fairey gannet

anti submarine warfare aircraft for royal navy 

347 built 

carrier-borne aircrraft 

fairey aviation company 

first fixed wing aircraft to combine both search and strike portions of anti submarine warfare (ASW) operations to be operated by the fleet air arm (FAA)

1949 maiden flight prototype aldermaston outside reading - 10 months before blacburn competiting prototype 

designed originally for ww2 speficiations - dual rose asw and strike for faa. mid wing monoplane with tricycle undercarriage and crew of 3 with double turboprop engine and 2 counter rotating propellers

4 years later brought into regular service with faa

used during cold war 

exports - royal australian navy, german navy, indonesian navy

60s navy transitioned to helicopters for asw operations. gannets adapted for alternative operations - carrier onboard delivery airacraft, electronic countermeasures platform, airborne early warning platform 

1978 faa got rid of all gannets, aligning roughly with withdral of last of navy’s large fleet fcarriers 

1935 fairey developed unsuccessful fairey prince that used unusual twin engine arrangement 

1945 admirality sought out new twin seat aircraft capable of asw and strike missions. fairey and blackburn aircraft went band to band for contract 

fairey type q / fairey 17

blackburn b54 / b88

fairey went to armstrong siddeley to develop new engine based on exisiting armstrong siddeley mamba turboprop. double mamba / twin mamba. pair of mamba engines side by side and sharing common gearbox. 1945 agreed and began to develop 

fairey developed atypical propulsion arrangement which was normally only possible for single engined aircraft

  • pair of coaxial contrarotating propellers fitted on nose of aircraft

  • advantages over conventional twin engine counterparts such as one engine could be shut down and its propellers feather without producing asymmetry and therefore cont rol diffifculities. shutting down one engine in flight would reduce fuel consumption and extend aircraft range

1946 fairey got contract to produce 2 prototypes that blackburn also recieved. admirality order multiple prototypes to test out different engines

double mamba good in maiden flight but flight control had difficulties such as sharp trim changes 

testing happened a month later at fairey’s white waltham facility 

in development with various other prototypes 

1951 government ordered 100 gannets and had been called ‘super priority’ cuz of korean war. 1953 quantity production commenced 


carrier-borne turboprop powered aircraft 

crew of 3 - pilot and 2 aerial observations 

pilot sat directly above double mamba engine and behind gearbox and contrarotating proepllers to have good view over the nose 

first observer underneath separate canopy directly aft of pilots position 

second observer has own cockpit located over wing trailing edge. this meant airflow over horizontal stabiliser was disturbed to small finlets on either side needed to be added

wings folded in 2 forming distrinctive z shape 

for minimising space requirments when stowed onboard aircraft carreiers 

nosewheel shock absorber length caused gannet to have distrinctive nose high attitude which was common for carrier aircraft of the era 

internal bomb bay within fuselage

first british aircraft in faa service to be capable of storing all munitions (other than rockets) within an internal bomb bay, such as depth cahrges, sonobouysm homing topedoes, bombs, markers, mines 

hard points beneath outer wings could carry up to 16 mk8 or 24 mk5 rocket projectiles

100 gallon external fuel tanks 

primary search apparatus - air to surface vessel rader (ASV) which used a rectractable radome under rear fuselage just aft of bomb bay 

2 engines coupled through common gearbox to coaxial contra rotating propellers

each engine drove its own propeller

power transmitted by a torsion shaft which was engaged through a series of sun, planet, epicyclic and spur gears to give suitable reduction ratio and correct propeller shaft rotation 

double mamba could be run with one mamba engine off and its propeller feathered to conserve fuel and extend endurance when cruising 

stopping one engine on a convention twin engined plane normally would create thrust asymmetry 

centreline moubted propeller arrangement avoided this 

exhausts on each side of fueslage at root of wing trailing edge 

gas turbine engine - keroene, wide cut turbine fuel, or diesel fuel

admirality didnt need to use dangerous high octane petroleum spirit required to operate piston engined aircraft 

faa service - standard camoflage scheme of sky (duck egg blue underside and fuselage sides, extra dark sea grey upper surfaces). trainers in silver with yellow trainer band on rear fuselage and wings 

1953 gannet as 1 deliveres formally commenced 

types -

  • type q - prototype, 3 built, anti submarine warfare

  • as 1 - anti submarine warfare, 183 built 

  • t2 dual control trainer version of as 1 - 38 built and 1 converted 

  • aew.3 - airborne early warning, 44 built 

  • as.4 - anti submarine warfare, 75 built 1 converted

  • cod.4 - carrier onboard delivery - 6 bult 

  • t.5 - dual control trainer version of as.4, 11 built 

  • ecm.6 - electronic countermeasures, 9 built 

  • aew.7 - airborne early warning, proposed idea for aew.3 upgrade 


xg883

t5

Role: Pilot and armament conversion trainer Engine:1 x Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba Span: 54' 4"Length: 43' 0" Maximum speed: 360 knots Crew: Pilot, Instructor and Student Armament:Large bomb bay capable of carrying variations of 81 gallon fuel tanks, 2 x Mk10 homing torpedoes, 1 x 2000lb, 2 x 100lb or 4 x 500lb bombs, 6 depth charges, mines, flares or markers. Underwing provision for 16 x 3" rockets with either 25lb or illuminant warheads.

1957 maiden flight northolt to white waltham 

1983 wales aircraft museum 

1996 out museum 


end of ww2 admirality knew they needed a high performance specialised anti submarine aircraft for the future

wanted fairey to produce twin engined version of thier successful firefly fighter 

fairey already experimenting twin engine installation driving contra rotating propellers since 1935 but public was uninterestred at the time 

originally used other engines then switched to armstrong siddeley 

early testing by type q aerodynmaic flaws -

  • large trim changes on flap deployment 

  • mushy elevator response 

  • directional instability 

small crash meant it had to be grounded and repaired for months 


General characteristics

  • Crew: 3

  • Length: 43 ft 0 in (13.11 m)

  • Wingspan: 54 ft 4 in (16.56 m)

  • Height: 13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)

  • Wing area: 483 sq ft (44.9 m2)

  • Airfoil: root: NACA 23018; tip: NACA 23010[78]

  • Empty weight: 15,069 lb (6,835 kg)

  • Max takeoff weight: 19,600 lb (8,890 kg)

  • Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley ASMD.1 Double Mamba coupled turboprop engine, 2,950 shp (2,200 kW) equivalent

  • Propellers: 8-bladed Rotol contra-rotating propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 310 mph (500 km/h, 270 kn)

  • Endurance: 5–6 hours

  • Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)

Armament

  • Up to 2,000 lb of bombs, torpedoes, depth charges and rockets

Avionics