Q&A · 1:23:02-1:23:23

How might the Scimitar have performed from Malta-class carriers?

Fewer carrier-imposed constraints should have produced a better airframe in theory.

Question

How might a Scimitar designed around the larger Malta-class carriers have differed from the service aircraft built for smaller British carriers?

Short answer

Fewer carrier-imposed constraints should have produced a better airframe in theory.

Notes

An aircraft's qualities depend partly on the ship it is required to fly from. Designing for the larger Malta-class carriers would have imposed fewer constraints than the smaller British carriers that shaped the service Scimitar. That freedom should have produced a better airframe in theory. This is a design judgment about an unrealized alternative, so it cannot establish how the aircraft would have performed in service.