[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

{sigh....}

You're both wrong, dammit. How many times do I have to tell you, it's the first prototype Harrier, way back in '43!

Nobody knows what happened to it, although there are rumours that the Yanks pressured the British government into giving it to them, and when they couldn't sort out the ingenious British electrical system, had it and its plans destroyed. However (or so goes the story), the Brits being the devious bastards they were, had a duplicate prototype hidden away in one of the outbuildings of an old manor property somewhere in the Sussex Downs, where it remains today, its exact location unknown.

I also heard that hastily-transcribed sketches (from the original drawings) were also secreted away somewhere in London until well after the war, when development began anew unbeknownst to all but a handful of boffins.

I'm not making this up, honest.