Stickpusher - point taken.
Osher - the Mirage IV was loosley speaking an enlarged twin engined Mirage III. The Mirage 4000, which some political wrangling “put to bed” was also a twin.
The aircraft in question had 5 notable production models, all made in reasonably quantity.
SU-9? It was re-developed into the SU-11, and the SU-24 with twin engines, and it first flew in 1957. The 24 is swing wing, the SU-9 fixed delta.
Osher - OH so close.
SU-7?
Spot on, the Su-7 led to the Su-9, to the Su-11, to the Su-15, to the Su-17. The Su-15 was fitted with twin engines & the Su-17 had variable geometry.
and the SU-24 too!
OK, I guess that means it’s my turn. So, what was the first allied bomber to fly using a jet engine?
I think Lancaster bombers served as a test-beds for early jet engines or it could have been the passenger conversion, the Lancastrian. Would that count?
Nope, not the Lancaster, in fact, I believe this aircraft flew before the Lancaster entered service.
The Martin B-26 was used as a test bed for SNECMA Atar jet engines by France.
So was the He 274. But I suppose that’s not an “allied” bomber…
Would someone please sell a new and improved Vautour.
The B-45 was the first operational US jet powered bomber…
It wasnt the B-26, the first Atar engine wasnt built until March 1948…the first YB-49 jet flying wing bomber flew in October 1947, five months prior. Before that, the XB-45 Tornado first flew in March 1947. There was also the Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster, which first flew in May 1946. That is the earliest one I could find–before that, jet engines were used on fighters and not bombers, aside from the Ar-234 German jet bomber.
This aircraft was not a production jet, but, did use the Power Jet W.1 jet engine.
Wellington W5516/G;
?
Spot on! I can’t see the picture (logging on from work and Photobucket is barred), but, yes, before the Gloster was used, a Wellington was used to test the engine out, making the first allied jet a bomber.
Cheers.
This is a twin engined, twin seat, high wing, ground attack (primarily) aircraft which remains in service. It suffered a protracted development & uses a license built version of a well known powerplant.
Nanchang Q-5 - twin engined, using a copy of a Russian engine, ground attack, high(ish) wing, and two seats in some variants
Sorry, no - I think the crew would be in for a tight squeeze in that one?
The aircraft in question uses a licensed built version of a Western engine.
Taking a stab here, Panavia Tornado?
No, sorry. The RB199 was built by the Turbo Union consortium, not license built as such & was only fitted to the Tornado. The aircraft in question uses a strictly licensed built version of an engine which has been fitted to several aircraft - the engine pre-dates the RB199 & is more powerful.