The Hillson FH.40 Slip Wing Hurricane. The jetisonable top wing could be used to carry additional fuel for ferry flights, and gave better take-off performance on shorter strips.

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ChazR@reddit

I don't see anything in this concept that could possibly go wrong. Carry on!

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Yeah, I am reminded for the F8 Bearcat and it's breakaway wing panel at high G loading. There was at least one case where only one side broke off at low altitude and the plane corkscrew into the ground. Or the leading edge slats on A-4 Skyhawks deploying unevenly and spinning the plane (I think the F-4 had a similar issue early on as well.)

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Raguleader@reddit

Pedantic nitpick: F8F Bearcat. The US Navy aircraft designations of the era included a letter following the number to identify manufacturer. In this case, omitting the F risks confusion with the very different F8U Crusader, later known as the F-8 Crusader.

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farina43537@reddit

What an ingenious concept!

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miloz13@reddit

(thinking about adding an analogue double wing to Mig-29 for more range and weight on take-off)

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miloz13@reddit

Just little more drag.... :D

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samnotgeorge@reddit

The British were really pulled into the whole monoplane thing kicking and screaming weren't they.

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alphagusta@reddit

We're a stubborn lot, but punch us enough into doing something and we'll deliver the best thing you've ever damn seen out of sheer spite.

Our Spitfire was our spite.

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dharms@reddit

What have the British recently done out of spite?

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Tomato_Head120@reddit

Help Ukraine more than most other nations

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WalkableBuffalo@reddit

If it weren't for damned progress we'd still be flying beautiful Gladiators and Swordfish!

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alphagusta@reddit

Swordfish:

Canvas makes it hard to spot on Non-Doppler Radar

Too slow to be seen on Doppler Radar

Tightest turning radius you'll ever see

The thing is truly the perfect modern air superiority fighter.

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ABCauliflower@reddit

And definitely you could throw a couple aim-9s on it

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Mental_Test_3785@reddit

Just curious, any clue how the turn radius compared to that of the Polikarpov I-15?

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Raguleader@reddit

It's worth noting that biplanes were still in service with every major combatant's armed forces at the start of 1941. The US Navy still had SBC Helldivers serving aboard the USS Hornet until the spring of 1942.

Even the Grumman F4F Wildcat started out as a biplane, being redesigned as a monoplane in the form of the XF4F-2.

But also, this was a modification of the Hawker Hurricane, a monoplane fighter the Brits had already become pretty confident with, as part of an ongoing program to develop longer-ranged monoplane fighters with better takeoff performance. Being able to ditch the second wing once its benefits were no longer needed was an attractive idea, around the same time they were debating whether hanging extra fuel tanks off of combat planes had benefits that outweighed the risks.

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scorpiodude64@reddit

Yeah the Soviets had the somewhat similar concepts with the IS-1 and IS-2 fighters that could fold up their lower wings.

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Ote-Kringralnick@reddit

Stubborn as always.

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jttv@reddit

How does one jetison a top wing? Do you have to roll or loop the plane?

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Wheream_I@reddit

It’s a wing… you release the hard points and what does a wing do? It flies upwards.

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ChazR@reddit

Release the lower end of those four 'supports' and the upper wing will cheerfully revel in the immense reduction in load and flip up and behind, trailing whatever fuel vapour remains to crash gracefully into the playground of a junior school, exploding with joy on impact.

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404-skill_not_found@reddit

That’s oddly specific! 🤣

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StrangeYoungMan@reddit

maybe they just learnt about the svetlogorsk tragedy

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The_Warrior_Sage@reddit

Well that was awful

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404-skill_not_found@reddit

Yah, had no idea until today.

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WarthogOsl@reddit

Not sure how a full scale wing would fare, but having watched few RC airplanes lose a one-piece wing, they tend to somersault fairly gently to the ground (while the fuselage heads for the ground like a missile).

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WaldenFont@reddit

I’m thinking more about three of the four supports releasing, and the upper wing thrashing wildly around.

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vonHindenburg@reddit

When I was reading up on this when I posted this a while ago (admittedly, only a single picture), I found that one of the difficulties that they had in testing this was getting permission to use a military airfield near the coast so that the wing could be jettisoned over water. In use, it would be dropped over water or over enemy territory.

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F6Collections@reddit

Imagine being a German pilot and rolling over on what you think is a biplane, and it jettisons the top wing and you’re in a fight with a Hurricane.

Would’ve been brutal.

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DTR4iN91@reddit

"This isn't even me final form mate!"

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t001_t1m3@reddit

If you’re close enough that he’s reacting to you it’s probably be a relief because you’re in a turn fight with a monoplane instead of a biplane.

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DeOptimist@reddit

Wouldn't want to be the one performing the jettisoning. Holy shit that sounds scary.

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bhoodhimanthudu@reddit

it features a relatively wide gap between its upper and lower wings for a biplane

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RyansPlace@reddit

Now I want to chatgpt a slip wing P-51 or Me109.

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jumary@reddit

Do you know of any other experimental aircraft have similar designs? Or any that Jettison components of any kinds?

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MudandSmoke@reddit

I have the imagine that releasing the top wing was extremely dangerous. Could shear off the tail.

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Kisoka_Nak_Arato@reddit

I think the lift force and sudden loss of weight ti carry would let them basically jump upwards

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CocoSavege@reddit

Especially if empty of fuel.

There might be edge cases (dumping the wing on emergency landing) where a full wing, odd wind conditions, compromised performance, no time to spare... where it's more problematic.

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Raguleader@reddit

And it's worth noting that even underwing stores have historically presented risks when being dropped from the plane. It's not unheard of for many aircraft to feature various design features specifically to help ensure that bombs, missiles or other external stores reliably separate from the aircraft safely in-flight. This can include baffles that disrupt the airstream around the hardpoint, mounting points angled to ensure the air hits the store in the most advantageous way, etc.

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