Barracuda in RN service?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Lord Louis makes this comment, c. September, 1941:

4. To achieve this form of attack it is necessary to have an aircraft which can dive with a torpedo at a reasonably steep anglo and have a torpedo which can be dropped from about 200 feet, A new torpedo spotter reconnaissance (torpedo observation scout) has recently been designed known as the Barracuda. This is a high wing monoplane with a retractable under carriage, the prototype of which had very successful trials on board the VICTORIOUS last July. It is understood that its speed is very much higher than has ever been achieved in any carrier borne aircraft before. Like the American torpedo plane it has three seats and being a high wing aircraft the view of all three occupants is entirely unobstructed.

Did this plane met expectations and was it deployed on RN carriers during the war?

[Clinton Huxley]

To a degree and yes.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

To a degree and yes.

Thanks. I'm digitizing a talk he gave at Pearl Harbor, 29 September, 1941.

[Clinton Huxley]

I can hear the patter of KLRs tiny feet, as he approaches to give a few more details.......

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I can hear the patter of KLRs tiny feet, as he approaches to give a few more details.......

I'll have to wait to read that, off to the wolves now.

[klr]

Not exactly the best-looking aircraft the British have ever produced:



It looks like they took a Fulmar, moved the wings up to the top of the fuselage, raised the tailplane, and generally ulglified it.

[John_fi_Skye]

What big flaps, for lift at low speeds. It was underpowered, though, wasn't it?

[klr]

What big flaps, for lift at low speeds. It was underpowered, though, wasn't it?

Yup, those size flaps are quite common on anything that needs to operate at low speeds. They would have been very important during take-off and landing from a confined carrier deck. I've also seen them on later RN carrier aircraft like the Fairey Gannet (seriously ugly that) and the Westland Wyvern. At least I have kits of those, unlike the Barracuda.

And yes, it was underpowered, which is why they switched from the Merlin engine to the Griffon engine in the later versions (shades of the Spitfire).

Given the chance, the Royal Navy in the Pacific switched to the Grumman Avenger.

[klr]

That flap design (Fairey-Youngman) was a Fairey speciality. You learn something new every day.

[John_fi_Skye]

What big flaps, for lift at low speeds. It was underpowered, though, wasn't it?

Yup, those size flaps are quite common on anything that needs to operate at low speeds. They would have been very important during take-off and landing from a confined carrier deck. I've also seen them on later RN carrier aircraft like the Fairey Gannet (seriously ugly that) and the Westland Wyvern. At least I have kits of those, unlike the Barracuda.

And yes, it was underpowered, which is why they switched from the Merlin engine to the Griffon engine in the later versions (shades of the Spitfire).

Given the chance, the Royal Navy in the Pacific switched to the Grumman Avenger.

.....which had big flaps too, but an enormously powerful two-row radial engine. I was telling Zilla I once saw a B-24 close up and it was like a fucking brick. The fact that Doolittle got them off a carrier shows what power those engines had.

[John_fi_Skye]

That flap design (Fairey-Youngman) was a Fairey speciality. You learn something new every day.

The Germans must've pissed themselves laughing at RAF planes called Fairey anything.

Mind you, "Youngman" is reminiscent of their Bucker Jungmeister, isn't it?

[klr]

What big flaps, for lift at low speeds. It was underpowered, though, wasn't it?

Yup, those size flaps are quite common on anything that needs to operate at low speeds. They would have been very important during take-off and landing from a confined carrier deck. I've also seen them on later RN carrier aircraft like the Fairey Gannet (seriously ugly that) and the Westland Wyvern. At least I have kits of those, unlike the Barracuda.

And yes, it was underpowered, which is why they switched from the Merlin engine to the Griffon engine in the later versions (shades of the Spitfire).

Given the chance, the Royal Navy in the Pacific switched to the Grumman Avenger.

.....which had big flaps too, but an enormously powerful two-row radial engine. I was telling Zilla I once saw a B-24 close up and it was like a fucking brick. The fact that Doolittle got them off a carrier shows what power those engines had.

I'll assume you meant to type 'B-25'. The only way of getting a B-24 off a carrier would have been to shove it over the side.

Re the Avenger: It was better than the Barracuda, but it wasn't even the best US torpedo bomber. In US Navy trials, the Vought Sea Wolf proved to be the better aircraft, but Vought just didn't have the production capacity. Consolidated eventually got round to building some, but they never saw combat IIRC.

That flap design (Fairey-Youngman) was a Fairey speciality. You learn something new every day.

The Germans must've pissed themselves laughing at RAF planes called Fairey anything.

Mind you, "Youngman" is reminiscent of their Bucker Jungmeister, isn't it?

The "Young Master"? Nice design, although my favourite German trainer is the Fw 56 "Stosser" (Goshawk).

[John_fi_Skye]

Yep. Sorry. B-25. It's my age. A B-24's wingspan would barely fit on the flight-deck.

[klr]

Yep. Sorry. B-25. It's my age. A B-24's wingspan would barely fit on the flight-deck.

I was thinking that as well.

Anyway, if you want something to land and take off on the proverbial sixpence, this is the aircraft you're looking for:



Mussolini would have testified to this, if he didn't end up upside down of a lamp-post ...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Storch?