Bomberguy's video: Fairey Firefly in Action

The Fairey Firefly was a British Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm. It was superior in performance and firepower to its predecessor, the Fairey Fulmar, but did not enter operational service until towards the end of the war. It remained a mainstay of the FAA until the mid-1950s. The Firefly was designed by H.E. Chaplin at Fairey Aviation in 1940; in June 1940, the Admiralty ordered 200 aircraft to meet Specification N.5/40. The prototype of the Mk I Firefly flew on 22 December 1941. Although it was two tons heavier than the Fulmar (due largely to its armament of two 20 mm cannon in each wing), the Firefly was 40 mph (64 km/h) faster due to improved aerodynamics and a more powerful engine, the 1,730 hp (1,290 kW) Rolls-Royce Griffon IIB. The Firefly is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with oval-section metal semi-monocoque fuselage and conventional tail unit with forward placed tailplane. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon liquid-cooled piston engine with a three-blade airscrew. The Firefly had retractable main landing gear and tail wheel, with the hydraulic operated main landing gear retracting inwards into the underside of the wing centre-section. The aircraft also had a retractable deck 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. Both crew had separate jettisonable canopies. The all metal wing could be folded manually, with the wings along the sides of the fuselage. When in the flying position the wings were hydraulically locked. The primary variant of the aircraft used during the Second World War was the Mk 1, which was used in all theatres of operation. In March 1943, the first Firefly Mk Is were delivered but they did not enter operational service until July 1944 when they equipped No. 1770 Squadron aboard HMS Indefatigable. The first operations were in Europe where Fireflies made armed reconnaissance flights and anti-shipping strikes along the Norwegian coast. Fireflies also provided air cover during the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944. Throughout its operational career, the Firefly took on increasingly more demanding roles from fighter to anti-submarine warfare stationed mainly with the British Pacific Fleet in the Far East and Pacific theatres. Fireflies carried out attacks on oil refineries and airfields and gained renown when they became the first British-designed and -built aircraft to overfly Tokyo. After the Second World War, the Firefly remained in service in the UK, Canada and Australia. The Royal Canadian Navy employed 65 Fireflies of the Mk AS 5 type onboard its own aircraft carriers between 1946 and 1954. FAA Fireflies carried out anti-ship missions off various aircraft carriers in the Korean War as well as serving in the ground-attack role in Malaya. The Firefly's FAA frontline career ended with the introduction of the Fairey Gannet. General characteristics Crew: Two (pilot & observer) Length: 37 ft 7 in (11.46 m) Wingspan: 44 ft 6 in (13.56 m) Height: 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m) Wing area: 330 ft² (31m²) Empty weight: 9,460 lb (4,254 kg) Max takeoff weight: 14,020 lb (6,359 kg) Powerplant: 1× Rolls-Royce Griffon IIB liquid-cooled V12 engine, 1,730 hp (1,290 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 316 mph at 14,000 ft (509 km/h at 4,300 m) Range: 1,070 miles (1,722 km) with auxiliary tanks Service ceiling 28,000 ft (8,530 m) Rate of climb: ft/min (m/s) Wing loading: lb/ft² (kg/m²) Armament 4 × 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons 2 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb or 8 × 60 lb (27 kg) rockets