M.39 Though it had some problems, the earlier
M.35 proved sufficient to show the idea had merits, and the larger M.39 was drawn up as a twin-engined design prepared to meet Specification B.11/41 which had been issued by the Air Ministry for a high speed bomber. The specification had been written for the P.1005 proposal by
Hawker, powered by two
Napier Sabre engines, estimated to achieve 400+ mph at 25,000 ft and deliver a 2,000 lb bomb load over 1,600 miles. The P.1005 was cancelled after several delays on behalf of the Air Ministry and before Miles submitted his design to the Ministry In November 1943 a full-size prototype (to use the serial
RR910) was ordered, but not built. Until the intended (three)
Power Jets W.2/500 turbojets were available the M.39 would have had two
Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 inline or
Bristol Hercules VIII radial piston engines. The M.39 would have a crew of three in a pressurized cabin. As well as the bomb-bay amidships, the M.39 was intended to carry two fixed
20 mm cannons in the roots of the forward wings. The
Ministry of Aircraft Production agreed to a development contract and purchase of the M.39B. Miles continued testing, generating more flight data and submitted an improved M.39 design in early 1944. Meanwhile, the sole M.39B passed to the
Royal Aircraft Establishment at
Farnborough in 1944, where it carried the serial
SR392, being damaged and repaired after two accidents, only to be broken up with the full-sized bomber project's cancellation. ==Specifications (M.39B Mockup)==