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Fairey Firefly Mk 1
| Crew |
2 |
| Dimensions | 41'2" x 37'11' x
14'4" 12.55m by 11.56m by 4.37m |
| Weight | 9750-14,020 lbs loaded 4423-6359 kg |
| Wing area | 330 square feet 30.7 square meters |
| Maximum speed | 319 mph at 17000
feet 513 km/h at 5200 meters |
| Climb rate | 33 feet per second 10.1 meters per second |
| Service ceiling | 28,000 feet. 8500 meters |
| Powerplant | 1735 hp (1294 kW) Rolls-Royce Griffon IIB 12-cyl inline liquid-cooled engine driving a 13' 3-bladed constant-speed wooden Rotol three bladed propeller. |
| Armament | 4 20mm Hispano wing cannon with 160 rounds apiece. |
| External stores | 8 60lb (27kg) rockets or two 1000 lb (454kg) bombs. |
| Range | 1364 miles 2195 km |
| Production | At The Fairey Aviation Company
and
General Aircraft from late 1943: 429 Mk 1 376 Mk 1s with APS-6 radar 37 Mk 2 night fighters with more powerful Griffon XII engines and AI radar. |
The Fairey Firefly was
Britain's
best attempt to produce a decent carrier fighter later in the
war. Derived from the unsuccessful Fulmar,
it inherited the latter's reconnaissance
role and two-man crew. Development began in 1940 and the prototype
first flew on 22 December 1941. Production began in March 1943.
The Firefly saw service in the Indian Ocean and Far East. It
was superior to the Zero
but was not up to facing
the later generation of Japanese
aircraft, such as the Tojo,
being relatively underpowered and slow. However, it had Youngman flaps
that could be used as combat flaps, giving it good maneuverability. It
remained in production until 1955 and saw service in Korea.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007, 2009 by Kent G. Budge. Index
