The Westland Wyvern is a very distinctive British military aircraft. Depending on your viewpoint, it is either an ugly duckling, or an overlooked design, brimming with character. I admit, I tend towards the latter. In service, the Wyvern was a disappointing and at times controversial aircraft. A child of the 1950s, it served in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during the Suez Crisis, but pilots always had their reservations, and there were doubts as to her structural integrity. However, there is no doubt that the Westland Wyvern was an unusual British carrier-based aircraft, prototypes of which were built with both piston and turbo-prop power plants. During front line service, there were 68 accidents, 39 aircraft were lost, and there were 13 fatalities. Initially, the Wyvern was also prone to fuel starvation on catapult launch, the high g-forces proving too much for the original fuel delivery system. One particularly lucky Wyvern pilot suffered a flame-out during a steam catapult launch at sea. The aircraft fell over the bow of the carrier, HMS Albion, and was chopped in two. The pilot, Lt. B.D. Macfarlane, successfully ejected underwater and lived to tell the tale!
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