I’m always liked British airplanes, and Gannet was one of my favorites. I’d like to build some antisubmarine one, but Revell latest model don’t produced anymore and very hard to find and Trumpeter’s is inferior almost in every aspect. Then I saw Sword’s 1/72 AEW version. Short-run, but rather good one and has operators working place (almost unseen on finished model, but hey, I know it’s there).

It was a pleasant build in good company of fellow modelers. Some fit issues here and there, but rather small for a short-run, resin parts were perfect. I wish I had third-party landing gears and resin wheels for this model, because OOB ones was bad. Some troubles were with decals, decals were very thin, and I ruined some of them. And this model needs A LOT OF NOSE WEIGHT.

As for real aircraft, AEW version of Gannet was built for replacement of AEW Skyraider which was considered obsolete by the late 50s. The intention was to use the Gannet as a stop-gap measure prior to the acquisition of a new, purpose-built system intended to be used on the planned new generation of aircraft carriers. Therefore, it was intended to undertake as little in the way of modification as possible - the AN/APS-20 radar from the Skyraider would be mounted in a radome under the fuselage of an ordinary Gannet AS.1, with the associated electronics and space for two operators inside. However, the size of the radome meant that the existing airframe was too close to the ground to accommodate the radar, and so a significant modification to the fuselage was required. This involved removing the observer's cockpits and creating a new cabin within the fuselage; this was accessed via a pair of hatches next to the trailing edge of the wing, which also meant that the exhausts had to be moved from this position to the leading edge; increasing the total area of the vertical stabilizer to compensate for the instability caused by the radome; and extending the length of the undercarriage to increase the clearance for the radome, which consequently increased the aircraft's overall height by 3 ft (1 m), and gave the aircraft a more level stance than the anti-submarine version. Such were the extensive modifications required that, in December 1954, it was suggested that the AEW version be renamed as the Fairey Albatross, as it was to all intents and purposes a completely different aircraft from its ASW predecessor. As it was, by the time the Gannet AEW was entering service, the ASW version was in the process of being replaced, avoiding any potential confusion. The Gannet continued in service until the final decommissioning of Ark Royal in 1978 - a Gannet of 849B Flight was the last aircraft to be recovered by the ship on Saturday 18 November 1978. The withdrawal of Ark Royal meant that there was no longer a platform available in the Royal Navy to operate the Gannet, and hence 849 Naval Air Squadron was disbanded in December 1978, leaving the Royal Navy without embedded airborne early warning. I think in upcoming Falklands War Royal Navy not once regretted this decision.