RAF Specifications for Aircraft from 1920 to 1949

[hesham]

And for the year 1934;

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1935,with some additions;


M15/35E ship-borne torpedo bomber, also Vickers and Handley Page submitted a proposals


F9/35E day and night fighter, also Vickers involved


G24/35E general purposed recce, also the Boultom Paul P-86 was in


F35/35E high speed aircraft, also Martin Backer entered


F37/35E day and night fighter, also Supermarine Type-313 purposed

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1936,we can add;


B.12/36 heavy bomber, those companies and designations were involved, Avro,Blackburn,
De Havilland,Gloster,Hawker,Saunders Roe,and Armstrong Whitwoth
AW-42


P.13/36 medium bomber, also Shorts and Vickers Warwick

 

[hesham]

For the year 1937,there is some additions;


F.11/37E two seat turret fighter, also Supermarine 319 was involved


F.9/37E two engined fighter, also Bouton Paul P.89 was in

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1938,with some explanations;


B.6/38 twin-engined bomber; the Armstrong whitworth was AW.41


15/38 civil air liner; the Folland proposal was Fo.106

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1939,one addition;


B.1/39 bomber landplane; also Fairey submitted a proposal

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1940,with some explanations and additions;


B.1/40 light recce bomber; also Folland Fo.113 & Fo.114 were involved


B.3/40 light recce bomber; Blackburn B-28,Avro-681 & Avro-682 and Armstrong Whitworth AW.47


F.4/40 high altitude fighter; Supermarine-337 was in


B.20/40 close support bomber; also Boulton Paul P-95 and Armstrong Whitworth AW.49 were submitted


E28/40 research aircraft; Folland Fo.115,Fo.116 & Fo.116A

 

[hesham]

For the year 1941,with one addition;


N.1/41 RN single seat fighter; also Percival P.33 was involved

 

[hesham]

For the year 1942,there is some additions and explanations;


E.5/42 Gloster Halford Fighter; the Westland proposal called J.15


F.6/42 single seat fighter; Hawker P.1018,P.1019 7 P.1020,Boulton Paul P.98,P.99,P.100 & P.101Folland Fo.117,Miles M.42,M.43 & M.44,Airspeed,Supermarine,Vickers and Westland J.14

 

[hesham]

For the year 1943,with some additions;


F.19/43 single seat fighter; also Folland Fo.118 was in


26/43 light civil transport; also Airspeed AS.63 was involved

 

[AM]

Hi All...

O.5/43 also Cunlife-Owen and Folland Fo.119 projects
S.6/43 also Cunlife-Owen and Fairey S.6/43 projects
N.7/43 also Fairey project
Q.10/43 may be Miles M.50?
S.11/43 also Blackburn and Fairey S.11/43 projects

 

[hesham]

My dear AM,


you are right,I forget them,but for S.6/43; I never heard that Cunlife-Owen involved in it.

 

[hesham]

For the year 1944,with some additions;


18/44 civil transport; also Miles X.15 and De Havilland proposal were involved

 

[AM]

Hi All...

also: F.13/44 Hawker P.1027 and P.1030 projects

 

[hesham]

Hi All...

also: F.13/44 Hawker P.1027 and P.1030 projects

I know that info my dear AM,but no confirm on this,so I avoid to mention it.

 

[hesham]

For the year 1945,with some additions and explanations;


A.2/45 AOP aircraft,the tenders were; Scottish Aviation,Heston JC.6,Miles M.66,Auster Type M & Type N


6/45 civil transport,the tenders were; Armstrong Whitworth,Avro-690,Avro-692 & Avro-693


T.7/45/2 advanced trainer; also Boulton Paul P.109 was in


E.20/45 four seat helicopter; also Fairey submitted a proposal

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1946,with some additions;


N.40/46 RN night fighter; also Westland PJD-142,PJD-143,PJD-144 & PJD-129


F.43/46 RAF day fighter; also Martin Baker MB.6

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1947,with some additions;


2/47 BOAC medium range Empire; the tenders were; Avro-697,Armstrong Whitworth AW.57,
Bristol Type-175,Blackburn B-70 and Handley Page HP.83,
HP.84,HP.85 & HP.86

 

[hesham]

And for the year 1948,with some additions and explanations;


R.2/48 marine recce boat; also Saro P.104 was in


F.4/48 RAF day/night fighter; also Blackburn B-95,Hawker P.1109,Gloster P.272,P.279 & P.280


5/48 long range Empire aircraft; also Avro-708 and Shorts SA.8


T.8/48 elementary trainer; also Boulton Paul P-112 was involved


T.16/48 basic trainer for RAF,the tenders were; Avro-714,Airtech,Air Service Training,Auster AOP A.9,
Blackburn B-80,Boulton Paul P.115 & P.116,Chrislea,De Havilland,English
Electeric,Elliotts EoN 2,Fairey,Folland Fo.132,General Aircraft GAL-?,Heston,
Handley Page Reading HPR.2,Miles,Percival P.56 Provest,Planett,Slingsby,
and Westland


T.17/48 elementary trainer; also Percival P-66 and miles M.59A

 

[hesham]

And finally for the year 1949,with some additions and explanations;

A.20/49 observation post aircraft; the tenders were, Auster B.5 AOP,Percival P.68 & P.69

26/49 Rapide replacement; also ML Aviation,Scottish Aviation,De havilland DH-114,Westland PJD.203
and Shorts were involved

 

[hesham]

Hi,

we forget to talk about RAF D. of R (Directorate of Research) specifications,and they were a 12 issues;

D of R.1 ------?
D of R.2 ------?
D of R.3 recce aircraft; DH-30,DH-31 & DH-41 and Avro-?
D of R.3A recce aircraft; DH-35 and Avro-?
D of R.4 long-range twin engined bomber; HP-24 Hyderabad and Vickers Virginia
D of R.4B long-range single engined bomber; Avro-549 Aldershot,DH-?,HP Type-X
D of R.5 ------?
D of R.6 single seat shipboard fighter; DH-33,Avro-?,Fairey ?
D of R.7 deck-land recce aircraft; Blackburn R.1 Blackburn
D of R.8 deck-land torpedo carrier; Blackburn T.2 Dart and HP-19
D of R.9 coastal defence torpedo bomber; DH-36Blackburn T.4 Cubaroo,Avro-556 &
Avro-557
D of R.10 ------?
D of R.11 ------?
D of R.12 troop carrier; DH-28 and Vickers Victoria

 

[AM]

Hi,

this?

Specification Requirement Subject Contractor Aircraft Remarks
Type I Fighter, ABC Dragonfly engine Armstrong Whitworth Ara
BAT Basilisk
Nieuport Nighthawk
Siddeley S.R.2 Siskin
Sopwith Snapper
Sopwith Snark
Type IA Long-distance (high altitude) BAT Bantham
Westland Wagtail
Type II Two seat fighter Bristol Type 23 Badger Mk.I
Type III Two seat fighter Austin Greyhound
Bristol Type 69 Project
Westland Weasel
Type IIIA Two seat fighter Armstrong Whitworth Wolf
Avro Avro 532 Project
Bristol Type 70 Project
Type IIIB Two seat fighter Avro Avro 532 Project
Type IV Twin engined bomber Avro Avro 523 Pike
Avro Avro 533 Manchester
Boulton Paul P.7 Bourges
de Havilland DH.11 Oxford
Sopwith Cobham
Type IVB Two seat fighter Avro Avro 532 Project
Avro Avro 549 Aldershot Mk.I
(V)
Type VI Twin engined bomber Avro Avro 523 Pike
Avro Avro 533 Manchester
Boulton Paul P.7 Bourges
de Havilland DH.11 Oxford
Sopwith Cobham
Type VII Night Bomber Avro Avro 523 Pike
Nieuport London
Type VIIA Avro Avro 555 Bison
Type VIII Bomber Avro Avro 533 Manchester
Boulton Paul P.7 Bourges
Bristol Type 24/25 Braemaer
Bristol Type 68 Project
de Havilland DH.11 Oxford
Sopwith Cobham
Type IX Medium bomber Avro Avro 556 Project
Bristol Type 71 Project
de Havilland DH.14 Okapi
(X)
Type XI Heavy bomber Siddeley Sinaia
Type XII  5/20
(XIII)
(XIV)
(XV)
(XVI)
(XVII)
(XVIII)
(XIX)
Type XX Glochestershire Nightjar
Type XXI Two seat amphibian fighter Avro Avro 541 Project
Boulton Paul P.11 Project
Bristol Type 35 Project
Fairey Pintail
Type XXII Single seat carrier based torpedo bomber
(ex N.1B, re-issued 1920) Blackburn Blackburd
Blackburn T.1 Swift
Short Shirl

***

Type XXX Flying boat Short Cromarty
Vickers Valentia
(XXXI)
Type XXXII Prototype training seaplane - - (cancelled 1918) - Short Sporting Type produced to this specification
Type XXXIII Four engined long range flying boat Fairey N.4

 

[hesham]

Hi,

we forget to talk about RAF D. of R (Directorate of Research) specifications,and they were
a 12 issues;

D of R.1 ------?
D of R.2 ------?
D of R.3 recce aircraft; DH-30,DH-31 & DH-41 and Avro-?
D of R.3A recce aircraft; DH-35 and Avro-?
D of R.4 long-range twin engined bomber; HP-24 Hyderabad and Vickers Virginia
D of R.4B long-range single engined bomber; Avro-549 Aldershot,DH-?,HP Type-X
D of R.5 ------?
D of R.6 single seat shipboard fighter; DH-33,Avro-?,Fairey ?
D of R.7 deck-land recce aircraft; Blackburn R.1 Blackburn
D of R.8 deck-land torpedo carrier; Blackburn T.2 Dart and HP-19
D of R.9 coastal defence torpedo bomber; DH-36Blackburn T.4 Cubaroo,Avro-556 &
Avro-557
D of R.10 ------?
D of R.11 ------?
D of R.12 troop carrier; DH-28 and Vickers Victoria

It's misery and disappoint that we in 21 century and those Specifications are still missing ?.

 

[hesham]

By the way,

the Percival P.11 was also submitted to Spec. 23/36,against
Airspeed AS.10 Oxford.

 

[hesham]

8/20 Westland Walrus

In that book,the Beardmore WB.X was intended to compete in this Specification ?.

 

[Stargazer]

23/25 Blackburn BT.1 Beagle,Gloster Goring,HP-34 Hare,Hawker
Harrier,Westland Witch,Fairey Day Bomber,Westland WT-26
& WT-24,Vickers Drawing No.11082/1

I think there's a typo here, it should read WT-26 and WT-27.

 

[Hood]

6/29 Civil General Purpose Landplane > Blackburn CA.15C Biplane/Monoplane, Boulton Paul P.42 (project), Fairey (project), Westland Limousine V (project)

The true identity of the Westland Limousine V has been uncovered by Jeremy Graham at the Leonardo archive and covered in an article in Air Britain's Aviation World, summer 2025.

It was a three-engined design (radials), two tractor nacelles in the wings and a third pusher nacelle above the wing centre section. It was a development of the Westland IV.
Jeremy notes that as Westland dropped the 'Limousine' name in 1928, the design would probably have been named Westland V had it been built.

 

[Grey Havoc]

https://elpoderdelasgalaxias.wordpress.com/2025/08/02/vickers-151-jockey-bucking-horse/
Some more info on the Jockey and the follow-on Venom can be found in this thread.

 

[Schneiderman]

It's misery and disappoint that we in 21 century and those Specifications are still missing ?.

Not necessarily missing as most were re-numbered later and the full text is included in the files for that Specification. For example:
DofR 7 became 3/21
DorR 8 became 3/20
DofR 9 became 8/21

 

[hesham]

Not necessarily missing as most were re-numbered later and the full text is included in the files for that Specification. For example:
DofR 7 became 3/21
DorR 8 became 3/20
DofR 9 became 8/21

Many thanks.but what about the missing issues ?.

 

[Schneiderman]

Many thanks.but what about the missing issues ?.

But that is the point, the very small number are probably not missing just never formalised and issued. Those that were issued and moved forward can be found in the subsequent re-numbered Spec file.

 

[hesham]

M1/30E Torpedo Bomber; Avro,Fairey,Blackburn B-3,HP-46,Supermarine,
Vickers-207,Vickers-252 (not sure)

Also Handley Page HP-49 was involved.