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Fairey Spearfish
The Fairey Spearfish was a 1940s British torpedo bomber designed and built by Fairey Aviation for the Fleet Air Arm. It was one of the largest single-engine aircraft to ever operate from a British aircraft carrier.
Contents
Design and development
The Spearfish was designed by Fairey Aviation to Admiralty Specification O.5/43. Having learned the lessons of the Barracuda, the Spearfish featured a much more powerful engine and an integral ASV anti-submarine radar (the external installation on the Barracuda caused problems with longitudinal stability). Problems with the Bristol Centaurus engine delayed the first flight until 5 July 1945.
Only five aircraft were built before victory over Japan. The end of the war and the proposal for a more advanced turbopop powered anti-submarine aircraft (which became the Gannet) further work on the project was stopped and an order for 152 production aircraft cancelled.[1]
The Admiralty refused to accept the Spearfish for service use.Template:Citation needed The aircraft had such heavy controls that in bad weather a pilot circling a carrier whilst waiting to land was forced to fly such a wide circuit that he could not keep the carrier in sight.Template:Citation needed
Operators
Specifications (Spearfish)
Data from Fairey Aircraft Since 1915 Taylor, H. A.[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 45 ft 0 in (13.7 m)
- Wingspan: 60 ft 0 in (18.3 m)
- Height: 16 ft 0 in (4.9 m)
- Wing area: 530 ft² (49.2 m²)
- Empty weight: 12,435 lb (5,640 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 22,050 lb (10,000 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Bristol Centaurus 57 18-cylinder radial engine, 2,585 hp (1,930 kW)
- Propellers: five-bladed propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 300 mph (480 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 260 mph (415 km/h)
- Range: 895 mi (1,440 km)
- Service ceiling: 23,600 ft (7,200 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,720 ft/min (8.74 m/s)
Armament
- Guns: 4 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns, two in the wings and two in a Frazer-Nash FN95 remote-controlled dorsal barbette
- Rockets: 16× RP-3 rocket projectiles on underwing rails
- Bombs: carried in an internal weapons bay; either:
- 1 × torpedo or
- 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs or mines
See also
Comparable aircraft
Related lists
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
References
Notes
Bibliography
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
External links
Lists relating to aviation | |
|---|---|
| General | Timeline of aviation · Aircraft · Aircraft manufacturers · Aircraft engines · Aircraft engine manufacturers · Airports · Airlines |
| Military | Air forces · Aircraft weapons · Missiles · Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) · Experimental aircraft |
| Notable incidents and accidents | Military aviation · Airliners · General aviation · Famous aviation-related deaths |
| Records | Flight airspeed record · Flight distance record · Flight altitude record · Flight endurance record · Most produced aircraft |
cs:Fairey Spearfish de:Fairey Spearfish ja:フェアリー スピアフィッシュ
| This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fairey Spearfish". |
