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History of 2 Sqn Swift FR.5 N WK277 at the Newark Air museum. (Click to see)
Excerpt from an article about Richard Noble's Thrust Land Speed Record car.
"At this point, I suspect many people would have given up, but not Noble. The publicity surrounding the project had been sufficient to generate a call from the RAF, asking if a lecture could be given to some senior personnel about Project Thrust. They were eventually impressed enough to help source an ex-Lightning Avon 210 engine, although not a complete fighter as first requested! This engine was an ideal choice, being powerful, reliable and compact enough to use seriously in a car, unlike the earlier Derwent. It already had a pedigree of record-breaking having been used in aircraft such as the Supermarine Swift and Fairey Delta 2, when they held the airspeed record. It wasn't even the first time it's use for a Land Speed Record vehicle had been mooted, that honour falling to test pilot Dizzy Addicott, who had announced plans for a stab at Breedloves 407mph record in the 60's, with a very Spirit of America-like vehicle that he planned to build using a Swift fighter as the basis of the project."
The Swift bought by Dizzy Addicott, an ex-Vickers test pilot, was none other than WK 277, and it has quite a history before it ended up at Newark. Unfortunately, Dizzy was killed in a road accident at the age of 83, on 10th December 2005. He was a well known amateur racing driver, always in cars of his own design, and whose exploits John Smith witnessed on many occasions.
(Thanks to John Smith)
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