Greenwich Gryphon
| Greenwich Gryphon | |
|---|---|
| |
| Greenwich Gryphon | |
| Role | Fighter-bomber |
| Manufacturer | Greenwich Aviation |
| First flight | 1949 |
| Introduction | 1950 |
| Retired | 1976 |
| Status | retired |
| Primary user | Commonwealth Air Force, Fleet Air Arm |
The Gryphon from Greenwich Aviation was Arthurista's first indigenously developed fighter aircraft. Designed to replace first generation jet fighters such as the Meteor, Vampire and Venom, the Gryphon introduced a swept-wing design for better high-speed performance. In fact, such was the aerodynamics quality of the airframe that the prototype, propelled by the relatively underpowered Rollers Nene turbojet, could match the performance of such contemporary aircrafts as the F-86 Sabre and MiG-15. With the new Rollers Avon, the Gryphon design finally came onto its own and became the standard fighter for the Arthuristan Dominion Air Force and Fleet Air Arm.
The Gryphon was superceded in front line service by a series of new high performance designs: the, Greenwich Tigress and Super Tigress and, eventually, the Phantom. However, the mature, rugged design, reliable in harsh conditions and even where opportunities for maintenance is limited, allowed it to stay operational as a second-line fighter bomber for close air support. The last examples were not phased out until the late-1960s
Specifications
- Crew: 1
- Engines: 1 x Rollers Avon turbojet, 33.4kn
- Wingspan: 9.6m
- Length: 11.38m
- Height: 3.3m
- Empty Weight: 5,080kg
- Loaded Weight: 6,570kg
- Top speed: 1,142 km/h
- ceiling: 16,460m
- Rate of climb: 60m/s
- Range: 2,200km
- Armaments: 4 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons or 30mm ADEN cannons, 5 x hardpoints for up to 5 tonnes of payload