Fairey Firefly II

Infobox Aircraft
name=Firefly IIM


caption=Fairey Firefly Y-17 from 3/II/2 Aé (Red Cocottes) Squadron in flight near its home base at Nivelles. Fairey c/n "F-1505" was delivered from Fairey Hayes (UK) on 21 August 1931.
type=Fighter
manufacturer=Fairey Aviation Company Limited
designer=Marcel Lobelle
first flight=5 February 1929
introduced=1931
retired=
status=
primary user=Belgium
more users=USSR
produced=
number built=91
unit cost=
variants with their own articles=The Fairey Firefly IIM was a British fighter of the 1930s.It was a single-seat, single-engine biplane of all-metal construction. Built by Fairey Aviation Company Limited, it served principally with Belgium's Aéronautique Militaire throughout the 1930s until the outbreak of war.

Design and development

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. It first flew on 5 February 1929. Mason 1992, p.212.

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 led 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 revised prototype with longer span wings, the Firefly III was built to Specification N21/26 as a carrier-based fighter to replace the Fleet Air Arm's Fairey Flycatchers, first flying on 17 May 1929. Taylor 1988, p.175-176.] Like the land-based fighter, it was rebuilt with more metal components as the Firefly IIIM, and again like the Firefly II, was beaten by a design produced by Hawker, in this case the Hawker Nimrod. Although no production orders ensued, the Firefly IIIM was fitted with floats and used as a trainer by the RAF's High Speed Flight preparing for the 1931 Schneider Trophy race. Mason 1992, p.213.]

Operational history

A contract was won for 25 IIM aircraft for Belgium's Aéronautique 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. One was restored to its original form, while the other passed to Fairey for trials. One aircraft was supplied to the Soviet Union.

Operators

;BEL:Belgian Air Force;USSR

Variants

; Fairey Firefly II: Single-seat fighter prototype, powered by a 480-hp (358-kW) Rolls-Royce Kestrel piston engine. One built.; Fairey Firefly IIM: Single-seat single-engined fighter aircraft, of all-metal construction, equipped with resigned tail surfaces and revised engine cooling system.; Fairey Firefly III: Single-seat shipboard fighter prototype. One built.; Fairey Firefly IIIM: The Fairey Firefly III was rebuilt with all-metal construction and resignated Firefly IIIM.; Fairey Firefly IV: Two Belgian Firefly IIs were converted, and fitted with the 785-hp (585-kW) Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs engine.

pecifications (Firefly IIM)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop

ref=The Complete Book of Fighters Green and Swanborough 1994, p.198.]
crew=1
capacity=
length main= 24 ft 8 in
length alt= 7.52 m
span main= 31 ft 6 in
span alt= 9.60 m
height main= 9 ft 4 in
height alt= 2.85 m
area main= 236.8 ft²
area alt= 22.0 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 2,387 lb
empty weight alt= 1,083 kg
loaded weight main= 3,285 lb
loaded weight alt= 1,490 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=

engine (prop)=Rolls-Royce F.XIS
type of prop=12-cylinder inline liquid-cooled
number of props=1
power main= 480 hp
power alt= 358 kW
power original=
max speed main= 175 mph
max speed alt= 152 knots, 282 km/h
max speed more= at sea level, 223 mph (193 knots , 359 km/h) at 13,125 ft (4,000 m)
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 240 mi [ Firefly II]
range alt= 209 NM, 386 km
ceiling main= 30,840 ft Taylor 1988, p.179.]
ceiling alt= 9,400 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main= 13.9 lb/ft²
loading alt= 67.7 kg/m²
thrust/weight=
power/mass main= 0.15 hp/lb
power/mass alt= 0.24 kg/kW
more performance=* Time to 19,685 ft (6,000 m), 10.9 min

guns=two 0.303-in (7.7-mm) Vickers machine guns

avionics=

ee also

aircontent

related=
*Fairey Firefly I
*Fairey Firefly IIIM
similar aircraft=
*Hawker Fury

lists=

see also=

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. "The Complete Book of Fighters". New York: Smithmark, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.
*Mason, Francis K. "The British Fighter since 1912". Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. ISBN 1-55750-082-7
* Pacco, John. "Fairey Firefly" "Belgisch Leger/Armee Belge: Het militair Vliegwezen/l'Aeronautique militaire 1930-1940". Artselaar, Belgium, 2003, pp. 32-38. ISBN 90-801136-6-2.
*Taylor, H.A. "Fairey Aircraft since 1915". London:Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0-370-00065-x.

External links

* [http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/html%20pages/FAIREY%20FIREFLY%20II%20(BIPLANE).htm British Aircraft of WWII]