@ Speyer, Germany
November 2022
Touring the wonderful collection at the Speyer Technik Museum brought me face to face with this Fairey Gannett anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The most striking feature of the Gannet is the twin turboprop powerplant driving two contra-rotating propellers. It was possible to shut down one of the engines in flight to reduce fuel consumption and extend the aircraft’s range. The Gannet also had a sizable bomb bay and was the first British naval aircraft capable of storing all its primary munitions (other than rockets) within an internal bomb bay. This example was built in 1958 for the Royal Navy but was diverted to the West German Navy (Bundesmarine) instead. The Bundesmarine operated a fleet of 16 Gannet aircraft until their retirement in June 1966.