the heat from the compressor 'was like sitting in an oven'. Petter was unconcerned and reluctant to modify the system, Penrose thought that "It was the machine's performance which interested him, not that of the pilot". Petter devised a better method for cooling the cabin only after Penrose developed pneumonia attributed to this problem. Penrose said later that "At this time Petter's intellect put him ahead of most contemporary designers as shown by his introduction of pressurization and extensive use of remote electrical controls which subsequently became standard practice. By the time of the Welkin he had learnt the lesson that it takes as long to develop an aeroplane as to design it... Petter was an outstanding organiser and could envisage construction time-scales with greater knowledge than Fearn and Wheeldon. ...it was his lack of understanding people and their motives that became his major failure." B1/44 proposal Westland's successful manufacture of Spitfires meant that Petter was well thought of by Sir Wilfrid Freeman, chief executive officer at the Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) and by N. E. Rowe, its director of technical development. Discussions between all three led to Specification B1/44 for a jet-powered replacement for the Mosquito bomber. Petter developed his proposal for B1/44 as a private venture. This was a 56 ft span medium bomber powered by two Metrovick F.2/4 "Beryl" engines located within the fuselage and he persuaded the Westland board to put up capital to manufacture a mockup of the fuselage. This was his fifteenth wartime design study and his final design for Westland. Throughout his career when under stress, Petter would leave work without warning for periods of up to six weeks. In April 1944 he suddenly left work and it was rumoured that he had travelled to Switzerland, possibly to a monastery or a religious commune. In his absence Mensford switched the design effort from the B1/44 bomber to work on specification N11/44 for a Naval single-seat fighter that would eventually become the Wyvern. When Petter returned he was furious with Mensford. He knew Westland would not have the resources to develop and build both the fighter and the bomber. Also, to avoid the delays in production of the bomber he wanted Mensforth to give him full powers of a chief engineer responsible for every department concerned with its construction. He believed that in his absence the management had conspired to eliminate his project.