R.A.E. Vickers Transonic Research Rocket

The R.A.E. Vickers Transonic Research Rocket was a pilotless, rocket-driven test vehicle built to gather flight data at transonic speeds for the British Ministry of Supply. It was a 3/10 scale model of the Miles M.52 supersonic research aircraft, whose full-size project was cancelled in 1946 because a safe escape for the pilot at high speed could not be assured, and it omitted the distinctive annular air intake of the full-size design. A contract was placed with Vickers Armstrong in 1945 for the design and construction of several vehicles. Each was carried aloft under a de Havilland Mosquito, released at high altitude and driven by a hydrogen peroxide rocket motor of 362 kg thrust developed at Westcott. The first vehicle was lost in the Bristol Channel in May 1947, and in October 1948 the model flew at 930 mph in level flight at 35,000 ft.