The Fairey Firefly was a WW2 Royal Navy carrier-borne fighter introduced in late 1943 to replace the Fairey Fulmar, it remained in production until 1955 at which time 1,702 aircraft had been produced, it was finally retired from RN service in 1958 it's last role being anti-submarine and was replaced by the turbo-prop Fairey Gannet. It is of note that Fireflies gave fighter cover to the famous attack by Fairey Swordfish on the German battleship Tirpitz in 1944. The picture above depicts Firefly WB271 an anti-submarine aircraft of the Royal Naval Historic Flight which tragically crashed near the M11 motorway in July 2003 during the Flying Legends air display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, both the pilot & observer, Lt. Cmdr. Bill Murton and Neil Rix, were killed and the aircraft destroyed. Fairey Firefly Mk IV Specification: - Crew: Pilot & Observer
- Length: 38 ft 9 in (11.8 m)
- Wingspan: 41 ft 2 in (12.55 m)
- Height: 14 ft 4 in (4.37 m)
- Empty weight: 9,859 lb (4,472 kg)
- Loaded weight: 13,200 lb (6,000 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 16,096 lb (7,301 kg)
- Engine: Single 2,245 hp (1,674 kW) Rolls-Royce Griffon 74 liquid-cooled V12 piston engine
- Maximum speed: 386 mph at 14,000 ft (618 km/h at 4,300 m)
- Range: 1,300 miles (1,722 km) when fitted with auxiliary fuel tanks
- Service ceiling: 31,900 ft (9,723 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,900 ft/min (9.7 m/s)
Armament: - Four wing-mounted 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannons
- Two under wing mounted 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs
- Sixteen 60 lb (27 kg) unguided rocket projectiles
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