The Forgotten Fighters by Phil H. Listemann

Author:Phil H. Listemann
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Aviation
ISBN: 9782918590569
Publisher: Philedition
Published: 2015-08-02T16:00:00+00:00

Kingcobra FZ440 replaced FR408 when the latter was lost in a flying accident. It remained in natural metal finish for its entire career with the RAE.

Some equipment installed on FZ440 to evaluate the practibility of the laminar flow wing in service. Note the upper wing roundel has been erased.

THE GRUMMAN GOBLIN

The Grumman Goblin was actually the export version of the Grumman FF-1, a two-seat fighter biplane ordered by the USN in the mid-thirties. This version was called GG-1 by the manufacturer and one was built as company demonstrator. In November 1936 the GG-1 was modified and sold to Canadian Car & Foundry (CC&F) as G-23. This company had decided to open an assembly plant line for the manufacture of aircraft and obtained, at the same time, a licence to produce the export variant of the FF-1/SF-1. The SF-1 was the scout version of the FF.

Despite commercial efforts, sales did not follow as expected and the first real chance to sell the G-23 in quantity came from Spain as it was now facing a bloody civil war. The Spanish Republican Government was interested in purchasing the first forty copies but soon added ten more G-23S. Due to the embargo on sales to Spain, the order was placed with the help of Turkey. Eventually, 34 of the fifty reached their destination between May and April 1938 where they would equip two squadrons. However, in the meantime, the Canadian Government realised what was going on and the true destination of these aircraft. The last sixteen aircraft were loaded and ready to be shipped out when the Canadian Government decided to step in. The sixteen airframes were disembarked and temporarily stored on the dock at Saint John (New Brunswick). The story of the Goblin in RCAF service started at that point. CC&F tried to sell the aircraft to the RCAF but it was already totally obsolete from the RCAF’s point of view. This attitude changed abruptly when war broke out in Europe and the decision of the Canadian Government to enter the war on 6 September 1939. At that time the RCAF was about to embark on a massive expansion but was short of aircraft of all kinds and fighters in particular. The RCAF decided, with no great enthusiasm, to acquire the fifteen remaining aircraft (one had been sent to Mexico in October 1939). The time taken to fix all of the details, including the delivery of the airframes with Canadian specifications (which included three of them with dual controls), led to the delivery of these aircraft in October 1940. They were to equip a single fighter unit. They received the serials 334 to 348 in the RCAF nomenclature and were given the nickname of Goblin.

The unit selected was No. 118 (Fighter) Squadron which was reformed officially in December at Rockcliffe (Ottawa). The previous year the RCAF had intended for No. 115 (F) Squadron to take on the Goblin but the delays had obliged a change of plans. Flight Lieutenant Eric W. Beardmore took command of 118 Squadron.

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