FAIREY SWORDFISH TYPE O.6/A 1248 HAND BEARING COMPASS

For the Fairey Swordfish's Observer/Navigator and gunner, obtaining a fix on the aircraft’s position in relation to its target was critical to the success of the mission and the safety of its crew.

In flight, the navigator had to plot fixes every 6 minutes, calculate wind velocity and direction every 20 minutes and give the pilot any course and speed changes needed to arrive at their turning points and target on time.

Fortunately, the Fairy Swordfish was equipped with a range of navigation including ‘fixed' compasses - one directly in front of the pilot’s control column mounted upside down under the overhanging padded instrument dash with the readings reflected in a hinged mirror. The other was mounted to the rear bulkhead of the observer/gunner compartment.

These were supplemented with a bubble sextent used for taking star and sun sights, together with a Drift Indicator (which provided information on the rate of aircraft drift in relation to its heading)

Another navigational aid carried aboard in its own padded, wooden carrying box was the aircraft’s Hand Bearing Compasses.

The Fairy Swordfish carried four of these which were positioned at each corner of the rear cockpit in their fuselage contoured holders, for quick access to establish a target bearing and for use in obtaining a compass bearing on two or more predominate land marks along the aircrafts’ flight path to obtain what is called a ‘running fix’.

Left: A fourth hand-bering compass still in its wooden carry box is lifted up for placement in the rear navigator & gunners open cockpit. The other Type O.6/A comapsses are already in place in their contured fuselage holders.

The observer  would take note off the direction of the bearing through the adjustable prism mirror as it was reflected up from the floating compass card. The markings on the compass card are reversed so that they appear correctly in the prism mirror. Once three directional ‘fixes were obtained, the navigator would mark these along a ruled line representing the aircraft’s flight path.

Using the map’s compass rose, a line was then drawn from each of the land marks and their compass bearings and where the lines crossed in the commonly called ‘peaked hat’ triangle - indicated the aircraft’s approximate position on the chart.

The Air Ministry issued Type O.6A Head Bearing Compass was also carried by the RAF’s heavy bombers

The ‘O’ represented the Observe or Navigator and each compass featured either the early, wooden handle which was later modified to carrying an internal battery and bulb providing nighttime illumination for the prism compass reading or the later, all-metal handle with internal bulb and battery.

This Air Ministry Type O.6A Hand Bearing Compass comes complete with its original Air Ministry stamped, padded wooden carrying box and whilst its compass fluid has evaporated, the compass card still revolves as it should. The prism lens still moves on its gimballed hinge and the wooden handle unscrews from the base of the compass unit.

This is a rare artefact of WWII Royal Navy aviation history and mounted on its 100yr old mango wood display stand complete with a highly detailed 1/72 or super detailed 1/48 custom-built scale model of this iconic WWII naval biplane bomber, plus detailed Fact Sheet - you have the perfect, original gift for any aviation enthusiast.

This Fairey Swordfish Instrument comes complete with detailed Scale Model, Mango Wood Stand & Plaque plus Printed Fact Sheet featuring photo of instrument in aircraft cockpit.

* Note that this Fairey Swordfish instrument is pictured with a 1/48 highly detailed scale model rather than the standard detailed, but smaller 1/72 scale. Click on the 'Model Upgrade' option at the top of this page for the larger 1/48 scale or the Super Detailed 1/32 scale upgrade.

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