The Fairey Gannet Anti-Submarine Search And Strike Airplane. Warbirds In Review Series, Live Stream. The Gannet was a dedicated anti-submarine platform primarily serving the Fleet Air Arm of the British Royal Navy during the Cold War years. She was an aircraft design originating from a 1945 British Admiralty initiative (GR.17/45) requiring an advanced, carrier-based, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platform. Both Fairey Aviation Company and Blackburn Aircraft responded with prototypes "Fairey 17" and "B-54" respectively. Both were of outwardly similar design, sporting conventional monoplane wings, stout reinforced airframes, internal bomb bays and a tricycle undercarriage. The "gannet" name was derived from the species of large seabirds common to the North Atlantic, the southern regions of Africa and the South Pacific (near Australia and New Zealand). Their predatory nature is such that they dive, at speed, upon unsuspecting prey in the water and can continue the chase of said prey while remaining submerged.
On 19 September 1949, the prototype performed its maiden flight from Aldermaston outside Reading, flown by R. G. Slate; this milestone occurred ten months ahead of Blackburn's competing prototype. While some elements of the prototype proved relatively trouble-free, such as the Double Mamba engine, several early test flights had been troubled by flight control difficulties. These issues, such as sharp trim changes, did not delay the next stage of testing, which commenced in November of that year at Fairey's White Waltham facility. On 25 November 1949, the prototype crash-landed during an unstable landing, leading to three months of repairs.
On 1 March 1950, flight testing resumed with the repaired prototype. By this point, several of the handling issues had been appropriately remedied along with several other faults, yet difficulties with holding the nosewheel up during landings remained. Two months later, sufficient progress had been made to proceed with a formal assessment by naval test pilots at RAF Boscombe Down as well as to begun preliminary carrier trials. On 19 June 1950, the prototype conducted the first deck landing by a turboprop aircraft on HMS Illustrious, piloted by Lieutenant Commander G. Callingham.
On 6 July 1950, the second prototype took to the skies, joining the flight test shortly thereafter. As a result of changes to the operational requirements, this aircraft featured numerous changes from the first prototype, such as a third canopy for an additional crew member and an extended bomb bay. To accommodate the latter, the radar randome had to be repositioned rearwards; the first prototype was modified to reflect these changes for the aerodynamic trials.
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
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
Ekco ASV Mk. 19 radar (ARI 5838)
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