January 1946: waiting in the wings

January 1946: and with the technological forge of warfare dominating The Engineer’s agenda, the magazine took a look back at an aeronautical innovation that didn’t get a chance to influence the outcome of World War II.

‘Had hostilities lasted a little longer,’ it wrote, ‘we would undoubtedly have seen the introduction by all the belligerents of some striking developments in the design of military aircraft, notably a rapidly increasing employment of jet propulsion for both bombers and fighter.’

Instead, the article  - which can be read in its entirety here - reports on the “unusual spectacle” of a host of new designs, developed off the back of six years of war experience, poised to enter service at the moment peace breaks out.

The main focus of the article is the advances in jet propulsion made by both Britain and Germany.  ‘The year may be said to be chiefly notable as marking the fulfilment of the prolonged efforts to apply the jet propulsion systems successfully to military aircraft. In this country chief public interest was focussed on the Gloster “Meteor” and the de Havilland “Vampire”.’ The Meteor had set a new world speed record of 606mph the previous November.