing, side-by-side two-seater training glider designed to Spec. TX.3/43 (Operational Requirement OR.122), made of steel-tube structure cover in plywood and fabric. It was designed to have flight characteristics close to those of the Airspeed Horsa assault glider, so as to alleviate the use of the latter in the training role. This was not to be, however, and only two were built.


Number built: 2 prototypes [NP671,NP674]

 

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GAL.56

Type: experimental gliders
Date: 1943
First flight: November 1944 (Medium V), 27 February 1946 (Medium U), 30 May 1946 (Maximum V)

In 1943 General Aircraft began experimenting with swept-wing tailless designs. This resulted in a series of two-seat tailless research gliders, all sharing an identical fuselage but each configured to wings of different planforms. The first glider [TS507] used the "Medium V" planform with a 28° sweepback and was test-flown successfully until a fatal crashed sealed its fate in February 1948. The second glider [TS510] used the "Medium U" planform, also with a 28° sweepback but with a parallel center section, while the third glider [TS513] used the "Maximum V" planform, with a 36° sweepback. Both were scrapped in 1950. A fourth research glider was completed as the GAL.61, while a powered version, the GAL.57, was projected but not built.


Number built: 3 prototypes [TS507, TS510/D, TS513/B]


Specifications
Wing span: varied between 45 and 51 ft

 

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GAL.57

Type: powered glider
Powerplant: one 215 hp Lycoming R-680 engine
Date: 1943
Number built: none

This was a projected powered variant of the GAL.56 glider.

 

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GAL.58 "Hamilcar" X

Type: powered glider
Powerplants: two 965 hp Bristol Mercury engines
Date: 1944
First flight: February 1945

This was a powered glider developed to Spec. X.4/44 by fitting two Bristol Mercury engines to the tank-carrying GAL.49 Hamilcar glider. Why the designation used the Roman numeral "X" when it was only the second variant of the Hamilcar is for anyone to wonder! Although a small number were converted, they were never used operationally.


Number built:

• 1 prototype conversion [LA728]
• 22 conversions

Specifications
Length: 68 ft
Height: 20 ft 3 in
Wing span: 110 ft
Wing area: 1657.5 sq ft
Empty weight: 25510 lb
Maximum loaded weight: 47000 lb

Performance
Maximum speed: 145 mph
Cruising speed: 120 mph
Service ceiling: 13000 ft
Range: 700 to 1675 miles (depending on load)

 

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GAL.59 "Mosquito" TT.39

Type: high-speed target tug/plotter
Powerplant: two 1680 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 72/73 (or 1710 hp Merlin 76/77)
Date: 1945
First flight: August 1947

General Aircraft was contracted to convert a number of de Havilland Mosquito B.XVI aircraft into a target-towing and anti-aircraft cooperation aircraft to Spec. Q.19/45. The four-seat Mosquito TT.39, as it was designated, had an extended, heavily glazed nose for an observer, well ahead of the propellers, which afforded a full vertical hemispherical view forward for gun-laying assessment. A glazed cupola placed on top of the fuselage, halfway between cockpit and tail, allowed the winchman to observe proceedings in the target-towing role. This was to be the final version of the Mosquito, which replaced the Miles Monitor in operational service during 1948.


Number built:

• 1 prototype conversion [PF489]
• 27 production conversions

Specifications
Length: 43 ft 4 in
Height: 12 ft 6 in
Wing span: 454 sq ft
Wing area: 54 ft 2 in
Empty weight: 15980 lb

Performance
Maximum speed: 280 mph (with 32ft span target), 292 mph (16ft span target), 299 mph (small sleeve target)

 

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(undesignated)

Type: transport
Powerplants: four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines
Date: 1945
Number built: none

The construction of the Hamilcar tank-carrying glider provided General Aircraft with some good experience in building large transport aircraft. This led engineer F. F. Crocombe to design for a large four-engine H-tailed transport project conceived as a "carrier" for an armored and wheeled pannier that could be detached from the aircraft at 10 feet or so, then skid to a halt in the drop zone. The carrier could then return to base for another pre-packed pannier. Although not proceeded with, this design was no doubt a milestone in the development of the GAL.60 and GAL.65 that followed.

 

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GAL.60 "Universal Freighter"

Type: four-engine transport
Powerplants: four 1950 hp Bristol Hercules 261 engines
Date: 1946
First flight: 20 June 1950

The GAL.60 was a very large double-decker transport was the winning bidder to Spec. C.3/46 (Operational Requirement OR.41). It featured rear loading doors under the rear boom fuselage. When the prototype was nearly complete, with parts for a second airframe well underway, the General Aircraft company was merged with Blackburn, becoming Blackburn & General Aircraft Limited on January 1, 1949. The prototype was moved in October 1950 for flight testing to Brough, in East Yorkshire. No other GAL.60 was built but the designed evolved into the GAL.65 Universal Freighter II, which became the Blackburn Beverley.


Number built: 1 prototype [WF320]

 

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GAL.61

Type: experimental glider
Date: circa 1946-47

Originally ordered as the fourth GAL.56 research glider, this was a pure tailless flying wing devoid of the endplate fins that existed on the GAL.56 series of gliders. The pilot was to lie in a prone position inside a raised cockpit and the undercarriage was fully retractable. Directional control was achieved by the use of sliding "drag-rudders" mounted in the wingtips. However, the GAL.61 never flew, and after an appearance in the SBAC static display at Farnborough in 1948, the program was cancelled.


Number built: 1 prototype [TS515]

 

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GAL.62

Unknown allocation.

It has been suggested that this might have been a medium glider design submitted to Spec. X.30/46.

 

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GAL.63 (a.k.a. Handley Page H.P.88, Supermarine 521, Blackburn Y.B.2)

Type: research aircraft
Powerplant: one 4770 lb Rolls-Royce Nene 102 turbojet
Date: 1948
First flight: 21 June 1951

Not a General Aircraft design per se, the single Handley Page HP.88 aircraft was designed to Air Ministry Specification E.6/48 as an aerodynamic test-bed for the proposed Victor V-bomber. To save on time and cost it was decided to base the fuselage on the Supermarine Attacker. This was then changed to the Supermarine Type 510, which had already been redesigned with a swept wing. In the event, the many changes led Supermarine to give the design its own designation as the Supermarine Type 521. Detail design was contracted to General Aircraft, but after the merger with Blackburn, the work was moved to Brough Aerodrome and the design given the SBAC Blackburn designation Y.B.2.

The Supermarine fuselage was delivered to the Blackburn factory at Brough, where it was modified and the wing fitted. after testing by Blackburn and a few modifications to the tailplane to reduced pitching oscillations, the HP.88 was delivered to Handley Page and then flown to Stansted for further testing.
On 26 August 1951, in preparation for the SBAC Air Display at Farnborough, the HP.88 carried out a high-speed pass at 300 ft over Stansted, and was seen to start a pitching oscillation before breaking up in mid-air. However, the loss of the aircraft was of little significance to the V bomber project as two Victor prototypes were already nearing completion by the time of the HP.88's first flight. Besides, as the Victor design had continued to be refined, the HP.88 was no longer representative of it.


Number built: 1 [VX330]


Specifications
Length: 40 ft
Wing span: 40 ft
Wing area: 284 sq ft
Empty weight: 11630 lb
Loaded weight: 14640 lb

Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 0.9
Thrust/weight ratio: 0.3



More about the GAL.63 / HP.88 / Type 521 / Y.B.2 on the Wikipedia website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_HP.88

 

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GAL.64

Unknown allocation.

It has been suggested that this might have been a basic trainer design submitted to Spec. T.16/48.

 

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GAL.65 "Universal Freighter" II

Type: transport
Powerplants:
Date:

The sole GAL.60 prototype was followed by a second one, the GAL.65 the design of which had been altered. Clamshell doors replaced a combination of a door and ramp, and the tailplane boom received seating for 36 passengers. The engine type was changed to the Bristol Centaurus with reverse-pitch propellers, a feature that gave it a short landing length and the ability to reverse under its own power. A little after work had started on the GAL.65, General Aircraft was merged with Blackburn and its designation changed to B.100. It was thus the last aircraft designed under the General Aircraft Co. name. The RAF found the prototype satisfactory and placed an order in 1952 for production of 49 more aircraft as the Beverley C.1 (or Blackburn B.101).


Number built:

• 1 prototype [WZ889]
• 49 production aircraft (under Blackburn)

Performance
Takeoff run at full load: 790 yd
Landing run at full load: 310 yards

 

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A FEW WORDS ABOUT THIS TOPIC...

This topic is the first of its type on our forum, and is meant as a template for many more to come. The existing threads in the "Designation Systems" section are often more like a sandbox where the members exchange and compare data, but sometimes the speculation or guess work there can come up in a search engine and appear as fact. That is why I believe it would be highly desirable for Secret Projects to provide similar definitive indexes for all the aircraft companies whose types have all (or nearly all) been well documented or at least identified, as such indexes will inevitably appear in Google searches and the likes, and provide aviation enthusiasts with a reliable online reference other than dozens of Wikipedia page duplicates.

Although I did elaborate this topic on my own — based largely on the "old" thread, with a great help from variious documents, notably an article provided by lark, to whom I'm truly grateful — the way I see the elaboration of future similar topics is certainly not a one-person process. One idea could be to announce the start of a new topic (for instance, the next definitive topic I'm planning to prepare will be about Bell Aircraft...) and call upon whoever wishes to contribute data and photos, then centralize that data in the hands of a few volunteer moderators for them to fill the individual type posts along the way. We'll see.

Until then, I hope you enjoy this topic even only half as much as I enjoyed creating it! If you do, the two full days spent over it won't have been in vain — but then again, they will NOT be in vain anyway, because I'm sure this topic will endure as the one place to go for information on General Aircraft... All through the courtesy of Secret Projects ...

(and of course, if any of you has additions/corrections for this here topic, please send them in P.M. or by e-mail — beaumort(at)online(dot)fr — and I'll be more than happy to include them!)

Stéphane BEAUMORT, a.k.a. Stargazer2006

 

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This topic is meant to be a documented index for definitive reference.

All comments/additions/corrections should be made in the other topic:
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,499.0.html

Thanks!