Fairey Swordfish MkI W5856 carrying a 18" torpedo.
W5856 is currently painted to represent the Fleet Air Arms 820 Naval Air Squadron with Invasion Stripes.
This Fairey Swordfish is the oldest Swordfish still in existence having first flown on the 21st of October 1941 (Trafalgar Day). Orginally serving with the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet before being transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy in 1944 for use as a training aircraft till the end of the war.Â
After the war she was sold at least two civilian pilots before being sold to Sir William Roberts as part of his Strathallen Collection. British Aerospace brought her in 1990 to restore her to flying condition before they gifted her to Navy Wings in 1993. In 1996 the City of Leeds adopted W5856 as a tribute to the local companies who helped build Swordfishs.Â
In 2003 she was grounded by corrosion on her wing spars, however in 2012 BAe Systems built a new set of wings for W5856, with help from the Peter Harrison Heritage Foundation she was finally returned back to airworth condition with W5856 rejoining the display circuit in 2015.
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