THE FAIREY "FLYCATCHER": This machine, variously fitted with "Jupiter" and "Jaguar" engines, is used extensively by the Fleet Air Arm. It has also been produced as a seaplane and as an amphibian.
The Fairey Flycatcher was the Royal Navy’s only fighter from 1924 until 1932, and proved extremely popular with its pilots, offering a compact, highly manoeuvrable and robust machine which could be easily adapted as a land plane, floatplane or amphibian. Here, S1280 of No 403 Flight takes off from HMS Glorious in 1930.

This classic study of Flycatcher N9928 by Charles E. Brown captures the curiously attractive essence of the type, despite its decidedly odd configuration. The metal forward section and the slightly upward-cranked wooden rear section, with its distinctive low-aspect-ratio fin, look as if they are parts of two different aeroplanes.

After its brief sojourn in Argentina, the original S1284 was returned to the UK and re-integrated into Royal Navy service as S1590, as seen in this rare photograph. Coded “513”, it was damaged in a collision with another Flycatcher in May 1932. After repair it went on to serve with No 801 Sqn, before disappearing into obscurity.

The Flycatcher entered Royal Navy service with No 402 Flight in 1923, and became a popular item at flying displays because its Jaguar engine had short stub pipes from the exhaust valves and no collector ring - which, when added to the supersonic tips of its fixed-pitch Fairey-Reed metal propeller, created quite a noise in a dive.

The best of all worlds? The Flycatcher was convertible into an amphibian, with fixed-axle wheels protruding from a point ahead of the step of the twin floats, and a skid mounted at the rear of the latter. The sight of a Flycatcher apparently taking off from a grass airfield on floats must have caused double-takes for the uninformed!

Floatplane Flycatcher S1291 was part of the same batch as the original S1284, and is seen here operating from HMS Enterprise. Note the larger fin and rudder fitted to the floatplane to offset the effect of the floats. Detachable fin and rudder units enabled the Flycatcher to be readily convertible from landplane to floatplane.