Fairey Barracuda (Torpedo/Dive bomber)

[Louis]

Machinery One Rolls-Royce Merlin 32 liquid-cooled V12 engine rated at 1,640hp
Armament: 2x7.7mm Vickers K machine guns, 735kg bomb/torpedo carrying capacity
Crew 3 / Speed, Maximum: 340 km/h / Range, Normal 1,165 km

 

[Louis]

 

[mTk]

I did not know...
Well, if a B-25 could take off of a carrier I guess one of those beasties could too.

 

[Gunner]

Wondering where you might see one of these.....

"After its withdrawal from service during the 1950s, no intact examples of the Barracuda were preserved despite its once-large numbers, although the Fleet Air Arm Museum has ambitions to assemble a full reproduction."

 

[Louis]

Training on runway that simulated the deck of an aircraft carrier.

 

[Gunner]

Am I crazy or is that bus all decked out to look like a ship with masts, funnel, portals and even a life boat?

 

[Nort]

My guess is that the bus is intended to replicate the conning tower of the aircraft carrier.

 

[Louis]

Am I crazy or is that bus all decked out to look like a ship with masts, funnel, portals and even a life boat?

Yep, I have looked it up on the web and it is as Nort says. Royal Navy officers 'aboard' 'HMS SPURIOUS MARK II' - a bus converted to resemble the island of an aircraft carrier. The bus is being driven along a runway at Royal Naval Air Station East Haven at Carnoustie, Scotland. Also it could be driven down a runway to simulate a moving vessel to help trainee carrier pilots learn to land on a moving deck.

 

[Gunner]

Thanks luis.

That would make a grand float in a parade.