Fairey Gannet AEW.3 aboard HMS Ark Royal (R09), circa 1973

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AggressorBLUE@reddit

Fun fact: the first engine was usually started with a start cart, and the second was started by taking the prop out of feather and windmilling it in the prop wash of the first.

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maxcelcat@reddit

I've seen the Anti-Submarine version at an air museum. Probably the most fugly aircraft I've ever seen. Huge and funny looking.

There's one in flying condition in the US. The startup process involves firing up the engine that runs the front prop - the Double Mamba is effectively two turboprops squeezed together - then using that to spin the rear prop and hence the other engine! The owner reports it uses 25 gallons of fuel taxing to the runway.

Bonus fun fact: the AS version could be armed with nuclear depth charges!

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Late-Application-47@reddit

Could it have theoretically been used as an attack aircraft similar to the A-1 Skyraider? Surely removing that belly bulging radar would leave space for a rather accommodating bomb bay.

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Odd-Principle8147@reddit

Crane style

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Itaintall@reddit

If it looks right, it is rig...... Never mind.

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MegaPegasusReindeer@reddit

¯\(ツ)/¯

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Rooilia@reddit

"Are you gpnna fly today?"

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Barblesnott_Jr@reddit

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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Sharp-Ask-5101@reddit

The ugliest thing that has ever flown

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IndependenceStock417@reddit

Walk like an Egyptian

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christophewellington@reddit

The Gannet was one of the first Airfix models I made when I was a youngster in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Now in my sixties, I have a die cast version of the same, both 1:72 scale. This plane got under my skin and stayed there.

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brigadoom@reddit

Airfix have a 1/48 scale kit if you want to add to your collection

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brigadoom@reddit

They needed steam-powered catapults to get them airborne like this. Then the wings were unfolded in flight. Narrow flight-decks, you see.

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IllustriousWedding94@reddit

It's wild that this is one year after the F15 Eagle took its first flight.

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Raaka-Kake@reddit

Different jobs for different birds.

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IllustriousWedding94@reddit

More relevant I will throw the Tomcat in as having flown around 3 years prior.

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Raaka-Kake@reddit

Does it also prolong loiter by shutting down the other engine?

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FranciscoDisco73@reddit

It uses less fuel by shutting down one half of the engine and feathering the propeller.

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AP2112@reddit

To be fair the Gannet had been in service for 20 years by 1973, it wasn't new.

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IllustriousWedding94@reddit

Yep, absolutely fair. I didn't expand on my point but it's really that 1953 to 1973 advances look very different to 1973 to 2026 advances.

I remember being fascinated by the Gannets when reading about Ark Royal as a kid, and being absolutely gutted when the ship was retired and scrapped. (Off topic apols)

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