upload exactly 40 years after the picture was taken

On 12 May 1955 crashed shortly after take-off from Kaufbeuren Air Base, Germany, and burned, killing the three crew. The crash was deemed to be as a result of pilot error. The date range is for the time the Fairey Gannet was in service with the German Navy, as the date of this photo is not known. Photo via Mike Klaver.

On display at the Luftwaffenmuseum. The peculiar shaped Gannet had cranked wings and tail finlets, hardly looking aerodynamic but it served well in the RN carrier search and strike role. The aircraft was powered by a Double Mamba 101 engine with complicated gearing that drove contra-rotating four-bladed Rotol propellers. Double-folding wings in a 'Z' shape were another interesting feature. The launching hook can be seen under the leading edge. This Bundesmarine ASW Gannet was UA+110 ex-RN XG849, one of 15 AS.4s and one T.5 flown by Marinefliegergeschwader 3 (MFG-3) at Nordholz from 1958-66.

Fairey Gannet AS4, ex-XG853 Royal Navy in German Marineflieger colors.

Fairey Gannet AS Mk.4

Ex XG849. Not delivered to the Royal Navy but diverted to the West German Navy. Preserved in false marks from June 1998, the actual serial being UA106.

The trees are growing and it becomes difficult to take a photo of this exhibit.

Entered service in 1957 then sent for storage at Belfast in 1962 and scrapped there in1964.

Propped up, waiting to be mounted on a new pole!

Fleet Air Arm XG849, not delivered. To Bundesmarine (German Navy). Previously in the Luftwaffen museam as "UA+106", these days correctly marked UA+110.

The German navy never commissioned an aircraft carrier, but the Marineflieger was installed with British carrier aircraft - Sea Hawks and Gannets - in the 1950s.

No aviation museum can have too many Gannets as far as I'm concerned! This example served as a submarine hunter with MFG 3 but was permanently grounded in1966 and found her fate was to be the gate guard at the Nordholz base for the next 30 years. She has been replaced in that role by a Breguet and so has moved across the road to the Aeronauticum museum.

This Gannet was originally intended for the Fleet Air Arm as XG849 but was never delivered, rather transferred to the Bundesmarine as UA110 (UA+110). She now wears the fake serial UA+106 as part of the super Luftwaffenmuseum der Bundeswehr at Gatow.