[DCRanger]

Originally Posted by jim

Steady on old boy, I know the wings are an oil based product (we dont use the word plastic) but I doubt Corgi could have done this any other way.

Here is a story my relative told me about life aboard the Ark Royal and operating Swordfish.
Although the weather was bad and a storm was on its way, a recce mission had to be flown so a Swordfish was readied and dispatched.
On its return the Ark turned into wind and called in the Swordfish.
Fred (my relative went up on deck with his team to await the Swordfish's landing so as to get it below as the weather was worsening all the time.

He stood there for some time but could not see the Swordfish, after a while he checked with the radio room as to the whereabouts of the plane.
Dont worry sir they said, the pilots just radioed to ask if we can slow down a little because he is having trouble catching up to the ship, he has been 15 miles astern for about 20 minutes now but is making little progress.

The Captain refused to slow down because of the threat of submarines but instead did a couple of very big zig zags and thus the plane was safely received.
I dont profess to understand the technical details but Fred told me that the landing was a superb display of airmanship because conditions were so bad at the time that it was considered impossible and the pilot had been given the option to ditch (not much of an option I would have thought).
Evidently the pitch of the ship was 30 foot on its axis giving 60 foot stern to bow variable, (you navy guys might understand this better than me) but I think he meant the rise and fall of the stern was 60 top to bottom!
The pilot landed the Swordfish without a problem and Fred said the wind was so strong he swears it hovered over the deck before touching down.
It was the slowest deck landing he ever witnessed.

All this happened as they made passage through the bay of Biscay, where the fleet (Force H) was hit by a storm that was the worst ever recorded by a modern fleet.
He said that it was an "interesting" time on the Hanger decks during that storm.
Just as a footnote,
He had nothing but praise for the Swordfish and its engine, quote, it was called Stringbag (because it carried anything) but dont let the name put you off, this was a tough sturdy reliable aeroplane that could fly in the worst of weather over great distances and always get the crew home safe.
Easy to maintain, with a simple engine that never stopped going, despite the open cockpit all the aircrew and pilots loved the old girl.

NB there is a film in existance of Force H taken during this storm , the Ark looks like a cork bobbing about and as it runs down into the troughs it disappears from view for a few seconds and then rises up on the next huge wave.
That should give you some idea of how bad the storm was.

There are other similar incidents sadly without the happy ending, in really strong headwinds they just couldn't catch up. The cold in those open cockpits could also be a problem. On some occasions such as on the Arctic convoys the crews, when they landed had to be lifted out because they were too cold to move. What is odd is that Swordfish used in Canada for TAG training were fitted with an enclosed cockpit to make them better suited to Canadian winter weather. I've yet to find an explanation as to why they were never fitted to operational aircraft.