Fairey Gannet (finished finally)

[TallEng]

Seen outside the paintshop at White Waltham (allegedly) in the early 60's

[GTX]

Interesting...tell me more.

Regards,

Greg

[TallEng]

O.K. Think British Forces and the Indonesian Confrontation

[rickshaw]

Looks interesting.  What cockpit did you use?

[TallEng]

Looks interesting.  What cockpit did you use?

I haven't fitted the cockpit yet, but it will be the bog standard version as supplied by Revell. The rear cockpit is blanked off with plasticard for reasons that will become obvious I hope.

As I have to do a set of 5 nights now and wont be modelling for a bit I thought I should do a bit of whifstory for you lot...

O.K, its 1960 and HMS Bulwark is being converted to a Commando Carrier, when their Warships have a flash of inspiration; and decide it would be an awfully good thing if the commando carrier's had their own Air Support capability, Unfortunately the Treasury is not so keen to release funds for a new Aircraft, So their Warships ask the British Aviation industry to come up with something "cheaper".
Faireys respond with a Modification of the Gannet, Using the recently retired AS.1 Airframes, which they Re-engine with the more powerful Double Mamba as used in the AS.4.
The Modification consists of using the already fitted RP mounting points for RP's Fitting the Bombay out for carriage of 5 thousand pound Bombs and removing the ASW gear in the rear, plating over the ASW operators Cockpit and fitting a remotely operated turret fitted with Twin ADEN cannon....
So HMS Bulwark retains her catapult and Arrester gear and gains in addition to the Commado's and their Helicopters; 10 Gannet GA.7's for close Air support!
Normally they operated in pairs as when the Bombay doors were open the ADEN cannon were unable to be used for fear of shooting the Bomb bay doors off , So as one flew the attack the 2ND Aircraft flew slightly off to one side to provide covering fire to keep the Enemy's heads down.
Later versions converted from the AS.4s replaced by Helicopters in the ASW role, did away with the somewhat troubled ADEN cannon and turret, just having the ASW kit removed and the Radome area faired over, the wings were modified and strengthened to accept 3 pylons for Bombs etc and the Bomb bay doors were bulged allowing 6 thousand pound bombs on to triple racks to be carried.
The last Gannet GA.8 as the later versions were called retired in the early '80s After there successful use in the Falkland campaign aboard 'The Rock' AKA as HMS Gibraltar

[PR19_Kit]

Fairey wouldn't have had to look far for the rear cockpit plating, they could just re-issue the drawings for the protoype as that only had the two front seats.

[Weaver]

Nice one!

Close to something on my own get-around-to-it-one-day list: an RAF Gannet A.7 escorting a Belvedere Mk.II CSAR helo over Vietnam. Mine would have a Meteor NF.14 canopy and spine (from the Matchbox kit), ejector seats and a shed load of harpoints, enabling it to do the RAF equivalent of the Skyraider role.

[TallEng]

Oh yes, I must admit my mind had wandered in that direction to, only I was thinking RAAF and Vietnam to support the troops.
Ought to look good in Vietnam style greens and tan with black undersides

[PR19_Kit]

Now there's a thought.....

A Skyraider re-engined with a Double-Mamba would look pretty mean, and it would have a serious power upgrade too.

[Weaver]

Now there's a thought.....

A Skyraider re-engined with a Double-Mamba would look pretty mean, and it would have a serious power upgrade too.

Of course in essence, that's what a Skyshark was,and it needed a deeper fuselage to accomodate that kind of engine installation (jet pipes under the cockpit floor). A re-fitted Skyraider would have to have the engines in front of the cockpit rather than beneath it, which could give an excessively long nose in the style of the Cavalier Mustang, however the Double-Mamba should help a bit with that, being (presumably) shorter and wider than a single engine of equivalent power. Still need to do something about the centre of gravity though, since I'll bet the Double-Mamba is still MUCH lighter than the radial.

[Weaver]

Oh yes, I must admit my mind had wandered in that direction to, only I was thinking RAAF and Vietnam to support the troops.
Ought to look good in Vietnam style greens and tan with black undersides

Well I came up with my own RAF "junglie" cammo to go on some 2nd generation Canberras, so I'd use that instead. RAAF sounds like a keen idea since their navy had them for real! 

Your Indonesian scenario raises another interesting possibility: the Indonesian Navy had Gannets of their own, so you could have had a Gannet-vs-Gannet "dogfight" had the situation become a bit hotter!

[rickshaw]

Armstrong Siddeley (Double) Mamba Turboprop ASMD.3

Length: 102.25 in (2597 mm)
Diameter: 52.8 in (1341 mm)
Dry weight: 2,170 lb (984 kg)

Wright R-3350-C18-BA (can't find them for the Wright R-3350-26WA but suspect they are similar)

Length: 76.26 in (1,930 mm)
Diameter: 55.78 in (1,420 mm)
Dry weight: 2,670 lb (1,212 kg)

So, the double Mamba is 500 lbs lighter but 26 inches longer.  Both have similar diameters.  Power output is similar, with the R-3350-26WA developing 2,700 hp while the Double Mamba develops 2,960 eshp (what is the difference BTW between "hp" and "eshp"?).  If you used a more powerful ASMD.4 you'd get 3,875 eshp!

A straight conversion would be possible and the nose would only need to be lengthened slightly, nothing like the Cavalier's snout.

[Weaver]

Armstrong Siddeley (single) Mamba Turboprop ASMD.3

Length: 102.25 in (2597 mm)
Diameter: 52.8 in (1341 mm)
Dry weight: 2,170 lb (984 kg)

Wright R-3350-C18-BA (can't find them for the Wright R-3350-26WA but suspect they are similar)

Length: 76.26 in (1,930 mm)
Diameter: 55.78 in (1,420 mm)
Dry weight: 2,670 lb (1,212 kg)

So, the double Mamba is 500 lbs lighter but 26 inches longer.  Both have similar diameters.  Power output is similar, with the R-3350-26WA developing 2,700 hp while the Double Mamba develops 2,960 eshp (what is the difference BTW between "hp" and "eshp"?).  If you used a more powerful ASMD.4 you'd get 3,875 eshp!

A straight conversion would be possible and the nose would only need to be lengthened slightly, nothing like the Cavalier's snout.

Cheers Rickshaw - I was just about to go looking for that info! 

Another factor is that, although the Double-Mamba has a listed "diameter", the actual engine section is a flattened oval, so there's room above it to fit upto 500lbs of equipment moved from further back in the airframe, thus alleviating the CofG issue still further. On the other hand, you'd need to allow a bit more length than the quoted figure to give  the exhausts room to swerve around the bulkhead.

Looking at those power figures, it would hardly be worth it if you didn't use the ASMD.4.

[rickshaw]

Oops, thats for the Double Mamba, not the single.  I've corrected it now.

I agree, it hardly seems worth it although a 500lb increase in payload isn't really to be sneezed at, plus of course you get rid of AVGAS off the carrier which would be a good idea.  The user might also need to re-engine their S-2 Trackers as well (assuming they've got them and aren't using Gannets for ASW) make sure all AVGAS users have gone. 

[Old Wombat]

Oops, thats for the Double Mamba, not the single.  I've corrected it now.

I agree, it hardly seems worth it although a 500lb increase in payload isn't really to be sneezed at, plus of course you get rid of AVGAS off the carrier which would be a good idea.  The user might also need to re-engine their S-2 Trackers as well (assuming they've got them and aren't using Gannets for ASW) make sure all AVGAS users have gone. 

You just leave the Mighty Grey Grumblies alone!

[mumble]Just 'coz they don't suck![/mumble]