[2] The man largely responsible for the development of the TMR was Dr Alan Arnold Griffith, who had worked on gas turbine design at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE), in the 1920s and was a pioneer of jet lift technology.

[1] Being suitably impressed by Griffith's concept, while also being keen to explore and harness the capabilities of its newly developed range of jet engines, Rolls-Royce commenced construction of the aircraft at the company's facility at Hucknall Aerodrome, Nottinghamshire, England.

[1] In order to perform these flights, a purpose-built gantry-like arrangement had been devised and assembled at Hucknall which, while not restricting the aircraft's movement within a defined space, prevented it from exceeding that boundary; it also prevented excessive descent rates, allowing for a maximum descent rate of 10 feet per second (3 m/s), from occurring in order to avoid sustaining damage and allowed struggling pilots to readily close the throttles without a resulting accident.

Test flights had several safety restrictions placed upon them: the TMR was not typically flown if the wind speed was 10 knots or greater, it would only fly under weather conditions in which the aircraft could be controlled in the event of a fault.

[10] The delay interval between the throttle and the engine response was often around the one-to-two second mark; pilots would typically adapt to this peculiarity of the aircraft and become adept at mastering height control.

Two attempts were made to improve the height control, the addition of a simplistic trimmer on the throttle to restrict its possible speed of movement, and the installation of 'throttle-anticipators' that failed to operate as intended.

[13] On 28 November 1957, the second TMR, Serial XK426, was destroyed during a test flight, resulting in the death of Wing Commander H. G. F. Larsen, who had been piloting the aircraft for the first time.

[2] It was widely known by its nickname of the Flying Bedstead due to its radically unconventional appearance for an aircraft, basically consisting of a rectangular tubular framework that was built around the engines, a platform being placed on top of which to accommodate a single pilot.

[6] The TMR possessed only marginal excess power, which complicated the act of flying the aircraft; this was further compounded by the slow response time of the engines to throttle changes.

[11] A total of four outrigger arms extended out from the rig, one on either side and one each at the front and rear, through which compressed air was released for control in roll, pitch and yaw when in flight.