Ugly Aircraft Friday ...

[WIX_Archive]

So ugly I didn't bother to research it. - Mark Allen

[quemerford]

GAL Fleet Shadower; Pobjoy engines.

[phil65]

I think it's kind of cute...

Phil

[p51]

Looks like something a kid with no concept of how an airplane should look, would draw.

[Michel Lemieux]

ohhhh....the flying hunting lodge????

[JohnB]

Though it is not, it looks like one of the sub-scale aerodynamic prototypes the Brits were so fond of back then.

[Mark Allen M]

The General Aircraft Fleet Shadower was a British long-range patrol aircraft design of the immediate pre-Second World War 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, built to the same requirement, also did not progress past the prototype stage.






Wings folded? .... nope! still ugly.


So Ugly you start to see double.

[Snake45]

Looks like something a kid with no concept of how an airplane should look, would draw.

Funny, my first thought is that it would make a great kids' playhouse or playground feature.

[LysanderUK]

As a Brit, I apologise on behalf of my country...

[Hooligan2]

As a Brit, I apologise on behalf of my country...

Be proud that we could fearlessly inflict such an image on an unsuspecting world.

Then go and look up New Zealand's Bennett Airtruck...

[Rick65]

When reading anything involving pre end of WW2 naval actions I have to underline to myself that radar was limited or non existent and beyond visual range opponents often did not know where the opposition ships were. Aircraft carriers were not common and were also often not part of battle groups so the ability for aerial reconnaissance was limited.
Ships and fleets could "disappear" with their locations not known to their opposition until they showed up or were located, often by luck.
These obsolete before they flew beauties were a niche response to this, in theory able to slowly (airship like) follow a fleet out of AA and land based patrol aircraft range and keep track and report on the fleets location and activities.
Not much future for them as patrol aircraft ranges increased.

[L-188]

It does allow the business of fleet shadowing, general or specialized shadowing of any kind to be accomplished in a civilized fashion. I'd say. with all that room one could take along a few members of ones shadowing club and still have room for a humidor and a small kitchen as well as staff. Good show.

[Mark Allen M]

As a Brit, I apologise on behalf of my country...

No need to apologize!!!!

The Bellanca 77-140 Bomber (namesake to its function, it could carry 2,200 lb / 1,000 kg of bombs and used a defensive armament of two .30 caliber machine guns) was built in small numbers in the United States in the late 1930s. It was a derivative of Bellanca's Aircruiser civil transport, but the Aircruiser's single, nose-mounted engine was replaced by twin engines on the upper wing. The Colombian Air Force bought a small number, including a float-equipped version dubbed the 77-320 Junior.

[Scott Rose]

Again, something new that I've never even heard of.

[Lynn Allen]

Never knew one would need a multi engine for a deer blind? Wait until Flight Safety see this opportunity...