The Miles M.20 was an all-wood lightweight fighter and interceptor from Britain during World War II. This video looks at the idea of an emergency fighter, and the more technologically advanced examples from Germany in WW2, and some more simplistic examples from America. It then moves over to Britain’s example in the M.20, intended to supplant the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane in an emergency.
In the initial stages of the M.20 it was a private venture from Miles Aircraft, but it was rejected, and then revived after the fall of France and the start of the Battle of Britain. It had surprisingly solid performance and weaponry, but that meant almost nothing in the end. The attempt to shift the project to the Royal Navy failed here too. The M.20 could have been an incredibly useful plane in countries like France or Poland.
The Miles M.20 was a Second World War British fighter developed by Miles Aircraft in 1940. It was designed as a simple and quick-to-build “emergency fighter” alternative to the Royal Air Force’s Spitfires and Hurricanes should their production become disrupted by bombing expected in the anticipated German invasion of the United Kingdom.
Due to the subsequent shifting of the German bombing effort after the Battle of Britain towards British cities in what became known as The Blitz, together with the dispersal of British fighter manufacturing, the Luftwaffe’s bombing of the original Spitfire and Hurricane factories did not seriously affect production, and so the M.20 proved unnecessary and the design was not pursued.
Design and Development
At the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Miles Aircraft began work on a single-engined fighter to supplement the RAF’s Spitfires and Hurricanes. A wooden mock-up of the design, the M.20/1, was inspected by Sir Kingsley Wood, the Secretary of State for Air, but no orders followed. Following the outbreak of the Battle of Britain in July 1940, the Royal Air Force was faced with a potential shortage of fighters.
To meet the Luftwaffe threat, the Air Ministry commissioned Miles to design a simple easy-to-build fighter to specification F.19/40. This became the Miles M.20/2. Nine weeks and two days later the first prototype flew.
To reduce production time the M.20 employed all-wood construction and used many parts from the earlier Miles Master trainer, lacked hydraulics, and had spatted fixed landing gear. The fixed undercarriage freed space and payload sufficient for twelve .303 Browning machine guns and 5000 rounds, and 154 Imperial gallons (700 litres) of fuel (double the range and ammunition capacity of the Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire).
The M.20 was fitted with a bubble canopy for improved 360-degree vision.
In line with a design philosophy emphasising simplicity, speed and re-using available components, the engine was a Rolls-Royce Merlin XX “power egg” identical to those used on Merlin-powered Avro Lancasters and Bristol Beaufighters. This conferred flight performance that fell between those of Britain’s two frontline fighters.
Sources: YouTube; Wikipedia