The Plane That Only Worked Properly As A Pair: Grumman AF Guardian

Video Description

In this video, we take a look at the Grumman AF Guardian, an American torpedo bomber and anti-submarine aircraft from late-World War II and the post-war era. We first talk about famous duos, and some of my favorite duos in popular media and aviation. We then talk about how aircraft can compliment one another, often incidentally, and how aircraft typically aren't designed explicitly to compliment another design. We then move into the history of the AF Guardian project, starting as a completely different design in the middle of WW2. We talk about the failure of the XTB2F torpedo bomber project, the failure of the XTSF torpedo bomber project, and the moderate success of the XTB3F torpedo bomber project. We talk about the XTB3F's advanced, mixed-power design, its problematic development, and its downfall that coincided with the end of WW2 and the rise of more capable attack aircraft. We talk about its conversion over to the Anti-Submarine Warfare role, how it required two distinct designs that worked together in harmony, and how it wasn't that great of a plane. We end by talking about how the Guardian basically failed its way to success.