The Superplane Britain (Correctly) Abandoned: Gloster F.9/37 "Reaper"

Video Description

In this video, we take a look at the Gloster F.9/37 "Reaper", a British twin-engine heavy fighter from World War II. We first talk about the concept of doing things for the greater good, looking at examples from media. We move to the idea of the greater good in aviation and in war, with countries and companies making some kind of sacrifice at the benefit of their country and military. We then talk about several different design competitions from Britain before WW2, and how Gloster participated in them with effectively the same design. We talk about the eventual acceptance of the F.9/37 design, colloquially known as the Reaper, and how, for its time, it was an incredible aircraft that had few flaws. We talk about some road bumps in the project, and how those bumps, along with other priorities for Gloster and the Royal Air Force, ended up spelling the end for the Reaper. We end by talking about how the failure of the Reaper was for the best.