Fairey Aviation Co: Battle
Note: This is a sub-section of Fairey Aviation Co
Battle
1936
Light bomber. Powered by the same 1,030 hp Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave the contemporary Spitfire its high performance; however, the Battle was weighed down with a three-man crew and a bomb load. It was slow, limited in range and highly vulnerable to attack. The prototype Battle first flew on 10 March 1936. When the RAF embarked on the pre-war expansion programme, the Battle became a priority production target with 2,419 ordered. The first production order was for 155 Battles, built to Specification P.23/35 with the first production aircraft completed in June 1937 at Fairey's Stockport factory. It was tested at their Manchester (Ringway) facility.
Production Battles were powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin I, II, III and V, and took their Mark numbers from the powerplant (ie., a Battle Mk II was powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin II).
Later production to Specification 32/36 was 1,029 aircraft produced by the Austin "Shadow Factory" at Longbridge.