The General Aircraft G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower was a British long-range patrol aircraft design of the immediate pre-
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
period. The Fleet Shadower was a highly specialized aircraft intended to follow enemy naval task forces over long times and radio back position information. However, the concept produced an ungainly and ultimately unsuccessful type. The
Airspeed Fleet Shadower
The Airspeed AS.39 Fleet Shadower was a British long-range patrol aircraft design that did not go beyond the prototype stage. A similar aircraft, the General Aircraft Fleet Shadower, was also built to the extent of prototypes. While the concept o ...
, built to the same requirement and of broadly similar appearance, also did not progress past the prototype stage.
Design and development
The G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower and the
Airspeed A.S.39 Fleet Shadower were produced to meet
Specification S.23/37, which came from the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's "Operational Requirement OR.52" for an aircraft that could shadow enemy fleets at night. Three other companies were also involved initially:
Percival
Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the G ...
,
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...
and
Fairey Aviation
The Fairey Aviation Company Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer of the first half of the 20th century based in Hayes in Middlesex and Heaton Chapel and RAF Ringway in Cheshire. Notable for the design of a number of important military a ...
. Following evaluation of the designs General Aircraft and Airspeed were contracted to build two prototypes each, General Aircraft contract dated 15 November 1938.
The specified performance of a successful design was a speed of at for not less than six hours. The design would also have to be able to operate from an aircraft carrier
flight deck
The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...
and hence use a folding wing configuration for easier deck storage. It would have to give good views for the observer and be quiet at cruising speed.
The G.A.L.38 and the A.S.39 designs were similar – both high-wing aircraft with fixed landing gear using four small
Pobjoy
Pobjoy Airmotors and Aircraft was a British manufacturer of small aircraft engines. The company was purchased by Short Brothers shortly before the start of World War II, production continuing until the end of the war.
History
Douglas Rudolf P ...
Niagara V engines spread across the wings to generate lift at low speed. There was an observer's position in a glazed compartment in the nose and a radio operator's station in the fuselage behind the pilot's cockpit.
The aircraft was fitted with various devices to increase lift; slotted flaps and slotted ailerons and, on the low wing sponsons, split flaps. The wings folded back, pivoted close to the fuselage, on hydraulic power.
Due to development problems at Pobjoy with the Niagara V, it was decided to use the lower-powered Niagara III civil version. The first G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower (also known as the "Night Shadower") flew on 13 May 1940 with the Niagara III engines. An innovative use of the "propwash" generated by propellers directed over the full-span flaps led to an impressive minimum speed of 39 mph (63 km/h) which would have allowed the Fleet Shadower to cruise effortlessly above an enemy fleet.
[Winchester 2005, p. 119.] During testing the aircraft suffered from aerodynamic stability problems, but not as bad as the Airspeed design which was cancelled in February 1941. The aircraft had major modification before flying again in June 1941 with the Niagara V engines; the three tail fins having been replaced by a single large fin. With the incomplete second G.A.L.38 being used as a spares source, test flying continued until September 1941. In October 1941 the company was instructed to scrap the second aircraft, and in March 1942 instructions were issued to scrap the prototype as well.
The concept of a fleet patrol aircraft was superseded by the wartime development of effective Air to Surface (ASV) radar that could be fitted in long-range patrol aircraft such as the
Consolidated Liberator I
Consolidated Liberator I was the service name of the first Consolidated B-24 Liberator four-engined bombers to see use with the Royal Air Force (RAF).
A small number of B-24s were purchased for the RAF but assessment showed that they were not ...
. In February 1941, the Royal Navy cancelled the project.
Specifications
See also
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
* Bridgman, Leonard, ed. ''Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1945-1946''. London: Samson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd 1946.
* Bridgeman, Leonard (ed). ''Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War II''. Twickenham, Tiger Books, 1998. .
* Butler, Phil. "The Night Shawdowers." ''Air-Britain Aeromilitaria'' Vol. 32, Issue 125, Spring 2006, p. 19-22. ISSB 0262-8791.
* Swanborough, Gordon. ''British Aircraft at War, 1939-1945''. East Sussex, UK: HPC Publishing, 1997. .
* Winchester, Jim, ed. "General Aircraft Fleet Shadower (1940)". ''The World's Worst Aircraft: From Pioneering Failures to Multimillion Dollar Disasters''. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2005. .
External links
Profile - Flying Slow - Fleet Shadower concept
{{GAL aircraft
1940s British patrol aircraft
Cancelled military aircraft projects of the United Kingdom
Fleet Shadower
Carrier-based aircraft
Four-engined tractor aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1940
Four-engined piston aircraft