Gloster "Javelin"
Model Airplane News Cover Art for June, 1952
by Jo Kotula
Click to Enlarge

The Gloster Javelin was an "all-weather" interceptor aircraft that served with Britain's Royal Air Force in the late 1950s and most of the 1960s. It was a T-tailed delta-wing aircraft designed for night /inclement weather operations and was the last aircraft to bear the Gloster name.

The Javelin began with a 1947 Air Ministry requirement for a high-performance night fighter that led to orders forof two of the competing designs, the Gloster GA.5 and the de Havilland DH.110 . When it appeared that the Gloster design would be ready sooner and would be simpler and cheaper to build, the de Havilland submission was rejected; though the company was to continue development of the DH.110 as a private venture that eventually resulted in the naval "Sea Vixen" (subject of the April, 1952 Cover of MAN). The Gloster design had a distinctive appearance, its broad delta wings surmounted by a large finned T-tail.

  

Photos of the Gloster "Javelin"
Click to Enlarge

Gloster Javelin, first flew in November 1951, (two months after the prototype DH 110 took to the air), with protracted flight testing taking place until 1956, when the first 14 production machines were delivered. Development and improvements continued, leading to small production runs of different models of the aircraft throughout the years. By the end of 1956, the Javelin had gone through seven variants -- and the seventh the first to actually meet the specifications of the original Air Ministry requirement. This became the definitive version of the aircraft (most of which were later altered to the FAW 9 standard). A total of 427 were produced in all variants, plus seven prototypes.

Here is a video of the Gloster "Javelin" in action:

In addition to the cover of Model Airplane News, this airplane was also featured in the WINGS "Friend or Foe" trading card series of the early 1950s

Trading card representation of the Gloster "Javelin"
Click Here to see all 200 cards in the series
Click to Enlarge

Click Here for more information about the Gloster "Javelin".

Click to go back and select another cover.

Counter for the Entire Site (not just this page..)