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The Planet Satellite was a British light aircraft of the late 1940s. Designed to exploit new technology, the aircraft was abandoned after two crashes although the innovative fuselage was later incorporated into a helicopter prototype. ==Design and development== The Planet Satellite designed by Major J.N. Dundas Heenan was a futuristic looking four-seater built of magnesium alloy in a true monocoque "teardrop" shaped fuselage with no internal reinforced structure.〔Middleton 1983, p. 528.〕 The Satellite was powered by a 250 hp de Havilland Gipsy Queen 31 mounted amidships driving a two-blade Aeromatic "pusher" airscrew in the tail.〔''Air Progress'', November 1978, p. 18.〕 Other notable features included "butterfly" tails and a retractable tricycle undercarriage, with the nosewheel retracting into a reinforced keel that ran the length of the underside of the fuselage.〔Middleton 1983, p. 528.〕 Breaking with conventional design and manufacturing conventions, Heenan declared in the July 1948 ''Aviation News'' issue, that the 400 drawings made were in stark contrast with the standard of approximately 3,000 drawings required for a project of that complexity.〔Middleton 1983, p. 529.〕 Financing for the Satellite was equally novel with a partnership established with the Distillers Company Ltd. (makers of Gordon's Gin and Black Label Whisky) wherein the Planet Aircraft Company operated as a subsidiary of a liquor company.〔Middleton 1983, p. 530.〕 Built in the Robinson Redwing factory at Croydon, Purley Way, Surrey in 1947, the first prototype was taken to Redhill in 1948. The sleek light aircraft appeared at the S.B.A.C show at Farnborough in September 1948 and received the registration ''G-ALOI'' in April 1949. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Planet Satellite」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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