FAIREY BARRACUDA MK. II 'PACIFIC FLEET'

The Fairey Barracuda was a British three-seater torpedo-bomber, all-metal high-wing aircraft. The plane was built in a high-wing configuration, which ensured good visibility and facilitated the attachment of overhead weapons. The prototype of such a plane was flew on December 7, 1940. It reached a maximum speed of 430 km / h! In May 1941. the prototype made test flights from the deck of the aircraft carrier HMS "Victorius". After minor faults in the prototype were removed, 24 aircraft, designated Fairey Barracuda Mk.I in 1942, were launched into serial production. The Mk.I version was powered by a 1260HP Rolls-Royce Merlin 30 12-cylinder in-line engine. A year later, in 1943, another version of the aircraft, marked with the symbol Mk.II, entered production. It had a new 1680HP Rolls-Royce Merlin 32 engine. It also had a reinforced airframe structure compared to its predecessor. It was also the most widely produced version of the Barracuda - as many as 1,688 copies were made. In 1944, the last mass-produced version of the Barracuda-Mark III was created. It was a machine designed for ZOP operations, with a centimeter ASV Mk.X radar. The last version, the Mk.V, was made only in 30 copies and featured a new, powerful 2020KM Rolls-Royce Griffon 37 engine. In the period 1942-1945, 2,602 aircraft of this type were built. After World War II, the Barracuda aircraft was used as a training machine. Technical data (version Mk.II): Maximum speed: 367 km / h, speed of climb: 4.23 m / s, maximum ceiling 5080 m, practical range: 1104 km, armament: fixed - two 7.7mm Vickers machine guns , suspended-torpedo weighing 740 kg or 820 kg of bombs.