Boulton-Paul P.111 "Delta"
Model Airplane News Cover Art for April, 1951
by Jo Kotula
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The Boulton Paul P.111 (also called Boulton Paul BP.111) was a British experimental aircraft of the 1950s designed to explore the characteristics of tailless deltas.

  

Boulton-Paul P.111 "Delta"
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In the late 1940s and early 1950s the allied aircraft industries were engaged in many projects to confirm and develop the design ideas captured from the Germans at the end of the Second World War. As part of this activity the P.111 was built for the Air Ministry to specification E.27/46 by Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd to investigate the possibilities of the delta planform wing. The P.111 was designed as the smallest airframe which could couple a jet engine, an ejection seat, and a delta wing.

The P.111 made its first flight in October of 1950. It was used by the RAE in a series of explorations of delta wing characteristics and later based at RAE Bedford. During this time it flew with each of the three alternate wing tips. After a last flight in 1958 it went to the Cranfield College of Aeronautics as a training airframe. In 1985 it was transferred to the Midland Air Museum, Warwickshire, England, where it is on static public display.

Here is a video of the Boulton-Paul P.111 "Delta" 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 Boulton-Paul P.111 "Delta"
Click Here to see all 200 cards in the series
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