98 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
had to be suitable for an instrument approach
using the Lorenz system.
Unsurprisingly, the resulting designs from
the four manufacturers were similar in outline.
Fairey submitted proposals and drawings on
July 4, 1938, offering an attractive design with a
span of 105ft (32m), a length of 76ft (23·2m) and a
height of 22ft 6in (6·85m) to the tip of the rudder.
The tailplane span was 30ft 6in (9·3m). At an
all-up weight of 45,218lb (20,500kg) the aircraft
was expected to cruise at 275 m.p.h. (443km/h)
at 11,000ft (3,350m), with a range of 1,850 miles
(2,965km). It would carry 1,600gal (7,273lit) of
fuel and have a service ceiling of 25,000ft
(7,620m). These figures were based on the
findings of Robert T. Youngman, head of the
Fairey Technical Department.
The new aircraft was to be powered by the
untried Rolls-Royce Exe, a pressure-air-cooled
24-cylinder X-type engine rated at 1,200 h.p. at
4,000 r.p.m. This engine was a strong contender,
as it was also proposed for Fairey’s Barracuda
torpedo-bomber for the Fleet Air Arm. When
work on the Exe was suspended in the summer of
1939, the alternative selected for the new airliner
was the 1,000 h.p. Bristol Taurus sleeve-valve
engine, and it was this that featured in most of
the company’s promotional brochures.
Other engine candidates included the Bristol
Hercules, Wright GR-1820–G102A Cyclone with
NACA cowlings, Wright F.62 (as preferred by
British Airways) and Wright G.100. The propellers
were to be fitted with slinger rings [a tubular
ring around the hub of an aircraft propeller through
which anti-freeze solution is spread over the propeller
blades by centrifugal force — Ed.] and staggered
so that ice thrown off the blades would not hit
those of the others. The undercarriage was of
tricycle configuration, the mainwheels retracting
inwards into the wing roots, the nosewheel
retracting rearwards into a well below the floor
of the cockpit. A small tailwheel was to be fitted
to prevent damage to the rear fuselage in case of
over-rotation on take-off.
The new airliner’s total useful load of around
10,100lb (4,980kg), when added to the aircraft’s
gross weight of 37,930lb (17,200kg), exceeded
the original specification of 42,000lb (19,050kg).
The design was to incorporate pressurisation to
allow the aircraft to cruise at 15,000ft (4,600m).
This would be achieved by fitting compressors to
two of the four Taurus engines, each compressor
capable of providing twice the amount of air
required. The loss of one engine would therefore
not be critical to maintain pressurisation. The new
long-range airliner was expected to be available
in 1940.the economics
Although there were to be many changes to the
financial proposals put forward, Fairey estimated
airframe development costs for the new type
at £120,000–£140,000 plus powerplants over
a short run, lowering to £50,000–£60,000 plus
powerplants over a run of approximately 100
aircraft. According to an Air Ministry fact-finding
mission, the Douglas DC-4 was being offered at
£78,000 per aircraft predicated on an order for
20 machines; Boeing was offering its Model 307
at £68,000; the Junkers Ju 90 came in at £50,000ABOVE An original Fairey general arrangement drawing of the FC.1 with Bristol Taurus engines to Air Ministry
Specification 15/38, dated July 1, 1938. The first choice of powerplant for the FC.1 had been the Rolls-Royce Exe,
an X-type sleeve-valve engine, but the company suspended its development to concentrate on Merlin production.