GANNET TO HEAD ACROSS POND

Air Classics, Jun 2004 by O'Leary, Michael

Lost flying example should be a popular airshow performer

Certainly one of the strangest looking aircraft, Fairey Gannet XT752 has been purchased from the former Polar Air Museum in Minnesota by a British group who intend to fly the aircraft at shows. As this is being written, the Gannet is being prepared for its ferry flight to Britain.

Starting in 1955, the Gannet became the mainstay of the Fleet Air Arm's carrier-based anti-submarine force and was unique in the fact that it was the first aircraft to fly with a double propeller/turbine engine unit which gave the aircraft the benefit of twin-engine performance in a single-engine configuration. Each half of the Double Mamba engine could be controlled independently, shut-down, and its propeller feathered which gave the economics of single-engine operation while extending range on patrol. In case of action, the second engine could be restarted for added performance. Another benefit was that the contra-rotating propellers eliminated torque. Also, the Double Mamba was designed to run on kerosene, turbine fuel, or Navy diesel fuel.

The Gannet was the first Fleet Air Arm aircraft to combine the search and strike role and its very large bomb bay could carry a variety of weapons internally - the first British-built Naval aircraft to do so. The prototype Gannet was ordered on 12 August 1946 and made its first flight on 19 September 1949. The Gannet went on to serve in many different versions and the type provided faithful service until it was phased out in the late 1970s, its mission being taken over by helicopters.

The surviving example has a quite interesting history. With the serial WN365, the aircraft made its first flight on 16 August 1954, and it was the prototype T.2 trainer which was fitted with a second set of controls and a rather unusual periscope between the two front cockpits to help improve visibility. The radar was eliminated and the third cockpit could be utilized by a radio operator or two passengers.

The Gannet enjoyed a number of foreign orders and the Indonesian Naval Air Arm ordered 18 Gannet AS.4s in January 1959. Because of this order, WN365 was obtained from the Royal Navy by Fairey and given the British civil registration G-APYO. In this guise, the machine was used to train Indonesian pilots from the company's base at White Waltham, a role it undertook until 1961.

After a period in storage, Fairey rebuilt the Gannet to the newer T.5 standard and added the Double Mamba 101 engine which had more power. Given the new serial XT752 in 1966, the aircraft went back into service and operated until November 1978 when it was retired. The aircraft was obtained at a 1995 auction by Amjet Aircraft Corporation and shipped to Minnesota where it made a limited number of flights with the Polar Air Museum.