Andy,
This thread revived an old curiosity regarding the Sea Fury, the two-seaters in particular. In "Hawker Tempest and Sea Fury" by Robert Jackson, the single-seaters are referred to as F.60 and the two-seaters as T.61. There is no reference to serial numbers. Drawings are of the RAN variants and the only photo of a Pakistani aircraft is of Tempest F.2, A128.
Reference to the "Baghdad Furies" (not Sea Furies) and "four two-seat Fury trainers" made me believe that all two-seaters for Iraq and Pakistan were T.61 with separate windshields. (Of these four, two delivered to Iraq, one diverted to Pakistan and one converted to the T.20 variant with the interconnecting tunnel.)
This made me wonder where I had seen the photo of the Pakistani T.61, K850, before seeing it in this thread. After another search I found a second stored book on the subject, "Hawker Sea Fury in action - Aircraft Number 117 - squadron/signal publications". There it was! In this book, the single-seaters are referred to as FB 60 or Mk 60 and the two-seaters as T 61. The only reference to serial numbers is for the initial batch of FB 60s, L900 through L949.
Regarding the T 61 for Pakistan this book states:
Quote:
... along with five two-seat trainers designated the Sea Fury T 61. These aircraft differed from the Royal Navy T 20 Sea Fury trainer in that they had separate canopies and windscreens for each cockpit, an arrangement the Royal Navy had abandoned after an accident with the T 20 prototype. Four of the Sea Fury T 61s were new construction aircraft and the fifth was released from storage where it had been placed after being declared surplus to an Iraqi Air Force order.
Regarding the T 61 for Iraq this book concurs with Jackson that the original four T 61s were reduced to "a pair". However, it also states that:
Quote:
In July of 1951, a further twenty-five fighters and three trainers were ordered, although because of Royal Navy needs to meet operations in Korea, delivereies against this order did not start until May of 1952.
Jackson does not mention these three trainers.
There is a photo of an Iraqi T 61 and I qoute part of the caption:
Quote:
One of the three Iraqi Air Force T 61s on the ramp at Habbaniya Air Base.
...
Unlike Royal Navy T 20 aircraft, these retained the original twin canopies first tested on the prototype.
Here, three T 61s are referred to. If this book is correct it should be one of five since threre were two original plus three additional for Iraq, in addition to five for Pakistan, making the total ten T 61s, right? I don't believe that to be correct, too many contradictions and I believe Jackson is correct, or isn't he?
The above has in the past made me believe that all (seven) T 61s were the same with separate windshields but the photos of K858 and K852 in this thread are new to me and indicate that this is not the case. Now I believe that there were three with the separate windshields (two Iraqi and K850) and four with the interconnecting tunnel.
This answer could have been much shorter: Sorry but no, the only serial numbers I can confirm are those on the pictures in this thread.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
