Fairey Fulmar

World War II British Military
#1

The Fairey Fulmar was a Royal Navy fighter, which entered service in 1940. It was larger and slower than conventional fighters of the time, but was successful and durable.

The Fulmar saw action in the Mediterranean and the Far East, and were used for long-range reconnaissance after being withdrawn from the fighter role.

The Fulmar was the most successful Fleet Air Arm aircraft accounting for 112 victories. It was armed with 8 x 7.7mm machine guns, and could also carry 2 x 250lb bombs.

Fulmar Mk 1 of 803 Naval Air Squadron, 1940.

Fulmar Mk 1 of 806 Naval Air Squadron, 1940.

Fulmar Mk 1 of 807 Naval Air Squadron, 1940.

#2

Oh, and this is a ‘Big Project’ item… :slight_smile:

#3

Nice. I can’t really see this as a fighter, but maybe as a light bomber/ground attack plane.

#4

It was the best out of a choice of one, but of course the Seafire and Martlet soon gave it the elbow… I think it did OK as long-range recon, but it was always underpowered for it’s size… :neutral:

#5

Nice profiles Clave. do you have some information of wich types of aircraft were shot down by the fulmar ?

#6

Info is pretty hard to find, but I did see some Italian a/c mentioned:

Savoia-Marchetti SM.79
CANT Z.506B
FIAT CR.42
CANT Z.1007

Losses were pretty heavy on both sides by all accounts…

#7

I see, Thanks.

#8

The Fairey Fulmar was essentially an outgrowth of the Fairey Barracuda, itself a navalised outgrowth of the Fairey Battle.
The final member of immediate interest on the same family tree/lineage is the Fairey Firefly ( an outgrowth of the Fairey Fulmar) : which aircraft family in it’s own right we may justifiably regard as the ultimate “familial” expression of the Battle/Barracuda aircraft concept. With the Fairey Firefly series, they almost “got it right”, an unusual thing, for the British aero-industry, in naval aviation terms.

Kind Regards, Uyraell.

#9

This one is awesome fighter of royal Navy. I have never seen like that.

#10

I agree - I really would have like to see this used as a naval attack plane instead of as a fighter. Test pilot Erich Brown said it was stressed for divebombing; I would have liked to see the 500lb SAP bomb + divebombing cradle from the Skua put onto the Fulmar. Could have been done very early in the war. And with those big wings, it should be no problem to add cannon armament for improved anti-shipping ability, and to take care of any FW Condors while on patrol.
As for a naval fighter…there were a lot of Boulton-Paul Defiants produced; I would have converted some of these to single-seat (like the P.94) and add a fuel tank where the turret used to be, for a long-range naval fighter to complement the Fulmar. Looking at diagrams of the Defiant, it looks there is room for wing armament just with the wing joint, which could become the wing-fold for carrier use.
And both have that nice wide-track undercarriage.