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Everyone Hates This WW2 Fighter, But Is It Justified? | Blackburn Firebrand

Rex's Hangar

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Today we take a brief look at the unlucky (and often scorned) Blackburn Firebrand. Consider this a sneak peek at a longer Deep Dive video that is in the planning phase for this poor thing.
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Recommended Reading:

Jackson.A.J (1989), Blackburn Aircraft Since 1909.
Mason.F.K (1992), The British Fighter Since 1912.
Butler.T (2000), Blackburn Firebrand (Warpaint Series).
Thetford.O (1991), British Naval Aircraft Since 1912.

20 Comments

@RexsHangar Creator 9 months ago Pinned

Is Rex a Firebrand apologist? The future deep dive will reveal all! (Or will it?)
Q&A / Request Section - Ask your questions, or post suggestions, here :)

@Hgulf 9 months ago

I don‘t hate it. I had no clue it did exist.

@francis9469 9 months ago

hello Rex, we have some part of a Firebrand were i work at Newhaven Fort (i am the collections custodian). We have a propeller hub that is from aircraft EK724 of 827 Squadron Fleet Air Arm. On Sunday 18th May 1952, she took off from RNAS Ford in West Sussex for a routine flight when it ran into engine trouble, and the pilot crash landed in the sea off Peacehaven. The pilot was rescued by HSL 2557 from Newhaven’s MCU1107 but the plane sank. In 2009 the propeller hub was trawled from the seabed and donated to the Fort. As far as i am aware itx the largest above sea level part of a Firebrand in the country. =)

@migueldelacruz4799 9 months ago (edited)

I have always loved the appearance of the Firebrand. It looks like if Jaguar tried building an A-1 Sky Raider.

@majorbloodnok7127 9 months ago (edited)

Okay, I'll say and I don't care what else anyone says, I think the Centaurus-engined Firebrand, with its statement tail, looks fantastic.

@patrickols 9 months ago

“Did his best to adjust to the Air Ministry mood swing”

I swear very few YouTubers can phrase things the way you do 😊

@johnscarsandstuff 9 months ago

I'd never heard of the Blackburn Firebrand before today. I get the impression that a lot of "bad" aircraft came about because the Air Ministry either kept changing the specification, or asked for features that were mutually incompatible.

@proteusnz99 9 months ago

I think Capt Eric Brown gave his usual succinct, precise summation of the Blackburn Firebrand: "Built like a battleship. Unfortunately it also flew like one."

@wideyxyz2271 9 months ago

Anyone who disses Blackburn has to remember they went on to design and build the Buccaneer. I rest my case.

@ald1144 9 months ago

That thing looks like if I asked AI to draw me a Sea Fury.

@daabbett1600 9 months ago

Firebrand and wyvern would be deep dives to look forward too

@plunder1956 9 months ago

When one considers the endless hoops, loops, twists and double Dutch changes in specifications that Blackburn were forced to deal with - I'm surprised they managed to build anything that flew.

@rudolphpyatt4833 9 months ago

Now that I think about it, the Firebrand should have been the Fleet Air Arm equivalent to the USN’s Douglas AD/A1 Skyraider. In final specification, that’s essentially what it was.

@thatawkwardfeeling9076 9 months ago

Probably someone's favorite plane

@greghardy9476 9 months ago

It was like a ball player that had to keep changing their training requirements every couple of weeks until it was ready then told they had been replaced before they ever took the field.

@yumazster 9 months ago

Somebody should make a management game in style of Buzz Aldrin's Race to Space but depicting the horror of being an aerospace engineer. Random events like 'Specification Bureau Huffing Glue Again' and 'You don't Get Your Engines Again' as a core element of gameplay.

@drstevenrey 7 months ago

13:52. Those two dudes in War Thunder casually stand seriously close to that propeller. One wrong move and their heads will be found three post codes away.