Fairey Gannet

That seems really complex. I was thinking it was griffon powered until he described the twin turbines.

 

This was perhaps the only service airplane with a coupled turboprop arrangement that actually worked. Allison tried the same concept with the T40, but it was a dismal failure from the reliability standpoint. The R3Y Tradewind was the only aircraft powered by the T40 that was put into production, and even then its numbers were limited. I don't know what Armstrong Siddeley did right with the Double Mamba engine, but it seemed to work!

 

They could shut down one engine and the rear prop (feathered) to save fuel.

Crew of 3... quite a neat plane.

 

I was wondering that.

 

I know a little about the Gannet. Two things suprise me in the comments made by the pilot in the video. I was suprised to see the aircraft in RAF livery. There machines were sold to the Royal Navy,(fleet air arm) for use on carriers,so would have been coloured green/blue/black. They were used in 60's as AEWACS with a large underbelly. I lived close to their landbase,RNAS Ford,which is close to the naval dockyards of Portsmouth. Often as the Gannets landing,usually with one prop feathered. Also,I always thought that this aircraft was a single seater. In the mid eighties,a friend of mine bought one at an auction,and decided to restore it. I regret to say that it took his every last cent,but never was finished.

 

The Gannet never did serve with the RAF, this is sure. About colors, to be pedantic, the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) Gannets were mostly painted in "Regular Pattern Number two" of "Extra Dark Sea Grey" uppers, "Sky" under (later white). Those later used as trainers were aluminium.

348 Gannets of all variants were built, 303 as Anti-Submarine version, 45 as Airborne Early Warning with a big belly radar antenna. Some Gannets were converted in trainers and other roles later.

The decision of the British government to retire HMS Ark Royal in 1978 deprived the expeditionary force sent in 1982 to retake the Falklands of the AEW possibilities of the Gannet, which were much missed at the time...
Users of the Gannet were: Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, Germany, Indonesia.

Rgds

 

Thank you Nerofer,that confirms my thoughts. I did not realise that the Gannet was such a technically complex aircraft. It is great to see one still airworthy. ...Fly up and see me sometime in Brittany. My 250 hours on PA28,and C172 is only a distant memory now!!

 

I have to say that I find some of those late aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm fascinating machines indeed...the "Sea Vixen" for instance making a perfect companion to any Gannet!

Rgds

 

I had the pleasure of touring Ark Royal in Fort Lauderdale, FL in the early '70s. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain, so the camera stayed in the car and I didn't get any photos, a real pity.

(I've had bad luck with foreign carriers. A few years later, I toured the French carrier Foch in Jacksonville, and the bloody drug store lost the roll of film I had shot!)

 

Well Jim, you might still have a second chance with one of these two. HMS Ark Royal has been broken up a long time ago, but "Foch" is still in active service, aged 53, albeit with the Brazilian Navy, under the name "Sao Paulo".
Rgds

 

I seem to remember somewhere that the Brits were good gearbox designers. I don't know where that's coming from but in a few cases they have excelled in that. I read also that the gearbox design on the Russian Bear was all German by engineers taken out of Germany after the war.

 

I think that is an Americans way of telling us we make stuff more complicated than we need to...LOL.

Truly and interesting aircraft.. but like the Typhoon, the Tempest and the Brabazon, it looks like engineering for the sake of engineering...

 

There is a spin off to this thread. Acouple of days ago the was a prog on TV featuring Lt.Sgt.'Winkie' Brown. He was the Fleet Air Arm chief test pilot for most of his active service. He has flown over 450 Types,and performed over 2500 deck landings. Both of these achievements will remain in the record books for all time. What a guy. I bet he knows a thing or two about the Gannet !!

 

Thanks for the heads up! Incredible.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brown_(pilot)

Good stuff to be found on YouTube too..

 

"Winkle" Brown's'two books about - some - of the different aeroplanes he flew: "Wings of the weird and wonderful" Vol 1 and 2 make for an interesting read.
His favorite aeroplane was the De Havilland Hornet.

Rgds

 

Brown actually wrote three books on his experiences with aircraft, and all three have been reissued with expanded coverage by Crecy Publishing. I have all three, and they are marvelous!

Wings of the Luftwaffe

Wings of the Navy

Wings of the Weird and Wonderful

 

Weird plane.

 

Then they must have had an off day when they designed the Moss box that was in the Series 1 E-Types.

 

Outside of the Hewland I think they had an off century in automotive gear boxes.

 

Outside of aviation but there have been some very simple and inspired designs too.

Then there was that thing Whittle designed. Seems to have changed aviation.

 

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Love it, thanks!

Rgds