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World’s Last Flying Fairey Gannet Offered for Sale – November 2025
The Fairey Gannet is one of the most iconic post war naval aircraft ever built. Developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s for the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm, it was designed primarily for anti submarine warfare and strike roles. Its airborne early warning variant, the AEW.3, entered service in 1960, replacing older fixed wing AEW aircraft on Royal Navy carriers. The Gannet’s unique design features a contra-rotating propeller system, a folding gull-wing configuration for carrier storage, and a hydraulically adjustable tailplane. Powered by the Armstrong Siddeley Double Mamba engine, it could carry auxiliary fuel tanks or weapons in its large underside bay. Innovations such as self-shortening undercarriage legs further distinguished the aircraft, which served until the late 1970s, after which only a few airframes survived in museums or under restoration.
XT752, originally WN365, is the world’s last flying Fairey Gannet and the oldest turboprop aircraft still in operation. Its history is remarkable. The aircraft first flew on August 16, 1954, as a trainer variant with a second set of controls and a retractable periscope. In 1956, it received an upgraded Double Mamba engine producing 3,145 horsepower, and first flew as a T.5 on March 1, 1957. It was sold to the Indonesian Naval Air Arm in 1959, redesignated XT752 in 1961, and repainted in a high-visibility scheme in 1965. By 1975, it was the last airworthy Gannet T.5, retiring from carrier operations on HMS Ark Royal in 1978.
After military retirement, the aircraft entered civilian hands. In 1995, it was acquired by Wally Fisk for the Polar Air Museum in Anoka, Minnesota, and returned to flight in 1996, appearing at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh. Between 2004 and 2010, XT752 was stored in Goose Bay, Canada, due to ferrying issues, before being returned to the U.S. on an Antonov AN-124 and transported to New Richmond, Wisconsin. A complete restoration began under the Wings of Steel Foundation, returning the aircraft to flight on August 9, 2013. XT752 subsequently appeared at major U.S. airshows, including Oshkosh, Duluth, Menominee, and Osceola. After Wings of Steel Foundation became insolvent in 2015, the aircraft remained hangared in New Richmond. In 2022, Vintage Aircraft Restorations, LLC acquired XT752, with the goal of returning it to the U.K. under Navy Wings.
The Gannet’s restoration was completed in 2013 with support from numerous sponsors. A safe and reliable engine start method using regulated high-pressure nitrogen replaced the scarce starter cartridges. In 2024, a 100-hour inspection checklist was created, hydraulic systems were tested, and minor cracks in one of three starboard wing spars were repaired according to Gannet technical manuals. In 2025, additional cracks were found in the wheel-well area, a common issue for carrier-based aircraft, and these were repaired following approved technical guidelines.
In October 2025, the Navy Wings Board of Directors confirmed it could not acquire, repatriate, or operate XT752 due to financial constraints. The aircraft is now offered for sale. XT752 is hangared in New Richmond, Wisconsin, and available for inspection. Sealed bids will be unsealed on January 15, 2026, with successful bidders above the reserve notified shortly afterward. Standard purchase and sale agreements and escrow arrangements will follow. This is a rare opportunity to acquire the last flying Fairey Gannet, a landmark of naval aviation history.
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