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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0575.PDF
6 May 1955 575 (Extreme left) With aircraft in finger fours and sections line astern, No. 824 Sqn flies past the tower at R.N.A.S. Eglinton. (Centre) The "individualist" Gan- nets, during the demonstration, with radomes extended, are caught in the act of "feathering one." (Right) The squadron's Gannets lined up with some of the air- and ground-crews. The spinners are painted maroon. "FLIGHT" photographs airscrew stopped and the other running, and walk into the dangerarea; he might mistake it for a single-airscrew machine since the noise of one engine is not very loud. The Gannet's piercing,harmonic, wasp-like sound does not make itself heard until both engines are running. After the engines had all been started the pilots indulged insome amusing gymnastics, folding and unfolding wings, waggling controls, opening bomb doors and working the V.I. tailplanes.The radome cannot be lowered on the ground unless the air- craft is raised on jacks. All flying controls except rudders arespring-tab operated, and during ground-running at high power with wings folded the outer wing panels and ailerons flap some-what in the slipstream. The nosewheel is not steerable, but the brakes appear very effective and the visibility is excellent. There followed, after lunch, a flying demonstration in whicheight Gannets flew past in close formation and two others showed the full range of configurations and speeds. One of them madea fast, low pass after a steep dive and appeared to be finding a good 300 kt, but the steepness of the dive seemed to indicatea mild shortage of power, and one presumes that, because of this, the full all-up weight potential of the Gannet is not yet usable. In addition to Nos. 824 and 820 Squadrons, there are at Eglinton two training squadrons, No. 737 with four Gannet T.2sand Firefly 6s for pilot anti-submarine training, and No. 719 with Firefly 7s for anti-submarine observer training. With No. 824there are two Australian crews which are to form the nucleus of the Australian Gannet squadrons which will embark for the returnto Australia in the new R.A.N. carrier. No. 824 itself is due to carry out deck landing practice on H.M.S. Bulwark in June andgo to the deck in H.M.S. Ark Royal in September. By then the unit will be fully worked up.The Gannet T.2s of No. 737 Sqn. differ from the operational version mainly in the omission of the radome and the addition offlying controls in what would normally be the observer's cockpit. In addition, a periscope, which retracts when the front hood isopened, is added between the front two positions and the wiring and control trunk running aft beneath the cockpit coaming is tosome extent deepened on the port side. The T.2 is still equipped for deck-landing and catapulting. A series of landings showedthat the Gannet is quite indifferent to landing attitude, the legs being so disposed that a three-pointer is normal.The Gannet is so intricate that the crews continue to find new tricks and habits for some time after converting, but the wholecomplex of equipment works most effectively. (Right) A Gannet take-off: the white object half-obscuring the rear cockpit is a sheet of paper with which the telegraphist is shielding his radar scope. (Bottom right) One of No. 737's Gannet T.2s taxies out with an airscrew feathered and instructor's periscope extended. (Below) "Arms unbend ... go gymnastics in progress
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