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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0185.PDF
FLIGHT, 26 January 1950 125 A Fairey Firefly makes a wave-top getaway after a mock attack on H.M.S. Anson. w Projected Breguet anti-submarineaircraft. HEREAS it has hitherto been usual to adapt deck- landing strike aircraft for anti-submarine operation, there is now a tendency to develop types with sub- marine warfare specifically in mind, though these are capable of performing in other roles. Of such aircraft Great Britain can show, in the new Blackburn Y. A.5 and Fairey 17, two outstanding examples. Regrettably, nothing can be said of these prototypes ofher than can be learned from the photographs herewith. The power plant of the Fairey machine is an Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba turboprop, which comprises two entirely inde- pendent Mambas, each capable of being started, operated or stopped separately from the other. For the present, the Blackburn Y.A.5 has a Rolls-Royce Griffon piston engine, but is intended for turboprop power. A capacious bomb-bay is in evidence. Unremitting research is being directed towards the mastery of the fast modern submarine, which is enabled by its " schnorkel'' breathing tube to remain submerged for protracted periods with scant likelihood of detection. Of the problems attending the design of carrier-borne anti- submarine aircraft, that of reconciling an adequate depth charge, R.P. or bomb load with provision for search equip- ment in the form of internal radar and/or sonobuoys is especially difficult. Radar remains bulky, heavy and elaborate, and sonobuoys are effective only in large quantities. It is generally necessary, with the smaller types of carrier-borne aircraft, therefore, for some to operate as detectors and others as "killers." To position itself to strike immediately its target is located, the anti-submarine aircraft must possess good manoeuvring—especially turning—qualities. The potentialities of helicopters for anti-s*|J)marine war- fare are " under active consideration " in Great Britain and the U.S.A. A projected Breguet anti-submarine machine has a turbo- jet unit in addition to a Double Mamba. Pure-jet aircraft would, of course, be handicapped by relatively short en- durance at low altitude, but it is known that the Douglas Skyknight twin-jet, all-weather naval fighter and the French V.G. 90 are adaptable for bombs or rocket projectiles. As a replacement for the Blackburn Firebrand in service with the Royal Navy, a quantity of turboprop-powered Wyvern T.F.2 torpedo fighters has been ordered from the Westland Aircraft Co. Concerning the performance charac- teristics of this mark of Wyvern little can be said, but an earlier version, with a Rolls-Royce Eagle 24-cyIinder piston engine, attained a maximum speed of 455 m.p.h. Armament is quoted as one 2oin torpedo or one 2,000 lb bomb, or eight 60 lb R.P.s in addition to four 20 mm wing- mounted guns. The Armstrong Siddeley Python turbo- prop of the Wyvern T.F.2 drives an eight-blade Rotol contra-rotating airscrew, and the small dimensions of the Python have enabled the Westland designers to provide an excellent forward and downward view over the nose for deck-landing and for diving attacks. The bifurcated jet- pipes emerge on each side of the fuselage below the cockpit, slightly to the rear of the pilot's seat. With the great power ^at its command, and with its extremely.clean aerodynamic design, the Wyvern is obvi- ously of higher performance than the Douglas Skyraider and-Martin Mauler single-seat strike ("attack") aircraft now serving with the U.S. Navy, though, as will now be made clear, these types possess many, desirable features. In no naval aircraft is the quality of versatility more pronounced than in the two-seater Fairey Firefly, adopted not only by the Royal Navy, but by Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. Originally categorized as a fighter recon- naissance aircraft, the Firefly, as now in production in its Mk.^5 form, can be equipped as a night fighter or for anti- submarine worK. Th« "A.-S." variant carries special detection equipment under the wings and fuselage, in addi- tion to the wing-mounted "radome" normal on all Fire- flies, and has provision for sonobuoys. (Sonobuoys are dropped to. enclose a suspected sea area, their under-water signals being reflected from a submarine' hull and trans- mitted to the searching aircraft.) As a strike aircraft the From top to bottom, the three British naval aircraft depicted beloware the Westland Wyvern (Armstrong Siddeley Python turboprop), Fairey 17 (Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba turboprop), andBlackburn Y.A5. The Y.A.5 prototype has a Griffon piston engine, but the installation of a turboprop is foreseen.
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