Fairey Barracuda

Barracuda - Courtesy IWM

This week Naval Air Historian Matt Willis joins us on the show to discuss his new book on the Fairey Barracuda a mono wing fleet air arm torpedo bomber from the second world war. Designed to be a mulit functional aircraft, the ‘Barra’ suffered reputational challenges from its perceived weaknesses. However, it proved itself many times and flew well into the ‘50’s.

This is of course the aircraft my father flew late in the war and relayed many of his memories and stories to us in his segment a while ago. 

Not a single complete airframe is left of the 2,600 Barracuda’s built but there is a project being delivered by the Bluebird team and supported by the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton to recreate a lasting memory to this both beloved and sometimes sneered upon aircraft. To Pieter, it is of course the chariot on which his father flew the majority of his fleet air arm missions and activities and therefore remembered with a little more fondness than others.

Matt can be found at www.navalairhistory.com and on Twitter@NavalAirHistory.
Matt’s published books include: Blackburn Skua and Roc andJunkers Ju 87 Stuka.
Naval History Links:

• Fairey Barracuda Wreckage and Recollections
• Barracuda Rising From the Wreckage
• The Royal Navy Historic Flight