Fairey Aviation Co: Firefly
Note: This is a sub-section of Fairey Aviation Co
The Fairey Firefly was a British Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was superior in performance and firepower to its predecessor, the Fulmar but entered operational service only towards the end of the war.
The Firefly was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with oval-section metal semi-monocoque fuselage and conventional tail unit with forward-placed tailplane. It was powered by a 1,730 hp (1290 kW) Rolls-Royce Griffon liquid-cooled piston engine with a three-blade airscrew. The Firefly had retractable main landing gear and tail wheel, with the hydraulically operated main landing gear retracting inwards into the underside of the wing centre-section. The aircraft also had a retractable arrester hook under the rear fuselage. The pilot's cockpit was over the leading edge of the wing and the observer/radio-operator/navigator aft of the wing trailing edge - positions which gave better visibility for operating and landing. Both crew had separate jettisonable canopies. The all-metal wing could be folded manually, with the wings ending up along the sides of the fuselage. When in the flying position, the wings were hydraulically locked.[1]
Type
- Carrier Fighter
Designers
Manufacturers
Production Dates
- 1941–1955
Number produced
- 1,702
Engines
Variants
- Firefly I / FR.I
- Firefly NF.Mk II
- Firefly NF.Mk I
- Firefly T.Mk 1
- Firefly T.Mk 2
- Firefly T.Mk 3
- Firefly TT.Mk I
- Firefly Mk III
- Firefly Mk IV
- Firefly FR.Mk 4
- Firefly Mk 5
- Firefly NF.Mk 5
- Firefly RF.Mk 5
- Firefly AS.Mk 5
- Firefly Mk 6
- Firefly AS.Mk 6
- Firefly TT.Mk 4/5/6
- Firefly AS.Mk 7
- Firefly T.Mk 7
- Firefly U.Mk 8
- Firefly U.Mk 9