an altitude of 30,000 feet within four and a half minutes were envisioned; however, the addition of the new tail surface had the consequence of severely limiting the aircraft's top speed to a relatively pedestrian 345 mph (555 km/h). Operational history The only FD1 to be completed was built at Fairey's Heaton Chapel Stockport factory and taken by road to their test facility at Manchester's Ringway Airport for final assembly. Starting on 12 May 1950 it made several high-speed taxi runs down the 4,200-foot main runway there before being partially dismantled and transported by road to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (AAEE) at RAF Boscombe Down. After further taxi tests, the aircraft (serial number VX350) made its maiden flight on 12 March 1951; flown by Fairey test pilot Group Captain R. Gordon Slade, this flight lasted for 17 minutes. The FD1 underwent extensive flight testing, which largely focused on exploring its lateral and longitudinal stability, as well as its overall flying characteristics. These flights helped determine that the aircraft possessed serious stability problems; its lack of stability led to the aircraft being often characterized as being "dangerous." Following a landing accident that occurred in September 1951, the FD1 was grounded for two years. During this time, it received several modifications; changes included the removal of the temporary slots, as well as the deletion of the streamlined housings for the anti-spin parachutes that were mounted at the wingtips. The large control surfaces have been attributed with causing difficulty in controlling the FD1, making it hard to fly with precision, although it could achieve a rapid roll rate. During 1953, the flight test programme was terminated by the Air Ministry, resulting in the withdrawal of state support for the FD1. Only a single FD1 was built; the second (VX357) and third (VX364) airframes were cancelled prior to production commencing. This decision was not regarded as being a particularly heavy blow to Fairey, even in terms of the firm's ambitions to explore high speed delta wing aircraft, as detailed design work had already commenced on the more capable and sleeker-looking Fairey Delta 2 during the previous year. Following the programme's cancellation, the sole aircraft continued to be flown for a time by Fairey to perform trials work. On 6 February 1956, the FD1 was damaged beyond repair in a landing accident at Boscombe Down. In October 1956, the aircraft was transported by