Fairey Firefly, British users, part one

 

The Fairey Firefly was a British Second World War fighter and anti-submarine aircraft that was mainly operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) and was produced and developed by the Fairey Aviation Company.

Its origins can be traced back to 1938, at which point British Authorities were preparing for a major conflict against Germany. In that context, the Air Ministry issued a specification calling for naval fighter, a conventional one and a "turret-fighter". The performance requirements for both was to be able to achieve a speed of 275 knots (509.3 km/h - 316.4 mph) at 15.000 (4.572 m) high while carrying an armament, for the conventional fighter of eight 0.303 in Browning machine guns or four 20 mm Hispano cannons. This new design was intended to replace the Fairey Fulmar which was already seen as an interim solution. These specifications were altered in 1939 while various manufacturers presented their ideas. Further changes to the official specification were made, such as the complete elimination of the turret fighter and the modification of the conventional one calling to cover single and double-seat fighters capable of achieving speeds of 330 and 300 knots (611.16 km/h - 380 mph and 555.6 km/h - 345.23 mph) respectively. 

Fairey presented designs that could fit either single or double-seats, powered either by the Rolls Royce Griffon engine or, combined with a larger airframe, the Napier Sabre engine. 

After some consideration of the manufacturer's feedback, the next year, the specification N.5/40, replaced the earlier specifications and, given the necessity of flying over open sea, it was decided to call only for a two-seater aircraft. In order to protect naval bases, a parallel single-seat design would eventually lead to the design of the Blackburn Firebrand. 

The Firefly was designed by H.E. Chaplin at Fairey and used the Fulmar as a departing point. In June 1940 the Admiralty placed an order for 200 aircraft "off the drawing board" given the imminent fall of France. Of those 200 fighters, the first three of them would function as the prototypes. It wasn't until 22nd December 1941 that the prototype of the Firefly made its maiden flight. As it was powered by the Griffon engine and was armed with two 20 mm Hispano cannons in each wing, it was 4.000 lb (1.810 kg) heavier than the Fulmar though it was 40 mph (60 km/h) faster due to improved aeronautics and the increased power of the Griffon IIB engine, which could generate a power of 1.735 hp.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Firefly

2. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 28 - Fairey Firefly

3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters