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Registration
or Serial:
AL 251
Operator:
Royal Navy / Fleet Air Arm; 802 NAS;
(FAA later renamed
Royal
Naval Air Service (RNAS))
Operating Base: RN HMS Landrail / RAF Machrihanish; HMS
Furious; Carrier-Borne, Mobile.
Base
Location: Machrihanish near Campbeltown, Argyll, Scotland.
Current Airport Status:
Operational Civil Airport; RAF Enhanced Care and Maintenance
airport.
Current Airport Name:
Campbeltown / Machrihanish Airport (EGEC)
(Principal airport data courtesy of
John Woodside,
A
Catalogue of UK Airfields)
Aircraft Type & Background
The
Grumman Martlet was a single-seat carrier based fighter aircraft.
Essentially, the Martlet was a modified version of the F4F
('Wildcat') used by the US Navy.
The Martlett Mk. I aircraft series entered service
with the Royal Navy (Fleet Air Arm) in 1940. These aircraft had been
ordered originally by France, but were transferred to Britain in
June 1940. This Mk. I version was equipped with four 0.5 inch
machine guns. Most of these Martlets were equipped with folding
wings for storage on aircraft carriers.
From 1940 until 1944, the aircraft continued to be
known as the Martlet. However, during 1944, it
reverted to its original US name of Wildcat.
In the early days of RN use, the Grumman Martlet was
associated with 804 Naval Air Squadron (NAS). The Squadron
embarked initially on HMS Glorious, but were transferred
later to HMS Furious at Campbeltown.
Aircraft Accident Details
Martlet AL251 of 802 Naval Air Sqdn. took off from Abbotsinch
(HMS Sanderling), Glasgow, on a
delivery flight to Donibristle (HMS Merlin), Fife. It crashed on 13/12/40 killing
the pilot Lieut. Godfrey F Russell who is buried in Douglas
bank, Dunfermline.
(This
information kindly provided by A. Leishman)
BELOW: US Navy
Grumman Wildcat F4F fighter
Photo : [no date] US Federal
Government photo released to the public domain. |
