General Aircraft Fleet Shadower

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General Aircraft G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower
Type	Carrier-based fleet shadower
Manufacturer	General Aircraft Ltd
Maiden flight	13 May 1940

The General Aircraft G.A.L.38 was a British long-range patrol aircraft design of the immediate prewar period.

1 History
2 Specifications
3 References
4 External link
5 Related content

[edit] History

The G.A.L.38 Fleet Shadower and the Airspeed A.S.39 Fleet Shadower were produced to meet Specification S.23/37, which came from the Royal Navys "Operational Requirement OR.52" for an aircraft that could shadow enemy fleets at night. Three other companies were also involved initially: Percival, Short Brothers and Fairey Aviation,

The specified performance of a successful design was a speed of 38 knots at 1500 ft for not less than 6 hours. The design would also have to be able to operate from an aircraft carrier flight deck.

The G.A.L.38 and the A.S.39 designs were similar - both high-wing aircraft with four small Pobjoy Niagara V engines spread across the wings to generate lift at low speed with fixed landing gear. There was an observer's position in the nose and a radio operator in the fuselage.

The first G.A.L.38 flew on 13 May 1940 with Niagara III engines, the V's not being available, in February 1941 the Royal Navy stopped the project.

[edit] Specifications

Data from [1]

General characteristics

Crew: 3 (Pilot, observer, radio operator)
Length: 36 ft 1 in ()
Wingspan: 55 ft 10 in ()
Height: 12 ft 8 in ()
Wing area: 472 ft² (43.85 m²)
Empty weight: 6,153 lb (2791 kg)
Loaded weight: 8,591 lb (3897 kg)
Useful load: 3305 lb (1500 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 9458 lb (4290 kg)
Powerplant: 4× Pobjoy Niagara III air cooled radials, 130 hp (99 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 115 mph (185 km/h)
Cruise speed: 94 mph
Stall speed: 39 mph (63 km/h)
Range: 990 m (1593 km)
Service ceiling: 6,000 ft (1830 m)
Rate of climb: 390 ft/min (119 m/min)
Wing loading: 20.0 lb/ft² (97.8 kg/m²)
Endurance': 11 hours

Armament

none

[edit] References

Fleet Air Arm archive accessed 5 feb 2007
Bridgman, Leonard, ed. Jane’s All The World’s Aircraft 1945-1946. London: Samson Low, Marston & Company, Ltd 1946.