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Fairey Spearfish

1945 WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

The Fairey Spearfish Story

Fairey Aviation, founded in 1915, has been designing, developing and building fighter jets since the First World War (1914-1918), when it received in April a new torpedo/dive to British military specifications Contract for bomber specifications. 1943. With World War II (1939-1945) now dragging on for four years with no end in sight, the British Fleet Aviation (FAA) of the Royal Navy (RN) was looking for a modern solution to the new problem.

Meeting demand especially in its growing commitment to the Pacific Rim. The norm, known as O. 5/43, was eventually answered by Fairey along with competitors Blackburn, Cunliffe-Owen, and Folland. The Admiralty hoped to have the new aircraft available by early 1946 at the latest.

Fairey brought two proposed designs, a single-engine aircraft and a twin-engine configuration. Due to the practicality and familiarity of the front casing, the Admiralty chose to install a Bristol Centaur engine, and three prototypes were ordered in August 1943.

Aircraft must have good speed and water handling, have reasonable power in full dive, and be able to withstand the rigors of long-haul carrier operationssometimes thousands of kilometers with no land in sight. Envision a crew of two to reduce the expected workload of the light bomber.

In October 1943, the design was named "Spearfish".

The maiden flight of the first prototype, which was not recorded until July 5, 1945, due to the choice of the Centaur engine was delayed from the originally chosen date. The demonstration model was equipped with an 18-cylinder radial piston engine from the Bristol Centaurus 57 series with an output of 2,585 hp. By this time, however, the war in Europe was over, and the Japanese Empire in the Pacific and the Far East fell into the Allied island hopping campaign.

Demand for this new airborne bomber waned until it completely disappeared when Japan surrendered in September 1945.

As a result, many military projects remain at a standstill or are cancelled outright. The Spearfish program suffered no fate, although its production contract no longer exists (intended as a production example of 150 "TD. Mk 1"). Instead, the three prototypes were allowed to be completed in an airworthy form for research.

This was followed by a fourth prototype, which flew for the first time in December 1945, and three more aircraft were subsequently ordered. To that end, only five were actually completed, and all ended up in the scrap pile after their usefulness ended.

In testing, the Spearfish proved difficult to control and required a large turning radius. Despite having a 2,585-horsepower Centaurus engine, it's not powerful enough for an aircraft of its size. This size is also disadvantageous for deck handling and storage for British Airways where space is limited.

Cockpit visibility is more or less good thanks to the lightweight framethough the wing panels and long nose created blind spots consistent with other aircraft of the era.

When done, Spearfish had her two operators sit in the front cockpit with the pilot, while his spotter/gunner sat in the tail. The plane is 45 feet long, has a wingspan of 60 feet, and is 16 feet tall. The wings are straight attachments, with truncated ends, mounted in the middle of the sides of the fuselage, just below the cockpit floor. From the side, the hull itself is relatively deep.

The engine is located in the forward compartment within the extended nose assembly and drives a five-bladed propeller. The rear wing is conventional, with a single circular vertical rear wing and a low setting level. The landing gear is fully retractable in a "trail" configuration, using two main gear legs and a tail wheel.

A fishing hook was added to the ventral stern of the stern to catch the deck line when landing. Empty weight is specified at 12,435 pounds and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 22,050 pounds.

The Spearfish has been approved to carry up to 2,000 pounds of artillery through the internal bomb bay - this can be a single torpedo, multiple conventionally thrown bombs, or a Navy depth charge, as needed.

In addition to bomb/torpedo/cartridge capabilities, the Spearfish is armed with 2 0.50 M2 Browning stationary, forward-firing, air-cooled heavy machine guns - one in each wing. 2 M2 Brownings were also mounted on the Fraser-Nash FN95 radio-controlled rear turret to protect the aircraft's vulnerable "six" from danger.

The underwing rails are also designed to provide fixed mounts for up to 16 RP-3 series missiles for naval attack.

Published performance specs include a top speed of 300 mph and a cruising speed of 260 mph. The range is 895 miles, the service ceiling is up to 23,600 feet, and the climb rate is close to 1,720 feet per minute.

The famous American Grumman TBF Avenger - a loyal wartime companion since 1942, with 9,839 produced - has been able to reach a top speed of 275 mph, with a range of up to 1,000 miles and a service ceiling of 30,100 feet , while being used to transport a release of 2,000 pounds of ordnance, including torpedoes or dropped bombs.

All Spearfish aircraft were later scrapped, marking the end of their tenure in aviation. When the O. 21/44 specification came out, a high-performance version of the same aircraft had a brief but somewhat refurbished life - which required a two-seater naval strike platform with a coupled Merlin engine assembly to drive the counter to the rotating propeller.

Like the Spearfish before it, this aircraft was never realized as an operational product.