The end of World War II had seen a great technological leap in aviation as new propulsion systems based on rocket and jet power were introduced. With the successful operational use of the German Messerschmitt Me-163 rocket-powered interceptor and especially the twin-engined jet fighter, the Messerschmitt Me-262, the way forward was shown. Both aircraft were amazingly fast- and pushed the flight envelope into the reaches of the unknown.

Their designs also pointed the way forward on swept wings. As early as 1935, Professor Adolf BŸsemann of the German Luftfahrtforchungsamt (aeronautical research establishment) had suggested that wings "swept back" would reduce drag at the "sound barrier". This mysterious barrier had been the reason for many piston-engined fighter aircraft of World War II experiencing problems in high speed dives. High- performance piston-engined fighters such as the Supermarine Spitfire and North American P-51 Mustang had neared what was then known as "compressibility" or the point at which the compression of the surrounding air would make the aircraft shake. Their pilots found it nearly impossible to control the plane; in many instances, not only had controls "frozen" but the aircraft had fall apart due to the violent buffeting at the speed of sound.

German research on swept wings influenced postwar fighter designs but Great Britain emerged from World War II with a decided head start in jet technology, the only Allied power to have had a jet fighter operational in squadron strength before the war's end- the straight-winged Gloster Meteor. Another British design that saw service after the war was the de Havilland Vampire which had great potential for development. From that basic design came the swept-winged de Havilland Venom, DH.110 (a successor to the Vampire) and de Havilland (later Hawker Siddeley) Sea Vixen as well as the experimental D.H.108 Swallow. After the loss of all of the ill-fated de Havilland D.H.108's and three test pilots and then the DH.110 prototype and its famed test pilot, John Derry, at the Farnborough Air Show in 1952 (disintegrating in flight and killing its pilot and 28 spectators), no major British aviation manufacturer continued supersonic development in the 1950's. Although Great Britain had pioneered much of the earlier efforts in supersonic flight, official interest in supersonic aircraft developments had waned. The promising Miles M.52 project based on a straight-winged bullet-shaped profile was cancelled in February 1946. All research data on this program which included the innovative "all-moving tailplane" for positive control at supersonic speeds was turned over to the United States.

The sound barrier was officially broken on October 14, 1947, when U. S. Air Force Captain Charles E. Yeager, flying in a rocket-powered Bell XS-1 NACA research plane over Muroc Dry Lake, California became the first man to officially pass through the sound barrier when he hit a speed of 1100 km/h (700 mph) or Mach 1.06. The XS-1 was not swept-winged, it was also streamlined "bullet" that had been patterned after the shape of the .45 caliber bullet that had been known to go supersonic in flight. The aircraft coincidentally also featured an all-moving tailplane that allowed it to pass through the sound barrier safely.

Swept wing designs, however, provided increased structural integrity and allowed even the marginally powered post-war jets to approach the speed of sound. Production jet fighters such as the North American F-86 Sabre pushed toward the sound barrier on swept-back wings. The Sabre and other contemporary fighters such as the Mikoyan-Guerich MiG-15 could crash through into supersonic speeds in a dive. In Canada, a more conservative approach had been employed in creating this country's first jet fighter.

CANADA
John Frost was persuaded to come to Canada shortly after the completion of the design of the Swallow in 1947. To him this was an ideal opportunity- there was a promising project to work on and a chance to get away from the depressing conditions of post-war Britain. At the time, his wife, Joan, was living in the north of England while Frost worked at Hatfield, near London. Accommodations for many young couples were similarly strained.

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