Royal
Navy Biplanes - (Post WW1)
Flycatcher,
Osprey, Sea Gladiator, Sea Fox, Shark, Swordfish & Albacore
Part 1A - Biplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service (WW1)
Part 1B - Biplanes of the Fleet Air Arm (1919-1945)
Part 2A - Monoplanes of the Fleet Air Arm (early WW2)
Part 2B - Monoplanes of the Fleet Air Arm (late WW2)
Part 3 - Fleet Air Arm Props (post WW2)
Part 4 - Supermarine Seafire Pages
Return to Fred's Models main index
In no particular order - Biplane aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, 1919-1945
Fairey Flycatcher, No. 405 Flight, Fleet Air Arm, RAF Leuchars / HMS GLORIOUS, 1931.
Aeroclub models produce a wide range of very high quality accessories and conversion parts. They also produce an excellent range of limited edition 1/72 kits, including this marvellous little Fleet Air Arm aircraft from between the wars. A replica of this particular aircraft, fitted with a P&W Wasp Junior engine instead of the original Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar, is stored at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton; Aeroclub can even provide the alternative engine if required! (link to build page)
The Flycatcher holds an important place in the history of Naval Aviation; not only was it one of the first aircraft to enter service that had been specifically designed to fly from an Aircraft Carrier, but it remained as the Fleet Air Arm's primary Fleet Fighter for over 10 years (an achievement only equalled by the Sea Harrier), until it was eventually replaced by the Hawker Nimrod and Osprey. Robustly built and very well suited to life at sea in an aircraft carrier, it was armed with twin Vickers machine guns, but could carry 4x20lb bombs in an attack role when required. A float equipped amphibian version was also used from capital ships. When it entered service, the Flycatcher was a commendably advanced design, using novel Fairey camber changing flaps to reduce take-off and landing runs. Although not fitted with folding wings, the airframe was designed to be dismantled for stowage below decks.
Up until 1926, the Flycatcher continued to use longitudinal arrestor wires, which engaged with steel jaws in the undercarriage, but these were not particularly effective and were eventually abandoned as larger and heavier aircraft entering service demanded the now familiar cross deck arrestor wires.
Reliable and safe to fly, it was always highly popular with its pilots, but its unusually long service life foretold the creeping neglect of British Naval Aviation during the austerity driven inter-war years, when other fields of aviation and other countries' Air Arms were making rapid advances.
Yeovilton's Replica Flycatcher
Hawker Osprey, 801 Sqn, Fleet Air Arm, HMS FURIOUS, 1938.
For this model I have used the Airfix Hawker Demon kit as a basis for modification into its naval equivalent. This kit first appeared in 1968, as a modification to the earlier 1957 mould of the Hawker Hart. Originals can change hands for very high prices, but the basic kit has been released much more recently as part of the RAF Collection set. Despite its age, this is still one of the better Airfix kits, nicely detailed and crisply moulded. As a template to convert it into an Osprey, I used another kit from my collection, the Merlin Models Frog Penguin replica, which is definitely a crude little blob of plastic, although it too can be built into a nice model; it also includes some detailed 1/72 scale plans of the Osprey! (link to build page)
Although it may have seemed to the Fleet Air Arm that the Flycatcher would hang on forever, by 1932 it was finally being replaced by naval variants of Hawkers' latest Rolls Royce Kestrel powered biplanes. When it first entered service the Hawker Hart bomber was much faster than the RAF's existing fighters, leading to an urgent programme to convert it into a fighter version, to be known as the Hawker Demon. With the RAF flying such successful and avanced aircraft from ashore, it seemed only sensible to convert the Hart/Demon to operate at sea as well.
The result was the elegant and advanced looking Hawker Osprey (which could also operate from Cruisers and Battleships as a float equipped seaplane), the Fleet Air Arm's first high speed 2-seater fighter/reconnaissance/spotter aircraft.
Nevertheless, as this example shows, the Osprey rather overstayed its welcome. 801 Sqn were still flying the Osprey in 1938, at the time of the Munich Crisis and on the eve of WW2. Although they hurredly re-equipped with Gloster Sea Gladiators and Blackburn Skuas the following year, none of these aircraft were any match for the Messerschmitt Bf109s that had entered Nazi service in 1937 and which the Fleet Air Arm would soon face in Norway and France.
Gloster Sea Gladiator, 813 Sqn FAA Fighter Flight, HMS EAGLE, Mediterranean, July 1940.
Airfix re-issued their Gladiator kit in 2008, with a wide range of markings, including the famous Malta Sea Gladiators. First released in 1956, this is a very basic little kit, that I can't really recommend. (link to build page)
With the clouds of war gathering over Europe, in 1939 the FAA desperately began to replace its Nimrods with the Sea Gladiator. Although still a biplane and very much a compromise choice that had been hastily converted from the RAF's (obsolete) land-based version, its fighting performance was far superior than the Nimrod. In the early war period, together with the Blackburn Skua, Sea Gladiators saw wide and successful use in the North Sea, Norwegian Campaign and in the Mediterranean, where they were most successful against Italian bombers, but their shortfalls were also very clear and by 1940, the vastly superior Grumman Martlet was being rushed into service as their replacement.
This aircraft was one of four flown from HMS EAGLE in July 1940. The only RN Carrier in the Med when war with Italy broke out on 10 June 1940, EAGLE did not carry a fighter squadron. Cdr Chris Keighley-Peach, EAGLE's dynamic Commander (F) and one of the first FAA Aces of WW2, quickly obtained 4 Sea Gladiators from reserve stocks in Malta, and formed a fighter flight, to be parented by EAGLE's Swordfish equipped 813 Sqn. Having trained two Swordfish pilots (Lt Kenneth Keith RN and Lt Pat Massy RN) to fly the fighters, under "K-P"s leadership, the Fighter Flight claimed 7 kills over the next 2 weeks, mainly SM.79 Bombers. K-P himself claimed 5 of these kills in this aircraft, and was awarded the DSO. The same aircraft went on to serve in the defence of Crete the following year, but was lost, along with its pilot, Lt P F Scott RN, after crashing into the sea.
Sea Gladiators are equally well known for their valiant part in the defence of Malta in 1940. When she departed the Mediterranean for her ill-fated part in the Norwegian campaign, HMS GLORIOUS left a number of spare aircraft ashore in Malta. These were then used by RAF pilots as the main defence of this strategic island during some of the most intense attacks by the Italian Air Force, until replacement RAF Hurricanes could be spared from the UK. The importance of Malta as a thorn in the Axis' side cannot be understated; thus at one point, it seems that the entire Mediterranean and North African Campaigns, perhaps the entire war, was dependent on four spare, obsolete Royal Navy aircraft, lent to the RAF, maintained on a wing and a prayer and flown by volunteer pilots with little fighter experience.
After the battle, most appropriately, three of the planes were named Faith, Hope and Charity.
Fairey Seafox Spotter - HMS AJAX, South Atlantic 1940.
Matchbox are infamous for their deep panel lines and toy-like details, but their many biplanes were as good as any others available and still make the grade. The Seafox is a particularly nice example; this one is intended to be the AJAX aircraft that spotted on the Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. There is some doubt about markings and colours during the battle; this is a pre-war scheme created using some of my spare transfers, but the aircraft may have been camouflaged by the time of the battle.
There were also 2 aircraft present; history does not record with certainty which one was used!.
The Seafox was an effective and reliable spotter aircraft carried on Cruiser and above. It is most famous for its part in the Battle of the River Plate, when the German Pocket Battleship Admiral Graf Spee was driven to take refuge in Uruguayan waters by an RN Cruiser Squadron under Cdre Henry Harwood (AJAX, ACHILLIES, EXETER). The Graf Spee was then scuttled by its Captain, Hans Langsdorrf to prevent its capture and save the lives of his men. This victory was an enormous boost to the British public, at a time when they had little else to celebrate. With extensive media coverage across the Americas, the battle did much to encourage US support for the British cause.
Lieut E D G Lewin, RN, the pilot of this aircraft, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his conduct during the fight with the Admiral Graf Spee. He was catapulted off after the action had started, when the airworthiness of his aircraft was in doubt (as the guns were fired before the aircraft was catapulted there may have been doubt as to whether they had disturbed the rigging of the machine), and made a landing and recovery under difficult conditions after the battle. Observer Lt R E N Kearney was Mentioned In Despatches.
Blackburn Shark - 705 Sqn (Catapult Flights), HMS WARSPITE/REPULSE 1935-1937
The wing struts on this kit are a nightmare to align and the float struts barely able to support the finished kit! It is a nice kit though, giving the option for a colourful Portugese seaplane, an RN Spotter seaplane or a land based RN trainer from WW2.
The Shark served the FAA successfully from the mid 1930s into the 40s, as torpedo carrier, floatplane spotter and trainer. Canadian aircraft had some success in the anti U-Boat role during WW2.
Fairey Swordfish Mk.1, 815 Sqn Fleet Air Arm, HMS ILLUSTRIOUS, Taranto, November 1940.
The Swordfish is another unsung Matchbox biplane gem, currently available from Revell and seen here with Aeromaster after-market decals. Far better than the Airfix kit, it can certainly hold its own with the Frog version. Standfast the rigging, it is an easy build, let down only by the very sparse cockpit. As supplied, it comes with the radar fit in the Observer's position to reflect a Mk III, but I have built this up to represent the long range tanks.
The Swordfish needs little introduction. Slow and agricultural in appearance, it was an immensely robust and stable weapons platform that saw the RN through WW2, outlasting its replacement and fighting with distinction in every theatre of the war. Easy to fly and powered by the highly reliable Bristol Pegasus engine, it made a significant contribution to the war effort. BAC 2010 - 100 Years of the Bristol Aeroplane Company
This model represents the aircraft flown at Taranto by the CO of 815 Sqn, Lt Cdr K Williamson DSO, with Observer NJ "Blood" Scarlett RN. Williamson led the first attack wave, sinking the Battleship Conte de Cavour. Williamson's aircraft was subsequently shot down, with he and his observer taken as PoWs. The aircraft was recovered by the italians and a picture of her can be seen here: http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/aircraft/faacapturedaircrafthomepage.html
Although the Swordfish normally carried a crew of 3, Pilot, Observer and Telegraphist Air Gunner (TAG), for this long range raid, the Observer's normal posiiton was occupied by an auxiliary fuel tank and the TAG was not carried.
Fairey Swordfish Mk.II, 810 Sqn Fleet Air Arm, HMS ARK ROYAL, 26 May 1941.
The Airfix Swordfish is well past its sell-by date, and a new tooling is promised for 2011. However, it's really not that much worse than any of the other 1/72 Swordfish kits currently available. This is the 2009 Airfix Club issue, which comes with a nice set of decals for one of 810 Sqns aircraft, plus a second set for the scheme currently worn by one of the RN Historic Flight aircraft (HMS RAIPANA in 1943).
In May 1941, after the devastating shock loss of HMS HOOD during the Battle of the Denmark Strait, the honour and spirit of the Royal Navy depended on the rapid destruction of the German surface raider BISMARCK. The entire Home Fleet, plus the Gibraltar based Force H were deployed to stop BISMARCK reaching the safety of a French port.
An initial attack in atrocious weather by Swordfish from HMS VICTORIOUS was ineffective, but a follow-on strike the next day by a large force from HMS ARK ROYAL jammed the BISMARCK's rudder, making her unmaneouverable and allowing the British Fleet to catch her and deliver the fatal blow.
The aircraft represented by this model was flown by Sub Lieutenant AWD Beale, with Observer SLt C Friend and TAG L/A K Pimlott, during the critical final action against the BISMARCK on 26 May 1941. Beale became disorientated in the poor visibility and flew back to the shadowing cruiser HMS SUFFOLK for directions. As a result he approached the BISMARCK from a different direction from the other ships, registering a torpedo hit amidships.
Fairey Swordfish TSR2 - 818 Sqn, HMS ARK ROYAL 1940.
This is the MPM enhanced kit, with Cooperativa (ex-Frog) kit, resin and photo-etch parts. Decals in the kit are a (miscoloured) copy of the original Frog ones. These are my own markings, from the spares box (some original Frog!). Rigging was fuse wire. I now know that Lycra is much better and doesn't sag ! The inspiration for this model, was Cdr Charles Lamb's astonishing autobiography "War In A Stringbag" which I thoroughly recommend.
Another of the Swordfish's most famous encounters was the disastrous 1942 Channel Dash
Lt Cdr Eugene Esmonde VC DSO RN, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) for leading a desperate attack in a Swordfish aircraft of 825 Naval Air Squadron. Esmonde and his men knew that most of them would die before they took off; yet still they went.
Citation for VC
"On 12 February 1942 in the Straits of Dover, off England, Lieutenant Commander Esmonde led his squadron of six Swordfish to the attack of two German battle cruisers the Scharnhorst and the cruiser Prinz Eugen, which were entering the Straits strongly escorted by surface craft. Detached from their escorting fighters (just 10 in number) by enemy fighters, all the aircraft of the squadron were damaged, but even after Lieutenant-Commander Esmonde's plane sustained a direct hit he still continued the run-in towards his target until it burst into flames and crashed into the sea. The squadron went on to launch a gallant attack, but none of the six aircraft returned".
......The Fleet Air Arm Historic Flight Swordfish about to take off at Yeovilton 2003
Fairey Albacore - 826 Sqn Dekhelia/Western Desert,1941.
Pegasus manufactured a range of interesting and unusual short run kits in the 1980s. The Albacore builds into a nice replica, but it is not one for the beginner. Kit decals are excellent, however in this case I had just finished reading Lt Cdr Donald Judd's autobiography, "Avenger From the Sky", so was determined to do one of 826's western desert based aircraft with Black undersides.
The Albacore was intended as a replacement for the venerable Swordfish, but in the end its predecessor outlived it. Nevertheless, it was a reliable and popular aircraft, that achieved notable success in many roles. This was especially true over the Mediterranean and in the Western Desert, where RN Pilots provided close support and Strike missions for the 7th Armoured Division/Desert Rats, operating against Italian and German forces.
Part 1A - Biplanes of the Royal Naval Air Service (WW1)
Part 1B - Biplanes of the Fleet Air Arm (1919-1945)
Part 2A - Monoplanes of the Fleet Air Arm (early WW2)
Part 2B - Monoplanes of the Fleet Air Arm (late WW2)
Part 3 - Fleet Air Arm Props (post WW2)