Fairey Firefly

what is it?

The Fairey Firefly is a Second World War-era carrier-borne fighter aircraft and anti-submarine aircraft that was principally operated by the Fleet Air Arm (FAA). It was developed and built by the British aircraft manufacturer Fairey Aviation Company. Development of the Firefly can be traced back to a pair of specifications issued by the British Air Ministry in 1938, calling for new naval fighter designs.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 12.6 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 591 km/htop speed
• size 7,083 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,702made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 85 years ago, in 1941.
• 🏎️Top speed is 4.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 12.6 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🏔️Can fly 1.1× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1941-12-22

introduced

1943

retired

1956

status

retired

number built

1,702

role

fighter monoplane with 1 engine

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Fairey Aviation Company

engines

1× Rolls-Royce Griffon 74 / Rolls-Royce Griffon

crew

2

length

11.6 m

wingspan

12.6 m

height

4.4 m

max take-off weight

7,083 kg

top speed

591 km/h

cruise speed

336 km/h

range

—

ceiling

9,723 m

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.