Fairey Barracuda

what is it?

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy to be fabricated entirely from metal. The Barracuda was developed as a replacement for the Fairey Albacore biplanes.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 15 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 386 km/htop speed
• size 6,396 kgmax take-off weight
• built 2,607made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 86 years ago, in 1940.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 15 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1940-12-07

introduced

1943

retired

1950

status

retired

number built

2,607

role

torpedo bomber, dive bomber

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Blackburn Aircraft, Fairey Aviation Company

engines

1× Rolls-Royce Merlin 32 / Rolls-Royce Merlin

crew

3

length

12.1 m

wingspan

15 m

height

4.6 m

max take-off weight

6,396 kg

top speed

386 km/h

cruise speed

314 km/h

range

—

ceiling

4,877 m

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.