It was among the important, if unappreciated, aspects of postwar aircraft development: how to provide a more comfortable workplace for the pilots who would fly the latest generation of ever more manoeuvrable aeroplanes. The design of the fighter pilot’s ‘office’ would largely be determined by the adoption of the ejection seat, but research was also being undertaken to see whether front-line combat aircraft could safely be flown by pilots lying in a prone position.
The first aircraft to be modified with a prone cockpit was the sole prototype of the Reid and Sigrist Desford light twin-engined trainer. As the Bobsleigh, it took to the air as such on 13 June 1951. The small number of flights undertaken demonstrated that control was barely possible, but that there might be some merit in taking the experiment to a higher level, where there would be scope for evaluating the concept in an aircraft of greater performance. Funding was approved and the choice made to use a converted Gloster Meteor as the test vehicle. The results, it was felt, would help inform development of Bristol’s Type 178 rocket-powered interceptor, which anticipated using a prone pilot layout.
A contract was placed with Armstrong Whitwor…
