Fairey Gannet

Photos by: Bill Coffman

 At Oshkosh, several summers ago, we had the opportunity to view one of the most fascinating events in Aviation, the Unfolding of the Gannet. The aircraft in the photos is a T.5 Trainer version and has an interesting history, of which, more later. I was very surprised to see a Gannet so far from Home.

  This great bird sat there like a mechanical turkey, or a giant oregami Crane. The Twin Mamba engines fired up one at a time on compressed air as more or less normal jets. Then the propellors started churning. Next mechanic ran around and removed the stays from th wing folds. Then the pilot pushed buttons or pulled levers and the thing began to unfold, spreading  out the top segments as the main panels swung down like lift bridge decking, finally emerging as an airplane of sorts, with a full span of wing, ready to defy gravity. Unfortunately I have no photographic record of this amazing event. I was so astounded by the whole thing that I forgot my photographic duties.
 The Gannet took off from the Oshkosh runway quite normally and proceeded to
make a few passes for the American spectators who, for the most part, wondered just what the hell kind of an airplane it was.

 The Gannet T.5 Trainer at Oshkosh was originally the prototype Gannet T.2, WN365. It was converted to T.5 specs by Fairey in 1959, with a more powerful Double Mamba 101, developing 3,035 shp. There were no external changes between the T.2 and the T.5. Fairey used this aircraft with civilian markings G-AYPO, until it was put in storage in 1961. In 1966, the RN was running short of Gannet trainers and they bought G-AYPO from Fairey, and gave it the new serial XT752 and put it back into service XT752 was one of three Gannets kept in excellent condition by the FAA, and was eventually sold to the Polar Aviation Museum run by the Amjet Corp at Anoka County Airport in Minnesota, USA north of Minneapolis. On arrival there the aircraft was reassembled, restored to airworthiness, licensed as N752XT, and displayed on the US airshow circuit to the amazement of the crowds. The museum has since closed its doors to visitors because of liability insurance problems, and the aircraft was put up for sale shortly afterwards.   I am not certain of it's current ownership, or status, but it did transit
through Goose Bay on July 18th on its way back to the UK.

 The aircraft in the photos is a T.5 Trainer version and has an interesting history. The Gannet T.5 Trainer at Oshkosh was originally the prototype Gannet T.2, WN365. It was converted to T.5 specs by Fairey in 1959, with a
more powerful Double Mamba 101, developing 3,035 shp. There were no external changes between the T.2 and the T.5.
  Fairey used this aircraft with civilian markings G-AYPO. During this period it was used as a trainer for the Indonesian Navy who bought 21 Gannets. It was put in storage in 1961. In 1966, the RN was running short of
Gannet trainers and they bought G-AYPO from Fairey, and gave it the new serial XT752 and put it back into service. XT752 was one of three Gannets kept in excellent condition by the FAA, and was eventually sold to the Polar Aviation Museum run by Wally Fisk of the Amjet Corp at Anoka County Airport in Minnesota, USA north of Minneapolis. On arrival there the aircraft was reassembled, restored to airworthiness, licensed as N752XT, and displayed on the US airshow circuit to the amazement of the crowds. The museum has since closed its doors to visitors because of liability insurance problems, and the aircraft was put up for sale shortly afterwards.
  The Gannet T.5 that initiated this series of photos  has apparently been purchased by Harry O¹Doule in the UK, and was on  transit through Goose Bay in July on its way back home.  After taking off from Goose Bay in late July, it encountered engine problems and one of the Mambas quit. They returned safely to Goose Bay on one engine, and at last report were still awaiting repairs, although the aircraft by now may have left Canada.
 
 There are further photos of AS.1 Gannet XA434 of the Royal Australian Navy that is on display at the Museum at Nowra in Australia. This RAN Gannet is one of the 33 AS.1s purchased by Australia in 1955 for their Navy from RN
stocks, and as such they continued to carry their RN serials. Four T.2 Trainers were purchased at the same time. The AS.1s were replaced by Grumman Trackers in 1958 and 1967. The Trainers soldiered on at Nowra until 1966.

 The Federal German Navy also operated 15 AS.4 Gannets and 1 T.5 trainer, while Indonesia had 2 AS.1s and 17 AS.4s and 2 T.5 trainers.


 David Money in NZ reported that the Gannet was still in Windsor Locks when he visited in 1999, and a check on the net shows that the Museum site is still showing the old bird on their inventory.  David took photos and
measurements during his visit and sent them on to Taro Tominari of Dynavector who had already produced the only 1/48 Kit of the Gannet AS.1.

In 1/72 we have that wonderful old Frog kit (Since reprised by Revelogram) with the lumps sticking up into the cockpit canopy. Aeroclub has made a number of accessories and conversions for that kit, including a vac-form AEW fuselage. There was also a Magna resin kit of the Gannet AS.1 and possibly of the AEW.3 as well, while the best Kit of a Gannet so far is the CM resin kit of the AS.1 that will also build the Training version. This would
indicate the possibility of a 1/72 Gannet coming out of the Czech Republic, probably after the rumoured Wyvern. Let's hope that they do a better job than they did on the Sea Fury.

  This was another surprising 'find'. When David Frowen and I visited the New England Air Museum at Windsor Locks, Conneticut, back in '97, we found this old Gannet AEW.3 sitting out in the field with a flock of other aircraft.
 It was apparently brought to the USA by Hamilton Standard to use in their research on Counter Rotating Propellers. Its Navy serial was XL482. Sometime after these photos were taken, it was returned to flying condition and returned to Hamilton Standard for test work on the propellers for the unsuccessful "Unducted Fan" project. I don't know its current ownership or location.

 
The AEW Gannet was developed as a replacement for the Douglas AD-4W Skyraiders that the Royal Navy had purcased to guard the Fleet. The Gannet AEW.3s used the same AN/APS-20 Radar gear that was grafted on to a
completely new fuselage, that was based largely on that of the Skyraider. When the RN went out of the Aircraft Carrier business, the AEW Gannets lost heir usefulness (And were not available for the Falklands conflict) The RAF stepped into the picture to equip the Shakleton MR.2 with the AN/APS-20 as an interim land based early warning system, and the gear (and radome?) from the AEW Gannets was grafted on to the Shack to produce the Shackleton AEW.2, which was the aircraft that we saw at Oshkosh. (Aren't you sorry that you asked?)

 The Vintage Fairey advertisement and following text was provided by Brad Wood.

 "Thanks for the Gannet photos.   It remains one of my favourite aircraft and personally I don't think that it is a bad looking machine.  At least in the AS rather than AEW form.   Actually when it was just the Fairey 17, as a prototype, it looked even better because the RN hadn't woken up to the fact that they needed a third crewman.   Once it got that huge rear canopy and finlets it was all downhill from there!   Tales of the prototype will appeal
to modellers because even before the rear seat was added the 17 was a tail sitter.   They had to make initial flights with the gear locked down and the main legs literally bent back a foot!   Some expensive mods got it to sit
normally on its nose gear.
 
The Gannet was of course a machine designed to do a particular job and it did it very well.   Nice to fly and surprisingly agile, particularly with the flaps in cruise position.   Its top speed was comparable with an early
Spitfire and the range (or duration anyway) was distinctly un-British. Sadly the bean-counters realised that a fleet of Shackletons cost less than a few Gannets and the aircraft carrier they needed.
 
You mention the Falklands.   This was when the whole policy unravelled in a hurry.   It is a little known story but a Gannet nearly did make it down there.   When the Argentinians moved in the British government authorised all
sorts of things that the RAF etc had waited years for.   Things like re-fuelling probes on the Hercules.   Whilst the Navy were frantically searching for some lost Harrier spares in one of the back hangars at Yeovilton they found a Gannet ECM6 hidden there.   Wheeled it out, and a veteran fitter remembered how to start it up.   Of course all the Sea Harrier jocks wanted to fly it but nobody was current.   Wisely the RN sent an envoy to the Sir Francis Drake Rest Home for Tired Naval Airmen and rustled up a full crew.   Whilst these old chaps were practising, a secret
phone call went to the Canadian Armed Forces and a couple Chinooks were dispatched on a search mission up the northern BC coastline.   They found what they were looking for on a beach - a pair of Edo floats of C-47 size.
A few bottles of whisky changed hands and the Edos were helicoptered out. Shorts of Belfast took delivery and added a considerable stretch (the Edo design is very modular) and these things were duly fitted on massive pylons in place of the main gears of the Gannet.   Flotation tests were not promising.  Despit the massive size of the floats they were two thirds submerged with a full fuel load!    It became necessary to operate with a
light fuel load to get off the water at all and refuelling had to be carried out at a minimum of 10,000 feet because there wasn't enough power to maintain height with all the extra weight and drag.   By the time the Gannet
had sunk to 5,000 there was enough fuel burn to maintain height.   All this was, as you know, done in a fantastic hurry.   Too late, even so, to be shipped down to the Falklands the Gannet had to be flown down there and the
intrepid crew were all "on" for this.   Several refuelling pick ups were made, but its a long way even to Ascension Island and the crew got sleepy.
  Then they got lost, were running out of fuel, and were in real trouble. Mercifully they found a Navy ship and made a very rough landing in the big seas that were running.   Both floats were ripped off but the Gannet floated (it was designed for good ditching) while they were rescued.   The Navy then declared the Gannet a practise target/danger to shipping and after some 40 rounds managed to hit it and sink it.   So the Argies were able to fly their A-4 Skyhawks in with impunity, at least until close to the target, by which time they only just had enough fuel to get home.
 
Well, its a nice story and it goes with a conversion I once started on a Frog Gannet (for which Tore (Falcon) has done great canopies incidently) but the matter of the float size was quite a surprise.   I had a pattern for the
fuselage of a 1/72 Saro Cutty Sark scratchbuild.   This is a nice Float-shape and looked rather big even compared with a Gannet.   I checked the volume in cubic millimetres in a precision measuring flask (good old Archimedes) and then cubed up by 72.   Even a pair of these would have been barely enough to float a fully laden Gannet, despite being as long.    The pressure those tyres put on a runway or flight deck must be quite something!"