Someone told me (and I am sure someone else will tell us all if this is wrong...) that the prototypes Blackburn Beverley and Lockheed Hercules made their first flights during the same week, in 1951.
But the Hercules carried three times the load, seven times as far... And faster, and pressurised.
Blame not Messrs Blackburn, manufacturers of well-meaning aircraft, but perhaps just a little blame might be placed on the less-than-visionary soul who wrote the RAF's operational requirement?
