The Planet Satellite was a Britishlight aircraft of the late 1940s. Designed to exploit new technology, the aircraft was abandoned after two crashes although the innovative fuselage was later incorporated into a helicopter prototype.
Design and development
The Planet Satellite designed by Major J.N. Dundas Heenan was a futuristic looking four-seater built of magnesium alloy in a true monocoque "teardrop" shaped fuselage with no internal reinforced structure. The Satellite was powered by a 250 hp de Havilland Gipsy Queen 31 mounted amidships driving a two-blade Aeromatic "pusher" airscrew in the tail. Other notable features included "butterfly" tails and a retractable tricycle undercarriage, with the nosewheel retracting into a reinforced keel that ran the length of the underside of the fuselage. Breaking with conventional design and manufacturing conventions, Heenan declared in the July 1948Aviation News issue, that the 400 drawings made were in stark contrast with the standard of approximately 3,000 drawings required for a project of that complexity. Financing for the Satellite was equally novel with a partnership established with the Distillers Company Ltd. wherein the Planet Aircraft Company operated as a subsidiary of a liquor company. Built in the Robinson Redwing factory at Croydon, Purley Way, Surrey in 1947, the first prototype was taken to Redhill in 1948. The sleek light aircraft appeared at the S.B.A.C show at Farnborough in September 1948 and received the registration G-ALOI in April 1949.
Testing and evaluation
The ChiefTest Pilot at RAE Farnborough, Group Captain H.J. Wilson, after several long runs down the runway, managed to get the Satellite airborne at Blackbushe. The first "hop" was followed by the collapse of the undercarriage. After repairs, the prototype was flown off the ground and after reaching an altitude of barely 20 ft was put downon the ground gently but nonetheless, the main keel had been cracked by the force of the landing. The conclusion of the Air Registration board investigating the "accident" was that the aircraft was badly under-stressed and would necessitate a complete redesign. The manufacturers had already begun the production of a second prototype and despite an investment of £100,000, chose to wind down the program with no further attempts to fly the Planet Satellite. The second prototype, registered G-ALXP was abandoned but the completed fuselage was incorporated into the Firth Helicopter, built in 1952 at Thame. The single "flying" Satellite languished at Redhill until 1958 when it was unceremoniously broken up.
