From the Fairey Aviation Company, the Flycatcher was the first dedicated British carrier-based fighter, making its first flight in 1922 and entered service in 1923. This sturdy single-seat biplane powered by an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial reached at the time 215 km/h, armed with two Vickers machine guns. It had excellent low-speed manoeuvrability and could … Read more
FAA 1923-31: 62 built. Another forgotten naval warbird, and arguably renown for its… interesting looks, was the most Blackburn of all, inventively named after the company. Answering the Specification 3/21 of 1921, this was to be solely a carrier-based reconnaissance and spotting aircraft. The company designed a fuselage optimized for that mission while wing and … Read more
Short Sunderland (1937) RAF Coastal Command & others: 777 built. As far as naval matters goes, the Short Sunderland, was the U-Boat’s worst nightmare, equal part and even more than the other allied angel of the Atlantic, the PBY Catalina. This was arguably the most successful Britis flying boat of WW2, for many reasons. Stdied … Read more
Supermarine Seagull (1921) RNAS/FAA 30 built. The Supermarine Seagull was a flying boat produced developed by Supermarine’s chief designer R.J. Mitchell, from the experimental Supermarine Seal II in 1920. In June 1921 the Seagull was evaluated but rejected, but was further developed as a private venture. In February 1922 this time it impressed the air … Read more
Carrier Based Multirole Fighter Fleet Air Arm, 1,702 built 1942-53. Fairey Firefly: As we just saw the Attacker class, which operated in the Pacific for some the new Fairey Firefly, let’s have a look on the last generation of WW2 British aircraft carrier multirole aircraft, the quite successful Firefly. It was essentially a replacement for … Read more
FAA, 2,602 built 1942-45 The Fairey Barracuda was a British torpedo and dive bomber used during World War II. It was designed and built by the Fairey Aviation Company and served primarily with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm. The Barracuda entered service in 1943 and saw action in various theaters of the war, including … Read more
RNAS/FAA 1938-40: 98 built. The Gloster Sea Gladiator was a naval variant of the Gloster Gladiator, a British biplane fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Sea Gladiator was specifically designed for operations on aircraft carriers. Origins: The … Read more
Supermarine Seafire (1942-50) Fleet Air Arm. Mk.I to Mk.47 (2,646 built) The Supermarine Seafire is the naval version of the Supermarine Spitfire. A ruggerized version adapted for aircraft carrier use. It just followed the concept of the Hawker Sea Hurricane, as another, earlier navalised version of the second most popular British fighter of WW2. “Seafire” … Read more
Fleet Air Arm Torpedo Bomber Reconnaissance Carrier-based biplane (1938-1943) RNAS/FAA 1940-49: 800 built. The Fairey Albacore (“Applecore”) is a single-engine biplane torpedo bomber operated by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in WW2, planned replacement of the legendary Swordfish of the same manufacturer. It had the same role or recce/spotting/torpedo/dive bombing with a crew … Read more
Blackburn B-25 Roc (1938) RNAS/FAA 1938-41: 136 built. The Royal navy Turret Fighter The use of turret fighters was proper to Britain. No other nation trusted this concept rather than the more classical approach of a gun-armed (fixed) wing and fuselage armament, aimed by the pilot for a fighter. It’s the trust in Boulton-Paul’s turret … Read more
