Vickers Type 432

The Vickers Type 432 was a British twin-engined high-altitude fighter built by Vickers during the Second World War to let the Royal Air Force engage high-flying enemy bombers, with six 20 mm Hispano cannon in a ventral gondola. It resembled a larger de Havilland Mosquito, earning the nickname Tin Mosquito, and had a pressurised cockpit in the nose. Its elliptical wing used a stressed-skin peapod construction designed by Barnes Wallis. The first prototype flew on 24 December 1942 with two Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 engines, but had handling problems and never reached its estimated top speed. When the Westland Welkin was ordered, the second prototype was cancelled, and the first was scrapped after only 28 flights.