The Antarctican Navy had its own aircraft manufacturing plants from 1920 and was responsible for the design and building of its own aircraft. If a 'Navy' design was better than the rest then the Army and Air Force might take and produce the same design in their factories for service. The three services produced both the Hornet and Wasp, while the Army and Navy produced the Vengeance, and only the Navy produced the Albatross and Cormorant.

The first aircraft used on the Antarctican Carriers were 'navalised' versions of land aircraft. Landing on an aircraft carrier was completely different to landing on an aerodrome ashore. The ship was constantly on the move from the action of the waves. Not just up and down, but also corkscrew motions could be encountered if the wind and sea were not co-operating. When landing on the stress on the aircraft could be anything from landing like a feather to a hammer blow as the deck rears up on a wave and smashes the undercarriage - normally resulting in a write-off as the aircraft careers down the deck running into solid things, or straight over the side.

A note to the aircraft shown below. Where I have sourced the FD Scale aircraft from Shipbucket, the original artist(s) have been noted. Where it is something I have sourced off the internet, with no artist name attached, then resized and re-coloured, I have left the drawings un-credited. The 'Planebucket' sized aircraft shown with the larger aircraft are classified as 'parts' by Shipbucket and may be copied and pasted to any drawing without need for crediting.


FIGHTERS


AAC Cobra 1923

The Cobra was a new concept. None of the elegant lines of earlier fighter aircraft. Strap as big an engine, as available, on the front of a small aircraft, wind up the rubber band and see what happens. What happened was one of the fastest, most manoeuvrable fighters of its time. The torque from the engine was such that constant alterations of course were required, in flight, and the aircraft seemed to snake through the air - living up to its name. The Cobra's diminutive size meant that it only had a smallish petrol tank. When the engine was run at high revs, the tank emptied very quickly. Armed with two machine guns it was lethal in the hands of an experienced pilot. Inexperienced pilots wrote off a lot of aircraft. The Cobra was a difficult ride.


AAC Challenger 1924


The Challenger was a more traditional fighter when compared to the Cobra. But in saying that, the Challenger had almost twice the range, and also, could be used as a scout, fighter, and light bomber. A much more versatile aircraft. Something was required to escort the bombers to their targets.



AAC Venom 1932


The Venom was the last of the biplane fighters built for the Navy. It only lasted two years in service as a front line fighter before being replaced by the Tarantula. However, the Venom served longer as it was used as an advanced training aircraft. Easy to land and take off, with few vices, it was perfect for novices to learn how to fly a fighter. It also remained on board the Bancroft as part of that ships aircraft complement right through to the start of WW2.


AAC Tarantula 1934


The Tarantula was the first true monoplane fighter for the Navy. None of these fighters lasted long as front line aircraft, being replaced in service just a few years later by the latest and greatest. What this did mean is that the secondary squadrons used for defence purposes around the coasts of Antarctica would have good aircraft to train local pilots on.


AAC Scorpion 1937


The Scorpion was a basic all round fighter. Nothing outstanding. It was definitely an improvement over the Tarantula, faster, climb better, dive faster, just as manoeuvrable. Where it was better was in its armament, eight machine guns in the wings instead of the four on the Tarantula. It could also carry a better bomb load or the new drop tanks for extra fuel.


AAC Whirlwind II 1941


Produced under license from the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation of Australis. The Whirlwind II was a long range strike fighter. At 390mph, it was faster than most fighters of the time and with the four 20mm cannons in the nose it packed a punch. Beside the cannons, the Whirlwind II could also carry either bombs or drop tanks in the wing roots, and/or 60lb rockets on the outer wings. In Scout mode the Whirlwind II could cover huge areas at reasonable speeds. When it did discover something, the Whirlwind II was fast enough and manoeuvrable enough to avoid the enemy Combat Air Patrol, and still report its discovery. When used as a strike fighter, shipping up to cruiser sized vessels were considered 'prey'.


AAC Hornet 1941


The Hornet was the most advanced fighter when it entered service. 50mph faster than the latest 390/400mph fighters in other countries. The Canard layout and pusher engine, gave high speed and manoeuvrability second to none. In service its range proved detrimental and a fix was devised to remedy this. A permanent 'drop' tank was designed and fitted to the end of the wing. This originally slowed the Hornet down but the speed was recovered shortly thereafter with an uprated engine. The same four 20mm cannons in the nose as the Whirlwind II gave an armament better than most fighters of the time. Small bombs or extra drop tanks could be carried on hard points under the wings.


AAC Wasp 1944


The Wasp was the jet engined variant of the Hornet. Speed skyrocketed. From the Hornets 450mph, the Wasp made over 540mph. The handling of the Wasp made it a better fighter than the Me262, but the 262 could survive better than the Wasp with its heavier armour, construction and similar speed. Both had four 30mm cannons in the nose.

AAC Wasp undergoing trials with the Army. Red -v- Blue, aircraft sporting the different coloured roundels for identification purposes



Dive Bombers / Fighter Bombers


AAC Nemesis 1924


The Nemesis and Challenger shared many common parts. The Challenger being designed as a single seat Fighter variant, the Nemesis as a two seat Fighter Bomber, Scout, dive bomber.


AAC Revenge 1936


First monoplane dive bomber, the Revenge fought the first two years of World War Two before being replaced by the Vengeance. With four forward firing machine guns and one in the rear cockpit, these aircraft were used as Scouts as they would have the chance of surviving an encounter with an enemy Combat Air Patrol. Many survivors from the front lines went on to be trainers, target tugs and anything else they seemed suited for. Due to their long range, the Revenge was often used by senior staff to attend meetings and then return to the Carrier Fleet.


AAC Vengeance 1940


The Vengeance was a bigger and sturdier aircraft than those that came before it. Armour for the pilot and observer/gunner, bigger fuel tanks. bigger wings for more lift, heavier bomb load, better armament, all went into the best dive bomber / scout aircraft the AAC had produced. With a 1,000 pound bomb under the fuselage and two 500 pound bombs under the wings, the Vengeance could do a lot of damage with its precision bombing technique. Four 20mm cannons in the wings gave it an armament the Vengeance could blast a way through enemy fighters to get to the target. A machine gun in the rear cockpit gave the gunner/observer something to do.


Torpedo Bombers


AAC Vulture 1922


First aircraft to be designed and built by the Naval Aircraft team. The Vulture was a big dependable aircraft that could deliver its payload to the target in a slow and stately manner. Armament was the one rearward firing machinegun operated by the observer / gunner / radio man. Busy boy. Carrying either a torpedo under the fuselage, or one 1,000 pound bomb under the fuselage with two 250 pound bombs under the wings. The Vulture stayed in service longer than most of the aircraft of its time.


AAC Eagle 1936


First monoplane torpedo bomber the Eagle was designed to be able to operate from the smallest to the largest aircraft carriers. Its main job was to deliver its torpedo into the sides of enemy warships, or its bombload onto enemy decks or positions. But as things like anti-submarine warfare became more advanced these aircraft could carry depth charges and patrol around the fleet and convoys ready to depth bomb any submarine sighted. These aircraft were continued to be produced after the Albatross entered service as that aircraft could not operate off the CVL's and CVE's. The armament was fitted to give it a chance to survive with two 20mm cannons in the wings and the machine gun in the rear cockpit.


AAC Albatross 1941


The Albatross was designed as a two seat Torpedo Bomber. The twin boom tail and pusher engine gave the aircraft a distinctive look. Without its payload the Albatross could make 375mph, very fast for a torpedo bomber. With bombs or torpedo aboard it could still make 320mph. As a defensive armament the Albatross had four 20mm cannons in the nose. Woe betide any fighter silly enough to find itself in front of the business end of the Albatross. The different payloads could be the 21" torpedo housed in an inlet nacelle for streamlining purposes. Two 1,000 pound bombs could also be fitted in the same area as the torpedo occupied. Depending on the mission, eight 60lb rockets could be carried under the wings with the bomb or torpedo armament.


AAC Cormorant 1944



The Cormorant was the jet engined version of the Albatross. The layout of the Albatross made it a natural for 'jetification' (how's that for a word!). Not unsurprisingly speed increase markedly with the Cormorant making over 470mph. There were not many fighters around in late 1944 that could go that fast. The biggest problem with the early jets (including the Wasp) was figuring out how to retard the high landing speed enough so that they could safely land on an aircraft carrier. Eventually this was cured with the angled deck for landing on. (See ANS Grand Admiral Weddell - when I build that class)


Float Plane

AAC Marlin 1939


The Marlin was produced for shipboard use and replaced the previous biplanes. It was an armed reconnaissance aircraft that gave the Area defence Vessels a 'fighter'.
A shipboard/seaplane version of the Eagle gave a light bomber / reconnaissance aircraft.




Straight deck -v- Angled deck. A bad landing on a straight deck puts you either over the side or into the crash barrier - either event writing off your aircraft. The beauty of the angled deck is a bad landing - put on the power and go around again. The other important thing with angled decks is that you can still launch aircraft from the bow catapults while aircraft are landing on.