Reflections – Fairey Gannet

Fairey Gannet

Commodore Norman Lee continues his series of articles on aircraft he flew during his service with the Fleet Air Arm

I saw my first Gannet at the Royal Naval Air Station at Leeon-Solent. It was sitting in a small hangar with its wings folded, bomb bay doors open, and both propellers fully feathered. I don’t think I had ever seen an uglier aircraft, it looked like a pregnant whale sitting on four wheels.

It was the mid ’50s and I had been sent to the United Kingdom as a member of the RAN advance party for the Gannet, which had been designed to meet specification GR17 issued by the RN for a three seater anti submarine aircraft to replace the Firefly.

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