Fairey Swordfish and Stinson Reliant - 'Navy Wings' 

A Fairey Swordfish Mk.I and Stinson Reliant Mk.I, arriving at Old Warden airfield for the Shuttleworth 'King and Country' Airshow, on Sunday 7th May 2023, the day after the Coronation of King Charles III.
The Swordfish is owned by 'Navy Wings'(Fly Navy Heritage Trust Ltd) - formerly the Royal Navy Historic Flight. The Stinson is owned and operated by Paul Kehoe and is an associate aircraft of the charity.
Fairey Swordfish, W5856, G-BMGC:-
W5856 is the oldest surviving airworthy Fairey Swordfish in the world. She first flew on Trafalgar Day (21 October) 1941 and was a “Blackfish”, built by Blackburn Aircraft at Sherburn-in-Elmet and delivered to 82 Maintenance Unit (MU) at Lichfield on 20 October 1941, for overseas transport to Gibraltar. It served with the Royal Navy’s Mediterranean Fleet for a year. It is likely W5856 was based at North Front, Gibraltar, carrying out patrols over the Straits. She was then returned to Fairey’s Stockport factory for refurbishment during winter 1942/43.
Used for advanced flying training and trials, W5856 was transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1944, again used for training, then stored in reserve after the War ended. It was disposed of and passed through the hands of at least two civilian operators, one being a farmer who had plans for a crop sprayer, before it was purchased by Sir William Roberts and moved to Scotland for his Strathallan Collection, arriving in August 1977 in a badly corroded condition.
In 1990 it was bought by British Aerospace (BAe) and restored to flying condition. Following a successful test flight at Brough in May 1993 she was gifted to the Royal Navy Historic Flight and 3 years later was adopted by the City of Leeds, in tribute to the local companies that built Swordfish components during WW2. She now wears the City’s coat of arms and name on her port side just forward of the pilot’s cockpit.
W5856 was grounded with corrosion in her wing spars in 2003. BAe stepped in and made a new set of wings which were delivered in 2012. W5856 was finally restored to full flying condition by a major grant from the Peter Harrison Heritage Foundation. The aircraft re-joined the display circuit in 2015, carrying a new paint scheme which depicts a Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron during the attack on the Bismarck in 1941.
Stinson Reliant 1 N69745, 42-46703, (FK877) :-
The aircraft was one of 500 military Gull Wing versions of the Stinson Reliant that were transferred to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease arrangements during WW2. The aircraft type was used extensively by the Fleet Air Arm between 1943 and 1946 for navigational training and as a communications aircraft for many second line units.
Built by the Stinson Aircraft Company of Detroit from 1933 onwards, this aircraft was produced and first flown in June 1943. It was one of 573 military Gull Wing versions transferred to the Royal Navy under the Lend - Lease arrangement during World War 2. It was one of the second batch of 250 Reliants delivered to the Fleet Air Arm, serving as FK877. It was used by the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm's 740 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) at Machrihanish and 703 NAS at Thorney Island between 1943 and 1946, for navigational training and as a communications aircraft. After the war most ex Royal Navy Reliant's were retired to the USA and sold to the civil market.
The Stinson Reliant is a high winged monoplane with seating for up to four passengers. The aircraft was extremely versatile with good performance and had an unwavering solid feel which was ideally suited for communication and training roles.This one is owned and operated by Paul Kehoe.
This Video and Audio content is
Copyright © 2024 StephenKeeler (HightFlight/SkyHighFlightTV) All Rights Reserved