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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1008.PDF
120 FLIGHT, 22 July 1955 Model of the Fairey F.C.I transport (four Bristol Taurus), fourteen of which were on order before the war terminated the project. FAMILY OF FAIREYS ... of these S/L. Gayford and F/L. Nicholetts established a world'slong-distance record of 5,340 miles by flying from Cornwall to Walvis Bay, South Africa. A cantilever wing was also a featureof the Hendon twin-engined night bomber, built in small quantities for the R.A.F. in the 1930s. As for personnel, it must go on record that in 1924 Major T. M.Barlow had joined the company as chief engineer and supervised production of the Flycatcher and HID. In the same year thecompany was officially approved by the Air Ministry for all stress calculations. In 1925 Mr. M. J. O. Lobelle succeeded Mr. F.Duncanson as head of the design section, and Mr. P. A. Ralli was appointed head of the technical department. Mr. C. R. Macmullinjoined as assistant test pilot to Capt. Norman Macmillan. Following Mr. Ralli's death in 1930, Mr. D. L. Hollis Williams,who had been mainly responsible for the design of the Long-range Monoplanes, succeeded him as head of the technical department.The dashing "Chris" Staniland became chief test pilot in 1932. During 1935 the expansion programme for the R.A.F. led thecompany to take over the Willys-Overland Crossley Motor Works at Heaton Chapel, Stockport. This formed the nucleus of a groupof satellite factories which, ten years later, was to total two million square feet in floor space. In 1934 Mr. R. T. Youngman suc-ceeded Mr. Hollis Williams as head of the technical department, and in the same year was produced the forerunner of the Swordfishtorpedo/spotter/reconnaissance aircraft—the beloved and never- to-be-forgotten "Stringbag." In 1935 a tender was submitted to the Air Ministry for a mediumbomber monoplane, which was to be ordered in great numbers as the Battle; and with Swordfish and Battle production underway, the technical team busied themselves with the Seafox, a light reconnaissance seaplane for operation from cruisers. A Seafoxplayed an heroic part in the Graf Spee action off the South American coast. A "baby Battle"—the P.4/34 day bomber—wasevolved into the Fulmer fleet fighter, and in succession to the Swordfish came the cleaner, more powerful, Albacore. Notwithstanding their preoccupation with military designs,however, the company was able to turn its attention to the civil market, and in 1938 an order was placed for fourteen FaireyF.C.I commercial monoplanes, with nosewheel undercarriage, pressure cabin and retractable Youngman flaps. Gross weightwas to be 42,000 lb and, with four Taurus engines, estimated maximum speed was 275 m.pJi. Still-air range would have been1,700 miles. But the war intervened.If Fairey machines built under contract by other firms (e.g., MS.. Barracudas by Boulton Paul and Swordfish by Blackburn) areincluded, war-time production totalled 6,673 aircraft, whereas for World War I the corresponding figure was 292. By 1950 thegrand total had reached 12,782. Types in production during the war years were Swordfish, Albacore, Fulmar, Barracuda andFirefly. The far-ranging, and often heroic, exploits of these machines have yet to be fully chronicled; but it is only necessaryto recall the epic victory at Taranto, when half the Italian fleet was crippled by eleven torpedoes launched by Swordfish, toexemplify their deeds in face of the enemy. The early post-war years brought forth prototypes of the Spear-fish carrier-borne attack aircraft and numerous derivatives of the Firefly; and the Firefly progressively became standard equip-ment in four navies and other military air services. In 1946 appeared the Stooge rocket-propelled radio-controlled guidedmissile, originally intended as a counter-measure against suicide bombers in the Pacific war, though in the event it proved avaluable vehicle for research and was the precursor of very advanced new weapons now under development by a specialdivision of the company. A year later came the Gyrodyne heli- copter, which established a world speed record for its class; andin 1949 the G.R.17, prototype of the turbine-powered Gannet which is today serving the Royal Navy as the world's mostadvanced carrier-borne anti-submarine aircraft. In 1947 also were flown V.T.O. delta-wing rocket models, built to explore thepracticability of launching fighters from short ramps at low accelerations and reproducing the characteristics of the F.D.Idelta-wing fighter/research aircraft, first flown in 1951. In 1954 the Gyrodyne was converted for tip-jet propulsion to try-outcertain features of the forthcoming 40/50-seat Rotodyne; and in the same year occurred the first flight of the F.D.2 supersonicdelta-wing research aircraft—assuredly one of the fastest machines in the world. In a speech at the company's last annual general meeting SirRichard Fairey was able to tell shareholders that a Ministry of Supply contract had been awarded for an entirely new form ofultra-light helicopter, which he hoped would satisfy an A-my requirement and might, in the longer view, interest the NATOpowers also. He was also able to reveal that a second prototype of the Rotodyne, "with somewhat different internal arrangement,"had also been ordered. In the succeeding pages only incidental references are made tcthe long and successful line of Fairey airscrews, the experimental engines of the past, and the power controls of today. Q' thes<,and other Fairy developments, however, it can be said tlat th<y are in the Fairey tradition—bold in design and built with htegrity. EARLY SEAPLANES F.16 Campania This three-float patrol-and-bombing seaplnewas so called because it was developed for service aboard ^he seaplane carrier of the same name. A two-seater with a Rolls-R'yceEagle engine, it was produced in some quantity and gave excelent service. The prototype was flown from the Isle of Grain to JcapaFlow by S/L. Maurice Wright, now a director of the ^irey company. The Fairey patent variable-camber gear was fitted,allowing an alighting speed of 42 m.p.h. Top speed was 82m.p.h., gross weight 5,500 lb, and span 61ft 7^in. F.17 Campania A modification of the F.16, with revisd wingsection and the Eagle V engine, giving 275 h.p. Top sjeed was increased to nearly 90 m.p.h.F.22 Campania So greatly in excess of production was the demand for the Rolls-Royce Eagle that this third varimt of theCampania was produced with a 260 h.p. Sunbeam Maori II engine. Gross weight was 5,329 1b and top speed 84 n.p.h.N.9 A single-bay biplane with a large overhang en the top wing, this machine has the distinction of being the first Britishseaplane to be catapulted (from H.M.S. Slinger). Irtended for reconnaissance, it was a two-seater with a Rolls-Royce Falconengine of 190 h.p. As with the Eagle, demand for the Falcon was very great, and this consideration explains why the N.9 wasnever built in quantity. Span was 50ft, maximum speed 90 m.p.h. at sea level, and armament one Vickers gun firing forward and aLewis on a Scarff mounting. F.17 Campania.
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