In 1941, Avro Industries was prepositioned with a contract for a long range escort and interceptor fighter capable of operation at high altitude as well as ground attack missions. The Rolls Royce seagull 28 cylinder radial engine with a turbo-supercharging system was chosen, as it offered the right combination of power and reliability. The entire design was finalized in only 6 months, and only minor alterations were required, the base design being extremely slippery and sturdy. 6 50 caliber machine guns were fitted, along with a 50mm cannon in the nose for ground attack and taking down bombers. This armament solved the firepower issue of early British designs, the cannon being able to dismember common german bomber and heavy fighter types with 1 or 2 well placed hits, and the machine guns being adequate for taking down fighters while giving a large amount of ammunition for the pilot to work with. The type scored thousands of air to air victories over the course of the war and was widely compared to the somewhat similar P41 Thunderbolt, which also had a high ceiling heavy armament and a radial engine.

1600 miles 50% throttle 20k feet Max sea level speed 500TAS 5000fpm climb Time to 30k feet 10 minutes Service ceiling 40k feet Stall speed 98mph