One has to recognize how robust British military aviation engineering has been through the history of aviation and in particular through the cold war. The Short Brothers built a perfect prototype Vertical Take Off and Landing aircraft. The SC1 was powered by five engines. Four Rolls Royce RB 108 turbojets to control vertical flight and a single RB 108 for horizontal flight.
This fly by wire aircraft first lifted off in 1957. The data gleaned from these tests helped to created the Hawker Siddley Harrier. The program was cancelled in 1971.
