Introduction: 1955

Manufacturer: Geister Aircraft(Designer), Lance Suthrom Industries(Manufacturing)

The Geister-Lance Mallard F.1(GL-F.1A), is an interceptor/fighter designed by Geister Aircraft and manufactured by Lance Suthrom Industries. It was considered to be a threat both to the enemy, and its pilots.

Development began in 1948 right after the end of the First Continental War. The combat inventory of the Royal Air Force were still predominantly propeller driven, both piston, and early turboprops. Command sought to have a dozen air wings of jet aircraft, and thus several manufacturers began to develop and build fighter jets to replace the existing fleet of propeller driven aircraft. Geister Aircraft was given the task of creating an interceptor with a maximum altitude of at least 12,000m, and a top speed of at least 1,000km/h. As Geister already developed several jet prototypes in the past, they chose one of these and redesigned and upgraded it. The design became known as Mallard, a sleek fighter with an unusual front fuselage design, swept back wings, and the most unique design choice at the time, two afterburning turbojets mounted vertically. This design decision came as the realization of early jet engines were unreliable, and thus having them vertically means that if one engine failed, the aircraft would still be easy to fly.

Its main armament are four 30mm Mk.IX cannons with 50 rounds each. It has two cheek hardpoints for air-to-air missiles.

Though carefully designed, the Mallard ended up with several technical issues, as earlier models were quickly rushed into service. Mechanical issues were common, and the performance of the aircraft was deemed inferior to its contemporaries, it was reported to be have very poor handling due to its heavy airframe. The two WJ105A afterburning turbojets consumed a lot of fuel and would often malfunction mid air.

The Mallard can reach supersonic speeds, with the aircraft starting to disintegrate the faster it flew(I don't know how to model this in SP).

The Mallard only saw service during the Great World War where they were credited with twelve enemy bombers, though at least 70 percent of the 630 units were either lost or damaged due to accidents. It was retired in 1960 as much more reliable and better performing aircraft replaced it. Attempts to turn the Mallard into a trainer, attacker, and even an upgraded variant with a single, more powerful turbojet failed and most were scrapped.

INSTRUCTIONS
Ag.8=Lights
VTOL=Flaps
TRIM=Trim

Credits to Mikoyanster for the AIM-9Bs.

This be a slightly difficult aircraft to fly as it is the first one I've built to be "realistic" though am not sure if I achieved that. Its not the best looking or performing aircraft, the performance is weird, but I'm proud of it. I also got into problems concerning the speed of the aircraft, but I think its fine.(?) I hope you guys enjoy.
-UC