Chantry Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Based on the aerials on the wing for the radar, these appear to be Swordfish MKII's which were introduced in 1943 and the ship is an Illustrious class aircraft carrier. The one glass enclosed biplane is the Fairey Albacore, the "replacement" for the Swordfish which ended being removed from service before the end of WWII while Swordfish continued in front line service until the end of the war against Japan. The Swordfish was roughly the same size as the F6F Hellcat. With a landing speed of about 58 knots and the wind over the deck of at least 20 knots, it was landing at 38 knots , which is roughly 44 mph. In the North Atlantic it was entirely possible to have 40 knots of wind over the deck and the Swordfish would be landing at about 15 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 A biplane on a carrier. To me that would fit within the definition of an anachronism. Cool video. Thank you for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 PLUS ONE for Charlie Harley The "String Bag" was obsolete before the war started yet was in service throughout the conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chantry Posted February 26, 2021 Author Share Posted February 26, 2021 55 minutes ago, Charlie Harley, #14153 said: A biplane on a carrier. To me that would fit within the definition of an anachronism. Cool video. Thank you for sharing. Perhaps in WWII, but biplanes were normally seen on even US Carriers into 1941: The Grumman F3F was a biplane fighter and the Vought SBU Corsair & Curtis SBC Helldiver were dive bombers, all of which saw service lasting until 1940. Another side note is that the Royal Air Force had complete control & procurement of the Royal Navy's aircraft until the beginning of 1939. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abilene Slim SASS 81783 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 That was cool. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeaconKC Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 Thanks for a fun video on the "Stringbag" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 There were quite a few biplanes that performed useful specialized roles in WWII, the Swordfish very much among them. There were a lot of biplanes developed in the interwar period; very advanced over their WWI predecessors. I personally knew a WWII British Spitfire ace. Two of his credited kills were of Italian C-42s (as I remember the model); biplanes the Italians sent to Britain in the last days of the Battle of Britain (wanting to get in on the 'kill' as they were misled by their German allies). He said they were slow but could turn very fast and narrowly. The machine gun fire of one of them shattered his canopy; he was lucky it didn't shoot him down instead of the other way 'round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duffield, SASS #23454 Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 The RAF was still using Gladiators in the Norwegian campaign. Gloster Gladiator - Wikipedia Duffield Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 The Soviet Union was using two biplanes into 1942 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Hair, SASS #29557 Posted February 27, 2021 Share Posted February 27, 2021 They were definitively effective. Just ask the Bismark and the Italian Navy in Taranto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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