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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 2137.PDF
•landN. 17 (Beottey A.R.I). Supermarine Baby (Hisbano-Suiza). Fairey Flycatcher (Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar). t; Parnall Plover (Bristol Jupiter). Avro Avocet (Armstrong Siddeley Lynx). Short Gurnard with twin-floats (Bristol Jupiter) WATER-BASED FIGHTERS landing speed was less than 60 m.p.h. A wing loading of 7.5 lb/sq ft allowed a high degree of manoeuvrability. The Supermarine Baby was the progenitor of the Sea Lion II, which regained the Schneider Trophy for Great Britain in 1922 and established a world's speed record of 145.7 m.p.h. The Sea Lion had a fighter counterpart in the Sea King II and both machines are said to have been capable of every aerobatic manoeuvre expected of a landplane fighter. But times were unpropitious, and with the Sea King it was the still-familiar story of "good aircraft; but—sorry—no orders." Until the introduction of the Gloster Sea Gladiator shortly before the second world war all British shipborne fighters— of which the Fairey Flycatcher and Hawker Nimrod and Osprey are the best-known examples—were designed to take interchangeable wheel or float undercarriage. One version of the Flycatcher, in fact, was built as an amphibian, with non-retractable wheels housed in the twin floats. In this country the small flying-boat went out of favour for fighting purposes until jet propulsion made possible the conception of the Saunders-Roe S.R./A.1. On the Conti- nent, however, various designers persevered with the boat formula, and a surprising number of quite efficient little fighter flying-boats made their appearance in Italy and France. Certain of these (like the Supermarine Sea King) boasted kinship to Schneider racers, and notable among the later models was the cannon-armed Potez 453, a 200-m.p.h. design intended, like many others of its breed, primarily for shipboard use. By 1936—the year in which this Potez appeared—British interest in such machines was at a low ebb. The R.A.F. expansion scheme included no such type, and there were no further developments until 1940, when the campaign in Norway disclosed our desparate need for fighters capable of operating from the sheltered waters of lakes and fjords. Designs were thereupon put in hand for twin-float undercarriages to suit the Spitfire and Hurricane but Norway fell before either conversion could be flown and Short Gurnard amphibian (Kestrel). Fairey Firefly III (Rolls-Hoyce Kestrel). Hawker Nimrod (Rolls-Royct Kestrel). ( Fairey Fleetwing (Rolls-Royce Kestrel). Hawker Osprey (Rolls-Royce Kestrel). Blackburn Roc turret fighter (Bristol Perseus).
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