NOTE: RADIO CONTROL AIRPLANES ARE ON THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE PAGE.
The Fairey Barracuda became operational with the Royal Navy during the second World War, operating as a torpedo and dive bomber from aircraft carriers.
It was the first all metal monoplane British torpedo bomber.
In order to operate from small escort carriers, the aircraft were fitted with rocket assisted take off.
The Mark III, first flown in 1943, carried a surface sweep radar for use against enemy shipping. This proved especially effective in detecting enemy submarines.
The aircraft may be best known for their role in the crippling of the German battleship Tripitz in Kaa Fjord, Norway on April 3, 1944.
Despite heavy enemy defensive fire, the 42 aircraft flight scored fifteen bomb hits on the battleship, putting it out of action for three months. Two were lost in the operation.
Fairey Barracuda aircraft became operational in the Pacific Theatre in April of 1944. They were particularly effective when used against enemy positions in preparation for landings on the island of Sumatra.
Some 2,572 of the aircraft were produced making the Fairey Barracuca one of the ugliest mass produced aircraft in the world.
dive bomber
three
RR Merlin 32
1,640 hp
39' 9:
49' 2"
9,800 lbs.
14,080 lbs.
2 x .303 inch
1 x 1,640 lbs.
210 mph
240 mph
1,400 fpm
21,760 feet
1150 miles
12/7/40
1943
Control Line Airplane
C/L Airplane scratch built by E. Fallini.
Radio Control Airplanes:
Nitro Planes has a rc Barracuda RTF (ready to fly) foamy for sale that is made by Lanuy, China. It is also available at a number of other sellers. If this scale model interests you, it may pay to shop around.The Barracuda airplane has a wingspan of 35" and a length of 29 1/2".
Power comes from a 370 type motor. It is available in brown or gray colors. Weight is about 17 oz.
Pictured immediately above is the magnificent control line Barracuda scratch built by E. Fallini. It should make an easy conversion to a RC Airplane.
The first picture below is of the Barracuda rc airplane scratch built by Steve Griffith. It has a wingspan of 37".
Construction materials used are balsa and hard woods. All up weight is 25 oz.
Langanese of RC Groups said he was building a rc Barracuda radio control airplane. It was to have a 54" wingspan and use electric
power. We have tried to contact Langanese for more details, and hopefully pictures of his rc Fairey
Barracuda and are awaiting his reply.
There is a rc "Air Rage Barracuda" advertised at some retailers. It is the typical toy junk that gives rc scale model airplanes a bad name. It is
made by Interactive, Hong Kong, and does not even resemble a Fairey Barracuda.
The next two pictures are of the rc Barracuda built by Massimo Rickler. He writes: "Hi,
my name is Massimo Rickler, I'm 46 years old and live in Torino (Italy). Here is my RC electric powered Barracuda: the model is almost completely CNC cut foam
build and then covered with light paper; 4 channels + flaps. I used an outrunner brushless motor "Hacker
style" KDA20- 22L (made in China) with a 18A ESC; 6 HS55 servos. Span 123cm (48.4"), length 105cm (41.4"),
weight 750gr (26.4oz), lipo 3S1P 1700mA. I will paint the model in the 2 colors Royal Navy scheme (1950)."
John Bruno writes: “I live in Cardiff and fly with the Gaer Park MFC on the outskirts of Newport. I've got a rc electric "Barra" you might want to see.
It's an own design as most will be, and flies beautifully. The only thing I had to do was to cut the elevator throws down as the pitch control was was too coarse
for comfortable operation. It uses a Czech made AXI copy at 400W on 14.8 volts. The power comes from a 4000ma 4 cell 20c pack. The scale model rc airplane weighs in at 2.5
kg and spans a convenient 58" and is 50" in length. I'm well pleased with both it's handling characteristics and it's appearance in flight as you keep an eye on
the speed. The rc Barracuda is currently grounded while I attend to some canopy alterations.” John's rc Barracuda can be seen in the last picture below.
Has anyone seen any other rc Barracuda radio control airplane? It may not be
beautiful, but with its high wing and reasonably long nose and tail moments, a Fairey Barracuda rc airplane
would probably fly like a trainer.
If you have built a rc Fairey Barracuda, or know of one, please let us know about it too.
Fairey Barracuda
