Barracuda book

Well written Brian,you have obviously done a lot of research on the Barra,it really was an odd looking machine and I am very glad that I never had to fly one,I would imagine a young inexperienced pilots first meeting with a Barra would require brown trousers.
Eric Brown did however think it was easy to deck land,ie once the power was cut..the a/c would ‘plant’ itself on the deck and remain firmly glued to it!!.

cheers baz

Barracuda book

You are correct in what you say, Baz, regarding the conversion from Swordfish to Barracuda, from a forgiving gentle aircraft to the complexity of the Barracuda , probably could be likened to tootling around town in mum’s Clio then jumping into Hamilton’s F1 racing car! It was certainly proved that later aircrew that trained on faster monoplanes had less of an attrition rate than those who were used to flying bi-planes previously, and the later Barracudas from the MKII onwards had more powerful Merlins.

There were many other problems that were found and ironed out in the earlier marks, including carbon monoxide ingress into the cockpit from the earlier model exhaust pipes , and indeed aircraft catching fire from overheating pipes until the smaller exhaust stubs were adopted. The wing-fold locking pins in earlier marks were of substandard manufacture resulting , on occasion, in wing fold failure under stress ; one such incident occured in the vicinity of my local naval air station resulting the the death of the pilot (an RAF W/O Pilot and two P.O Wrens whilst on a radio test flight.)

But then isn’t it always the case that during wartime particularly, abnormal pressures exist to get aircraft into production, and the navy, yes, had their particular requirements and specifications requiring the manning of their TBR aircraft which resulted often in compromise and resultant sub-standard performances. The old Barracuda fascinates me (like the Gannet!) but compare the Barra with the Grumman Avenger (even the early marks) …chalk and cheese.

And in conclusion, yet another worthwhile read comes to mind ‘Wings at Sea’ by Gerard A Woods, an Observer ,who at the end of the WW2 was CO of 822 Squadron, and he gives another interesting slant on the Barracuda in service.

Anyway that’s my slant on the Barra ; I’ve corresponded with a number of ex-Barra pilots, including Captain Brown and Dunstan (Doc) Hadley, and hope to put something into print in future on the FAA and it’s association with my local air stations,whose histories are fascinating and have gone largely unrecorded. Perhaps when I retire and time’s my own!
Cheers, Brian

identifying the cause and thus reducing the losses and fatal crashes when the aircraft flipped inverted without warning from dive recovery. Frightening to read, and which led to the Barra’s bad reputation that never left it thoughout its service career.

Brian

Agree with all of that but also the a/c was grossly underpowered and overcomplicated,I am not necessarily blaming the designers for that,the RN specs were tricky!

I believe there was also a school of thought that the dear old swordfish contributed to many accidents ,many pilots were used to the stringbags benign handling and simply could not cope with an aircraft which would bite if flown in a carefree manner.Ironically could this have contributed to the last Firefly accident ??

cheers baz

Barracuda book

I can also endorse Dunstan Hadley’s book,’Barracuda Pilot’ as an excellent read ; can also recommend ‘Carrier Observer’ by Gordon Wallace : first hand (and often scary) stuff on the Barracuda, including their service in the Far East, and last, but not least, Capt Eric Brown’s ‘Wings of the Navy’ has an excellent article on the Barracuda and his role in identifying the cause and thus reducing the losses and fatal crashes when the aircraft flipped inverted without warning from dive recovery. Frightening to read, and which led to the Barra’s bad reputation that never left it thoughout its service career.

Brian

I have read the book to which XM692 has provided a link and thoroughly recommend it. Both hair raising and funny in part, a good read. What it does highlight is how much effort went into training crews that subsequently flew a very small number of operations. There are a number of copies available on ABEBooks at quite reasonable price.

exmpa

I’ll second that, I’ve got a copy in my library that’s going nowhere till I kick the bucket. Also available from Crecy publications I believe. IIRC that’s where my copy was built. If I’m correct then you can obtain a copy through the AFE shops should you be anywhere near one. I’ll check when I get home and report back on Monday.

Lord Kilbracken’s book – I think titled Bring back my Stringbag – has some bits on flying Barras, but not a lot, I don’t think.

Not much help, I know. Sorry!

Adrian

Yes from memory he actually used the ‘F’ word about the Barra…they were truly appalling aircraft!!

Edit.. from memory also,that is where the book title came from,he was willing to do anything in a Swordfish but did not want to fly a F ****** Barra again (something like that anyway)

cheers baz

Many thanks gentlemen!

I have read the book to which XM692 has provided a link and thoroughly recommend it. Both hair raising and funny in part, a good read. What it does highlight is how much effort went into training crews that subsequently flew a very small number of operations. There are a number of copies available on ABEBooks at quite reasonable price.

exmpa

Lord Kilbracken’s book – I think titled Bring back my Stringbag – has some bits on flying Barras, but not a lot, I don’t think.

Not much help, I know. Sorry!

Adrian

This is the only one i can think of…….

LINK

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