The liner SS Berengaria passes the Calshot slipway as a handling party prepare to beach Fairey IIID seaplane N9495, from the first production batch of 50 aircraft to Specification 38/22. The powerplant was the 365 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII, although the 450 h.p. Napier Lion was also fitted in later batches. First flown in August 1920, the IIID was a highly successful aircraft, 227 examples being produced before production ceased in 1926.

Этот "Сифокс" в мае 1939 г. использовался на базе Ли-он-Солент как учебный
Fairey Seafox floatplane K8605 was photographed at Lee-on-Solent on May 12, 1939, when it was serving as a trainer with the FTF. Designed to Specification S.11/32 for a Fleet Air Arm two-seat reconnaissance seaplane, the Seafox was somewhat underpowered, having a 395 h.p. Napier Rapier VI 16-cylinder air-cooled engine, which, with its characteristic H arrangement of cylinders, gave the aircraft's nose a distinctive line. The Seafox was the first Fairey aircraft to be designed and built at the company's Hamble works, the prototype making its maiden flight on May 27, 1936.

"Сифокс" I вернулся из тренировочного полета, июнь 1938 г.
Fairey Seafox I K8573 of the Seaside Training Flight, Lee-on-Solent, returns to base on June 24, 1938. Taken on charge by the School of Naval Cooperation on June 22, 1937, it returned to Faireys on July 8 and joined the Coastal Command FAA Pool at Lee-on-Solent on June 24, 1937, subsequently being assigned to HMS Pegasus and then to 718 Squadron, a catapult unit, before it was struck off charge on May 2, 1939, probably as the result of an accident. A total of 66 Seafoxes were built, one of which, flown from HMS Ajax, spotted for the guns of the British cruisers during the Battle of the River Plate on December 13, 1939.

A magnificent shot capturing Supermarine Walrus I L2244 "36” at the moment of take-off at Lee-on-Solent, 1938. Affectionately known as the "Shagbat” and originally named Seagull V, this famous amphibian was designed to meet a 1929 RAAF Specification for a machine to replace their ageing Seagull IIIs. Walruses equipped nine Royal Navy ships by the end of 1936. L2244, delivered sometime after June 1937, went to 712 Squadron, whose 40 Walruses equipped Home Fleet cruisers.

Another Shagbat, this time L2191, seen with the Floatplane Training Flight at RAF Lee-on-Solent on May 12, 1939. One of the same batch of 168 Walrus is as L2244, the aircraft was originally assigned to 712 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, a catapult unit. The engine of the Walrus I was the 775 h.p. Bristol Pegasus VI air-cooled radial, driving a four-blade pusher propeller. The large fairing over the tailwheel enabled it to double as a water rudder.

Blackburn Skua two-seat fighter/dive bomber L2918 landed with its undercarriage up at Southampton (Eastleigh) Airport on November 20, 1939. This machine was one of a batch of 69 Skua lls, and was delivered to No 19 Maintenance Unit, St Athan between March 7 and April 13, 1939. Its engine was an 890 h.p. Bristol Perseus XII radial. The Skua, designed to Air Ministry Specification O.27/34, was the Fleet Air Arm's first British dive-bomber.

A fine air-to-air study of a pair of Fairey Swordfish Mk I torpedo bomber/reconnaissance aircraft, ca 1940. The foremost machine bears a serial commencing L79-- and the code "4A". Both aircraft are very probably from 828 Squadron, FAA. The torpedo crotches are visible beneath the fuselage and the wing racks, for flares or bombs, can also be seen. A 750 h.p. Bristol Pegasus 30 radial engine powered the "Stringbag".

"Альбакор" в полете
One of the 800 Fairey Albacores produced, this machine, coded 4Q, is probably N4421 (c/n F3963), from a batch of 200, and was photographed early in the war. Powered by a 1,130 h.p. Bristol Taurus XII sleeve-valve radial engine, the Albacore was produced as a replacement for the hardy Swordfish, but was overshadowed by its famous forbear and failed to supersede it, in spite of such benefits as enclosed and heated crew accommodation, hydraulically-operated flaps and a variable-pitch propeller. The prototype Albacore first flew on December 12 ,1938.