Fairey Aviation Co: Firefly II
Note: This is a sub-section of Fairey Aviation Co
Firefly II
1929
Single-seat, single-engine biplane of all-metal construction. The Firefly was a private-venture design, penned by Marcel Lobelle. A completely new design, it shared little with the Fairey Firefly I beyond the name. Making use of experience gleaned from the earlier machine, it was developed in response to Specification F.20/27 for a single-seat interceptor. Powered by one Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine. It first flew on 5 February 1929
The Firefly II competed for the RAF contract against the Hawker Fury, showing superior speed but was criticised for having heavier controls. Crucially, it retained a mainly wooden structure despite the Air Ministry's demands for metal structures. This lead to the Fury being selected. Afterwards, the prototype was rebuilt and renamed Firefly IIM, the "M" denoting the all-metal construction of the rebuilt machine.
A contract was won for 25 IIM aircraft for Belgium's Aeronautique Militaire, followed by a contract for a further 62 to be constructed by Avions Fairey, Fairey's Belgian subsidiary. The Belgian aircraft served briefly in the Second World War from May to June 1940.
Two of the Belgian aircraft were converted to Firefly IV, with 785-hp Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs engines but the improvement was not deemed sufficient to warrant development.