The Albacore could be faster and more capable while still feeling cumbersome to crews familiar with the Swordfish. A go-kart analogy separates measurable performance from the balance and responsiveness that make a machine enjoyable to control. Its enclosed accommodation and other comfort improvements were useful, but they did not reproduce the predecessor's unusually light handling. The promise that the Barracuda was coming also fixed the Albacore in pilots' minds as a temporary machine between an admired predecessor and the expected true successor.
Notable Point · 39:03-41:51
Better statistics did not make a beloved successor
Pilots judged the interim Albacore against both the delightful Swordfish and the promised Barracuda, not against its specification sheet alone.