"Those who touched the skies and tasted the salt of the seas." Wow! What an eloquent turn of phrase. 🗣️👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

this video gives deserved credit to a basically unknown plane and it's pilots,well done.

Thanks for making this segment. As mentioned, carrier operations in the Med were often eclipsed by WW2 US carrier operations in the Pacific and the hunt for the Bismarck. So the segment is a welcomed contribution.

@salamander163

5 ай бұрын

a catalina plane locate the Bismarck

@womble321

5 ай бұрын

British carriers could take bomb hits. US carriers were wrecked or sunk.

@womble321

5 ай бұрын

​@@salamander163that was cover we allready knew where it was as they told us with radio messages. They had to make sure the Germans saw them so they didn't realise we could read their transmissions

@vanmust

5 ай бұрын

Thank you.....lets not forget that during the 1st and the 2nd U boat "Happy Time" allied crews of both ships and aircrafts were frustrated and tried hard to show some positive results by either overclaiming or false reports..to be honest (I passed many times a couple of miles away) Alboran was a flat islet with a hut where fishermen used to store nets and later grew into a lighthouse... somehow resempled a submarine especially during twilight.....don't know it's present state though

A lot of the deck scenes were Fairey Firefly FR1s - armed with 4x20mm cannon in place of the Fulmar's 8x.303sMGs The Firefly replaced the Fulmar from 1943 onwards

@jeannotschumacher1024

5 ай бұрын

How is it posdible that britain kept in service such a crap plane as the fulmar

@hammer1349

5 ай бұрын

​@jeannotschumacher1024 simple necessity. A fleet or aircraft can't be replaced overnight nor can the pilots be retrained. Its similar to why the swordfish was kept in service long after it perhaps should have been.

@rawnukles

5 ай бұрын

thumbnail pic is also a Firefly I believe

I had the dubious honour of helping to prepare the last remaining fulmar for flight in the early sixties at HMS Fulmar (RNAS Lossiemouth), until some clown (not me) put modern hydraulic fluid (OM15) into it. It later did fly after a total replumbing of its hydraulic system and I believe it now resides at HMS Heron (RNAS Yeovilton).😊

@Skinflaps_Meatslapper

5 ай бұрын

That's actually pretty awesome, it may not have appeared glamorous at the time but you not only got to see the end of its long career, you also had a hand in its final send off.

@Free-Bodge79

4 ай бұрын

Good man.👊💛👍

@johnchambers573

19 күн бұрын

😊​@@Skinflaps_Meatslapper

The last Fulmar operated by the FAA was on HMS Campania by 813 squadron in 1945 where they had been using them as night fighters. Some versions of the MkII and the NF MkII had 4 x.50 cal Brownings instead of the .303's.

@geordiedog1749

4 ай бұрын

This is true. They dropped the fifties because of poor cold weather performance.

It's nice to see a video that introduces new knowledge. An aircraft type I had heard of but knew nothing about.

Eric Brown: A total legend. Its unlikely anyone will ever fly more types and hold more varied and crucial military aviation roles as the great man. I'm proud to share his surname

@cedhome7945

5 ай бұрын

Needs a block buster film of his life story if he was American that would have been made already

@mackenshaw8169

5 ай бұрын

My Mother's side are Browns. A proud sept of the McClouds.

@TomFynn

5 ай бұрын

Everyone: This thing cannot be flown. Eric Brown: Hold my tea.

@chrisgoblin4857

5 ай бұрын

A wide and varied group us Browns haha. Eric was a proper legend and I share your sentiment 100%.

@trevormccarthy9019

5 ай бұрын

Maybe Hanna Reitsch would be a close second

I had only heard a few things about the Fulmar. I had no idea it was as involved as you have pointed out. Thank YOu for filling in the blank spots.

Almost all of this footage is of Fairey Fireflys, not Fulmars. For some odd reason I always liked the Firefly and was very excited because even the thumbnail is of a Firefly.

Any old iron any old iron Any any any old iron Talk about a treat Chasing ‘round the fleet Any old eyetie or hun you meet Ways 6 tonnes No rear gun Sod all to rely on You know what you can do With your Fulmar II Old iron old iron. (From a nailed on Fulmar fan)

Plenty of Fireflies here but thanks for highlighting the Fulmar. Next up? The Firefly please.

The best channel period for these type of historical presentations of beautiful war technology from all sides....

Best video in the Dark series I've seen! Script is 💯% Well edited and mixed. Great work team Dark!!!

Great narrative. Great research. Thanks for this. I've never even heard of the Fairy Fulmar. Don't know why, I've always loved aircraft. Maybe because Airfix never made a model of it! Thanks again.

Interesting that you mention it's involvment with the Bismark however, I kind of liked the part the Fairey Swordfish, commonly called The Stringbag, played in disabling the Bismark's rudder system that pretty much made it a sitting duck. Read the book, "To War In a Stringbag". Pretty freaking intersting. So darned slow that the Bismark's automated tracking systems could not track slow enough to keep it in the gun's sights.

Excellent video, one of your best in my view!

Not a Aircraft man but I believe that one of the Naval Aircraft involved in the final demise of the Bismarck was the Swordfish which because of its slow airspeed aided its attack of the pre mentioned battleship. Aussie Jeff Moore

A most interesting article. Unfortunately, half of the film shown was not of the Fulmar, but of its successor the Firefly.

Good story - thanks for sharing it with us.

It is amazing to think of the advancement in engines & aircraft from the Hawker & Fokker biplanes of 1926 to 10 years later and the Spitfire & Me 109 of 1936.

it's *wild* this is the first time i've really heard of this thing... i feel like between war thunder and my general obsession with wwii fighting vehicles i should've heard something before now, considering its service

Thank you for this.

Thanks. Wasn't aware of the Fulmar's history.

The Fulmar had a marginal role as a spotter aircraft during the chase with the Bismark. It didn't drop a bomb or torpedo. The damage was done by the Swordfish bi-planes that damaged the steering of Bismark

and when it's down to half the fuel capacity, it's known as a half fulmar

Thankyou. Interesting video.

8:05 "... powered by a single Rolls Royce Merlin, a beast in itself..." *shows footage or a jet engine tachometer and afterburner*

10:05 - I think that's a Firefly. Nore the four cannon. Also 10:15, 10:20, 10:26, 12:18, 13:15, 14:11, 14:14. The Firefly was the follow-on design, it had a RR Griffon engine, and the air intake under the nose was further forward, flush with the front of the cowl.

@paulkelk5142

5 ай бұрын

you are correct most of the footage of the Fairy Firefly their are quite a few surviviors mainly in the UK, Canada and Australia and i think there are single examples in India and Thialand too

@JosipRadnik1

5 ай бұрын

There is about as much footage of Firefliies in this video as there is of Fulmars. To be fair though: there exists much more footage of Fireflies than of Fulmars to begin with but still....

@Easy-Eight

5 ай бұрын

Yep, most of the footage is of Fireflies. The Firefly was used over the Pacific in 1945. You'd be a deadman if you flew a Fulmar against the IJN.

@gregorydefrances5336

5 ай бұрын

Almost all of the footage here of "Fulmars" is of Fireflys

@PaulP999

5 ай бұрын

welcome to the useless editing of all the "dark" videos - Dark Skies, Dark Seas etc they all got a girl from the mailroom to throw some pix together - usually you get cold war for WW2 or the reverse. They don't care.

I saw a Fulmar a the static display for the Reno Air Races last year impressive looking plane for sure.

@robertvanryn5746

5 ай бұрын

That was actually a later fairey firefly- the fulmar’s successor. Bad video editing showed mostly firefly footage.

What aircraft will you show when you cover the Fairey Firefly.

Sound research of Dark Skies is often spoilt by the inaccuracy of the video behind the dialogue. Many of the aircraft depicted in this episode are of the Fulmar's successor, the Firefly, which are easily identified by the 4 20mm canon and the raised pilots cockpit canopy.

God bless you all from Adelaide Australia with love and appreciation 🙏❤️🕊️🇦🇺🦘😊

AGAIN ? The thumbnail is a Firefly, not a Fulmar, and both were fighters. Neither could do much against a battleship.

I fancy Myself as a decent aviation buff and I had never heard of this aircraft nor it's history or role. Thanks.

Firefly. These are FIREFLIES! Stop grinding my gears.

Some of your film show the Fairy Firefly, these are the ones with 4 20mm cannon in the wing, 2 in each wing

Most excellent upload. The WW2 generation had nerves of STEEL.

Most of these Fulmars are Fireflys.

Good doco'let.

Which battleships did this plane kill? Clickbait title...

@Fnorden

5 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing

@fawnlliebowitz1772

5 ай бұрын

Dark Skies don't know the difference between DD, patrol craft or a BB.

@philipliethen519

5 ай бұрын

The entire “Dark” series has scrapped the barrel-bottom clean & now spins trivia or outrightly makes stuff up. [sigh] another channel unsubscribed. BUT the were good when they had substance.

@brettt8246

5 ай бұрын

A bit clickbaity, but the Fulmars did shadow the Bismarck while waiting for the Fairey Swordfish, (a totally outdated design) to drop Torpedoes, which slowed it up and allowed the British Battleships to catch up and sink it in the Bay of Biscay. So, you could say they helped. A bit.

@charlesharper2357

5 ай бұрын

@@brettt8246 Ridiculous.

I like your channel but please don't use clickbait titles

@dirtfarmer7472

5 ай бұрын

Yes, that is truly irritating

Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown flew more types of aircraft as a test pilot than any other pilot in the world. His total was 482 including his basic training aircraft type. Just a bit of Rubbish History I know.

@raypurchase801

5 ай бұрын

Both you and I are fountains of useless nerd-knowledge.

@antonysteel8061

5 ай бұрын

‘winkle’ was a legend, RIP sir

@mikep4566

5 ай бұрын

And it's accepted that no one will ever surpass those 482 aircraft he flew@@antonysteel8061

@user-vj7el2wg9b

4 ай бұрын

@@antonysteel8061 Check out the Museum of Flight at East Fortune, if you get the chance. Possibly their most interesting exhibit (for me at any rate) is the actual captured Me163 he flew in. Brown was the only Allied pilot to fly the Me163 under rocket power. It took a brave man to do that!

Can you tell me where the video at 11.17 is taken from please? I ask because the naval officer shown with the binoculars and tobacco pipe is the spitting image of my grandfather who was a British naval officer during WW2.

What a confused video. But thanks for shout out to the Fulmar (even though you mainly show Fireflies - even in the thumbnail)

A few shots of the much better Firefly there.

Thank you: that was all news to me.

I have a rather nice MPM 1/48 scale model of this aircraft!

11:55 Various sources seem to suggest that only 3 Fulmars were ever lost to single seat fighters, so the assumption here that Fulmars lost against the Japanese were shot down by Zeroes may be incorrect, and they were probably shot down by Kates and Vals instead or were destroyed on the ground.

So, what made it a battleship killer? Did I miss that part?

@barryfrancis7421

5 ай бұрын

it's dark skies, almost always crap.

Too much footage of Fulmar's successor, the Fairey Firefly, can be misleading. Although based on a similar specification (FR) and described as a World War II aircraft, the Firefly was a different aircraft, mainly from the early Cold War period (in service from 1943 (F/FR Mk I) to 1958).

How many flying battleships did it kill?

Are the aircraft with the Maple Leaf insignia such as at 7:05 actually Fairey Fireflies rather than Fulmars?

Talks about the prototype being powered by a RR Merlin. Shows clip of turbojet engine exhaust...

A much steadier and more polished delivery. Well done and keep it up.

Exactly how many battleships did the Fulmar sink/kill?

@jedironin380

5 ай бұрын

Apparently none?

@antonyberry1632

17 күн бұрын

None

Sometimes, just being good enough enough really is, good enough.

the armoured deck thing was due to them operating in range of german land based bombers. much trickier to hide in the Med rather than the Pacific

@aaronleverton4221

5 ай бұрын

Turned out to be perfect for the Pacific, where kamikazes could sink a wooden-decked US fleet carrier, but bounced off steel-decked RN carriers.

I could not find the names of the battleships the Fairey Fulmar sank in WW2, not even a cruiser or a single destroyer!

matapan is a very interesting scrap

Incredibly large amount of shots of the Firefly for a Fulmar video.

There is a constant fight even today between the RN, and the RAF about just who should have what aircraft.

Just open this up.

Most of what Im seeing looks like Fireflys. Fulmar did not have gun barrels protruding in front of the wings.

RN FAA with it's wings clipped? You could argue the same today. Fair enough they have just stood up their first F35B squadron but I worry it is too little too late sometimes. Only one thing. Most of the time you are saying Fulmar and showing film of the later Firefly.

A fairly good video, I've never heard of the Fulmar before. However, it apparently never once killed a battleship, and they never said what armament it was fitted with??

@taffwob

5 ай бұрын

It's armament was 4x0.303 machine guns in each wing, in a similar fashion to the Hurricane but with a larger ammunition load. Some were fitted with 2x0.5 machine guns in each wing.

Something about the narration audio was off on this vid. Was a bit "blurry" and hard to hear individual words.

"The Flying Battleship Killer" the video clip leaves out which battleships she sank. I was previously familiar with this plane end It definitely made big contributions to the war but I was unaware that it killed battleships.

So when did this plane EVER kill a battleship?

@christopherhill4438

5 ай бұрын

I didn't see any flying battleships!

Not sure where the ‘Battleship killer’ line comes from as it seems that never happened.

I love the me-110

What's the story of the maple leaf on the side of the planes between 9-10 min (9:47). Curious Canadians would like to know :)

Ahh check facts. It was not 7,500 feet, but 7,500 meters. Kind of big difference in altitude.

"while your trembling pupil grips for the deck..."

@colinscutt5104

5 ай бұрын

Gropes but close enough

I swear half of this footage is the Firefly 2 seat fighter

So if this a video about the Fairey Fulmar, why was most of the footage of the Fairey Firefly?

'Battleship killer' turns out to have been click bait, it seems.

In the swirling currents of the 1930s....Such an act!

The majority of the carrier video's, show the Fairey Firefly not the Fulmar. Although a decendant of the Fulmar, a very different aircraft. Cheers

Don't fool us! Many of your film clips feature the Fairey Firefly and not the Fulmar

LHR should’ve borrowed a few of Fairey’s proving grounds runways, ha…Never heard of this aircraft ✈️ manufacturer ‘til now. 😉👍✌️

I take exception to the repeated negative comments on the Fairy Battle sir. Why just 30 Fairy battles could have easily won the battle of Omdurman by themselves, perhaps with as little as 15% losses.

With those big maple leaves 🍁 on the fuselage, those Fulmars have to be from a Canadian unit.

Music for this?

8:08 lol...rolls royce merlin 3 with afterburner?

I thought this was going to be about the swordfish

Why do you keep showing images of the later Firefly?

@user-vj7el2wg9b

4 ай бұрын

Just a guess, adriansmith3139, but maybe there isn't any footage of the Fulmar?

Are those RCAF? I see the maple leaf on them?

Is that a V1 at 8:42 ??

Fulmar looks like an early relative of the Firefly ???

"Taste the salt🧂 of the 🌊 sea"... Lol 😂 he even repeats it as it is so good... Don't get me wrong, I love this guy 🤣👍

,..........."that never ever killed a Battleship "

I do not understand why it had to be so large. Even if they wanted a second crewman, I do not see why it had to be so big. I would not have liked to have been the navigator in one of those if attacked by a single seat fighter. There would be nothing you could do.

So how many battleships did this airplane kill? I counted zero. 🤔

The Corsair was a late war plane? Didn't roll out in 42?

@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2

5 ай бұрын

1942 that is about half time for WW2 so late war is a reasonable label.

@F1lmtwit

5 ай бұрын

@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2 THE US entered the war on December 7th, 1941... late war?

@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2

5 ай бұрын

@@F1lmtwit The war in Western Europe started in 1939, the war in China even earlier, so 1942 is about half way through the war.

I'm sure the thumbnail is a firefly

What battleship did Fulmar kill?

@narabdela

5 ай бұрын

Just the usual bollocks. The Fulmar never harmed any battleships. I'm beginning to think that a lot of this guff is AI generated.

How is the Bismark infamous? Infamous does not mean "Non-English speaking".

Britain never had a shortage of aircraft carriers, Britain IS an aircraft carrier, it would have been more so had they kept the channel islands. Out past the outer Hebrides their aircraft reached far into the north Atlantic

"The Flying Battleship Killer" ... so why was there no info on the Fulmar's special ability to "kill battleships" !??

@patgould2586

5 ай бұрын

Another reason why I'm a little tired of the latest Dark Skies videos. There was nothing special about the Fulmar, and from the words of an RN pilot from WW2, this airplane was USELESS.