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Luckily they never faced a naval opponent with carrier-based air cover (the monoplane Devastator had its reputation killed at Midway, though the Avenger recovered from its inauspicious start), raids like Taranto were at night for maximum protection.It was a tough bird though and easy to maintain, could lug any type of ordnance you care to mention and as Tony says proved suited to small MAC flight decks later in the war. Skuas had some early success but lacked any growth potential to remain relevant.Monoplane vs biplane doesn't really seem relevant in some cases. Were Hinds and Hectors any less vulnerable than Lysanders for example? It would seem not based on the losses in France and ops in East Africa.But Swordfish and Lysanders had enough plus points to earn themselves a profitable niche in roles not originally intended - you can#t really design that in, that comes with a mix of sound basic design and luck.Conservatism runs deep in the entire history of Britain's aerospace industry, I'm not sure why but it seems to be the case even by many of those pioneer designers and founders that were at the heart of the initial aviation revolution. I don't think it helped that the RAE sometimes had a narrow view and tended to impose their ideas on wing profiles and aerodynamics.
Luckily they never faced a naval opponent with carrier-based air cover (the monoplane Devastator had its reputation killed at Midway, though the Avenger recovered from its inauspicious start), raids like Taranto were at night for maximum protection.
It was a tough bird though and easy to maintain, could lug any type of ordnance you care to mention and as Tony says proved suited to small MAC flight decks later in the war. Skuas had some early success but lacked any growth potential to remain relevant.
Monoplane vs biplane doesn't really seem relevant in some cases. Were Hinds and Hectors any less vulnerable than Lysanders for example? It would seem not based on the losses in France and ops in East Africa.
But Swordfish and Lysanders had enough plus points to earn themselves a profitable niche in roles not originally intended - you can#t really design that in, that comes with a mix of sound basic design and luck.
Conservatism runs deep in the entire history of Britain's aerospace industry, I'm not sure why but it seems to be the case even by many of those pioneer designers and founders that were at the heart of the initial aviation revolution. I don't think it helped that the RAE sometimes had a narrow view and tended to impose their ideas on wing profiles and aerodynamics.
