I like it, I have the "quizmaster" a bit lost
I guess I should give him, and everyone else, more clues:
1) The plane in question was designed and built by a well known manufacturer
2) The plane in question was based on an aircraft designed and built by the same manufacturer 10 years previously.
3) It was over two years between first flight and being delivered in an operational status
4) The last one of this type was retired 21 years after the plane was made operational
5) Interestingly, the type was phased out of operational service after only 3 years in favor of two other similar contemporary aircraft that would become famous in their own right over the next 8 years
6) The plane was multi-engine and armed with two Lewis guns in open mounts
7) The initial plane was felt to be underpowered so the engines were replaced with more powerful ones in the production versions
8) Even with the better engines, the subject plane was still considerably slower, shorter ranged and smaller than the two planes that replaced it
9) In fact, the smaller of the two planes that replaced it had over twice the range of our subject
10) And in an ironic twist, the subject plane was actually obsolete when first built while two other aircraft built by the same company were state of the art in their construction
11) To take the irony a bit further, both of the other two planes were known for their speed capabilities, the second also for its maneuverability, leading to it becoming "iconic" before it was retired
12) The subject plane was built and operated by two countries
13) Only 57 of this plane were built. Of the 57, only 17 were built by the company that designed it. The other 40 were built under license by another firm,headquartered in the home country, from a factory in the other country that operated them
Good Luck