Westland-Hill Pterodactyl

Pterodactyl was the name given to a series of experimental tailless aircraft designed by Captain G. T. R. Hill in the 1920s and early 1930s, named after the pterosaur and, except for the first, built by Westland Aircraft after Hill joined the company. Hill wanted a design resistant to stalling and spinning, the cause of many fatal crashes, and took the tailless swept wing ideas of J. W. Dunne as his starting point. A prototype flew as a glider in 1924 and was later fitted with a Bristol Cherub engine. Westland built the Mark I braced monoplane flown in 1928, the three seat cabin Mark IV with variable wing sweep in 1931, and the Mark V two seat sesquiplane fighter with a Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine in 1932, none of which was accepted for production. Later variants stayed on paper, the programme was cancelled, and the 1926 Pterodactyl 1A survives in the Science Museum in London.