The Flycatcher’s Rival – the Parnall Plover naval fighter
The Parnall Plover is a footnote in the Fleet Air Arm’s record. The Plover lost the competition to equip the FAA with a single-seat fighter to the Fairey Flycatcher, and […]
Author Archives: navalairhistory
When God of Thunder became Mighty Hunter
The Avro Vulcan was a truly versatile aircraft, whether as a part of Britain’s nuclear deterrent, a conventional bomber at low and medium altitude and even as a tanker. However, […]
The birth of modern Air-Sea Rescue
The Air Sea Rescue service that saved so many airmen in the Second World War could be said to have its roots in the early 1930s, with the development of […]
The Worst Specification Ever?
The specifications N.8/39 and N.9/39 must quite possibly rate as the most convoluted in the history of naval aviation. These two ‘sister’ requirements for naval fighters were first discussed in […]
Flying boat ‘lighter stunts’
The UK’s new aircraft carriers are once again mired in controversy, with spiralling costs and disagreement over which landing/take-off concept should be applied. The chance that Britain may be moving […]
The Fulmar in army co-op service
The Fairey Fulmar was a two-seat fleet-fighter in use by the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm between 1941 and 1945. It stood between the multi-role Blackburn Skua, which was quickly […]
Naval air-telegraphy at the start of WW2
Operating a radio in a naval aircraft at the beginning of the Second World War was no easy matter. Radio Telephony (‘R/T’) was a distant dream for naval aviators in […]
Falklands hardware today
Today’s news stories about the Falklands have prompted me to create a quick ‘photo essay’ showing some of today’s versions of the materiel that was in action in the South […]
Carrier Air and the Falklands
The vocal heat level around Falkland Islands sovereignty has definitely gone up in recent months. Tensions have been ratcheted up by various means: the refusal to allow cruise ships to […]
Fairey Barracuda wreckage and recollections
The Fleet Air Arm Museum, Yeovilton, has amassed a huge amount of Barracuda wreckage over the years, in the hope of gathering enough to rebuild a full aircraft. A plan […]
Barracuda rising from the wreckage
On the 27th October 2011, The Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton announced that after many years it is preparing for the restoration of a Fairey Barracuda torpedo bomber. The […]
In Memoriam Derrick Edwards, Fleet Air Arm pilot
I heard today the sad news that former Fleet Air Arm pilot Derrick Edwards had died late last year. Derrick had flown a number of Fleet Air Arm types during […]
Plus ca change…
The Fleet Air Arm has been destined to repeat scenarios imposed upon it by others, several times. Before the First World War the nascent naval air service was absorbed into […]
Welcome to Naval Air History
Naval Air History is a blog about marine and maritime aviation through the ages as explored by journalist Matt Willis. Naval aviation has always presented unique problems which have been […]
Naval Air History 