Info: Canadian Car & Foundry Goblin

[Robert Hurst]

Hi

In 1941, an extraordinary situation arose in which the RCAF found itself operating what was ostensibly a fighter squadron on reconnaissance and coastal patrol duties with an aircraft built for the attack role that the service had neither ordered nor wanted. Indeed, but a few months prior to the delivery of the aircraft, the RCAF was uncertain as to the role that these warplanes would undertake, and was demanding to know from the manufacturer why they were being painted in standard fighter finish. In the event, the type concerned the Canadian Car & Foundry-built Grumman GE-23, was never to see combat with the RCAF, but its story was indoubtedly unique among aircraft that saw first-line operational service with the Allies during World War II.

Officially named Goblin by the RCAF, the GE-23 reached the Canadian service by a most circuitous process. Its origins dated to 1930 when the fledgling Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation broke fresh ground by initiating the design of the G-23, a tandem two-seat shipboard fighter biplane which combined fully enclosed cockpits with a retractable undercarriage. Ordered by the U S Navy as the XFF-1 on April 2, 1931, the G-23 was delivered on December 29, 1931. It featured an all-metal monocoque fuselage into the sides of which the mainwheels retracted, the wings comprised aluminium alloy spars and ribs with fabric covering, and the metal-framed tail assembly had light-alloy covered fixed surfaces and fabric-skinned rudder and elevators. Powered by a Wright R-1820-E Cyclone nine-cylinder radial rated at 600 hp, the XFF-1 attained 314 kph (195 mph) at sea level, a substantially higher speed than that attainable by any single-seat shipboard fighter then available to the US Navy. This was boosted to 324 kph (201 mph) in October 1932 with the installation of the more powerful R-1820-F of 650 hp, and on December 19, 1932, the US Navy placed a production order for 27 FF-1s with the 700 hp R-1820-78 Cyclone. These were delivered between May and November 1933, and in the last latter month a new variant made its debut, the XSF-1 equipped for scouting and powered by a 600 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1690-C engine. A few weeks later, on December 4, 35 examples of the SF-1 were ordered with the 725 hp Wright R-1820-84 Cyclone, these being delivered during 1934, the last example being experimentally fitted with a 650 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1535-80 Wasp driving a controllable-pitch airscrew.

The FF-1s were delivered to Fighting Squadron VF-5B aboard the USS Lexington. the SF-1s going to Scouting Squadron VS-3B also aboard the Lexington, but by 1936 the FF-1s had been withdrawn for conversion to FF-2s and re-issued to US Naval Reserve Units in which they were joined by the SF-1s, and the first-line career of the G-23 was over, at insofar as those built by the parent company, were concerned.

In 1937, the Canadian Car & Foundry company, the largest manufactures of railway equipment in Canada, established an aircraft factory, and as a result of representations made by what were ostensibly representitives of the Turkish government, aquired the manufacturing licence for the G-23 which received the export designation GE-23. Preparations were immediately initiated for the construction of a batch of 40 GE-23 biplanes as attack aircraft against an order which was purported to have originated with the Turkish government. The GE-23 was fitted with a Wright R-1820-F52 Cyclone rated at 800 hp for take-off and 775 hp at 1,768 m (5,800 ft). The first three fuselage shells were manufactured by Grumman and transported to the CCF plant near Montreal, the wings and tail surfaces being produced by the Brewster company, and these served as pattern aircraft, all tools and jigs being transferred to CCF.

It is not known if the manufacturers were aware that the true destination of the 40 GE-23s was Republican Spain, although the fact that the aircraft were routed to Istanbul via Le Havre and Barcelona should have aroused some suspicions. With their arrival in Barcelona late in 1937, the first GE-23s were hurriedly assembled and had participated in the Teruel battle before the end of the year. They subsequently appeared in the Ebro battle, underwing racks being fitted for light bombs, the GE-23s being used extensively by the Republicans for attack, ground strafing and tactical reconnaissance tasks. The Nationalists claimed to have shot down four GE-23s in aerial combat over the Ebro, and at least two were destroyed on the ground at the Vilajuiga airfield in February 1938. All 40 GE-23s had reached Spain by the autumn of 1938, this attack aircraft being dubbed the Pedro Rico by its Nationalist opponents. A further five had been destroyed in aerial combat before the end of 1938, and three more were shot down by the Nationalists during the last months of the Civil war, in 1939, but only eight GE-23s were recovered by the Nationalists after the termination of hostilities and it may be presumed, therefoe that the remainder were either destroyed in attacks on Republican airfields, or were damaged in battle and written off. The eight survivors continued in service for a number of years with Spain's aior arm under the name Delfin (Dolphin).

In Canadian Service

Although a decision in principle had been taken in 1938 to manufacture the Hurricane at the CCF's Montreal plant, specifications covering Canadian production of the fighter had not been issued and, in order to keep its work force together, CCF had continued production of the GE-23 after completion of the 'Turkish' order, despite the failure of earlier attempts to interest the RCAF in the aircraft. One GE-23 had been sent to Mexico to serve as a pattern aircraft for use by a proposed CCF manufacturing facility in that country, but when this failed to materialise, the aircraft (c/n 148) was returned to Canada and eventually sold to Nicaragua's Guardia Nacional. With growing tension in Europe and major RCAF expansion plans, one GE-23 (c/n 143) registered CF-BLK was made available to a team of RCAF pilots for evaluation. This, in itself, created a number of problems, as the GE-23s had been built without the factory having a resident DND (equivalent to the British AID) inspector, and possessed no Certificate of Airworthiness. These facts, coupled with the RCAF attitude that it did not want the GE-23 at any cost, did not auger well for the eventual acceptance of the aircraft by the Canadian service, despite the exigencies of the times. However, the RCAF was eventually offered the GE-23 at cost price merely to keep the CCF plant open until Hurricane production could be initiated, and an agreement was finally reached by which 15 aircraft were purchased.

The RCAF was then faced with the problem of deciding the role to be performed by the GE-23 which it now named Goblin. There was no requirement for an attack aircraft, and the Goblin was considered totally obsolescent as a fighter. It was finally decided to use it as a coastal patrol and reconnaissance aircraft, and all 15 Goblins were finally taken on charge by the RCAF between September 17 and October 25, 1940, the serial numbers 334 to 348 being allocated to the aircraft. In December 1940, "A" Flight of No.118 Squadron was formed on Goblins at Rockcliffe, this unit subsequently becoming No.118 (Fighter) Squadron and transferring to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, in 1941, its primary task being the patrol of Canada's East Coast. Late in 1941, the Goblins were supplemented by Kittyhawk fighters, but they were not finally replaced until the spring of 1942, two being struck off charge on March 5, 1942 and the remainder on April 21, 1942. Five of the Goblins were flown by No.123 (Army Co-operation) Squadron for a brief period, but after proposals to equip the aircraft as target-tugs proved impracticable they too were struck off. The CCF plant had assembled an additional four GE-23 airframes in 1941, but these were not delivered to the RCAF, and their ulitmate fate is uncertain.

C C F Goblin Technical Data

Type: Two-seat Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft.
Power Plant: One Wright R-1820-F52 Cyclone nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine rated at 800 hp for take-off and 775 hp at 1,768 m (5,800 ft).
Armament: Two fixed forward firing 7.62 mm (0.3 in) Browning machine guns and two flexibly mounted 7.62 mm (0.3 in) Browning machine guns in rear cockpit.
Performance: Max speed, 348 kph (216 mph) at 2,134 m (7,000 ft); max cruising speed, 318 kph (197 mph) at 1,768 m (5,800 ft); range, 1,014 km(630 mls) at 271 kph (168 mph); initial climb rate, 494 m/min (1,620 ft/min); time to 1,524 m (5,000 ft), 3.1 min; service ceiling, 7,255 m (23,800 ft).
Weights: Empty, (3,277 lb); loaded, (4,973 lb).
Dimensions: Span, 10.6 m (34 ft 6 in); length, 8 m (24 ft 10 in); height, 2.9 m (9 ft 6 in); wing area, 28.8 sq m (310 sq ft).

The photos were taken from "Warplanes of the Second World War: Bombers and Reconnaissance Aircraft Volume 7", by William Green.

Regards

Bob

[Graham Clayton]

Rob,

One of the lesser-known and more fascinating aircraft used by the Allied forces in WW2. It is amazing to think that these biplanes were the only air defence units on the east coast of Canada for the majority of 1941!