Fairey Flycatcher

The Fairey Flycatcher was a British single-seat biplane fighter built by the Fairey Aviation Company for operation from aircraft carriers, and it served with the Fleet Air Arm from 1923 to 1934. It was designed to Specification N6/22 as a carrier and floatplane fighter to replace the Gloster Nightjar, and it beat the Parnall Plover that was built to the same requirement. The first of three prototypes flew on 28 November 1922 with an Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar engine. It was one of the earliest aircraft designed specifically for carrier work, with flaps along the full trailing edge of both wings that let it operate from only about 50 yards of deck, hydraulic wheel brakes and arrestor hooks, and a fuselage of wood and metal with fabric covering. The wheels could be swapped for floats for catapult launching from capital ships. Around 192 were produced and it flew from every British carrier of its day. No original aircraft survives, but a 1977 replica is held by the Fleet Air Arm Museum.