Sunday, January 31, 2010

Fairey Firefly

The Fairey Firefly was developed as a two-man naval fighter-reconnaissance aircraft, and saw service as a long range escort and strike aircraft during the Second World War and as a strike aircraft during the Korean War.
The Fairey Firefly F.1 was a two-seat day fighter that entered Fleet Air Arm service early in 1944, and served as a long range fighter, reconnaissance and strike aircraft
The Fairey Firefly NF.I was the second attempt to develop a night-fighter version of the Firefly, and took advantage of the availability of American radar to improve on the earlier NF.II.
The Fairey Firefly FR.I was the third version of the aircraft to enter service, and saw radar introduced as a standard feature
The Fairey Firefly T.1 was an advanced dual-control trainer produced as a private venture by Fairey, and accepted by the Fleet Air Arm
The Fairey Firefly T.2 was a tactical weapons trainer based on the unarmed Firefly T.1
The Fairey Firefly NF.II was the first attempt to produce a night-fighter version of the aircraft, preceding the more successful NF.I
The Fairey Firefly T.3 was produced to train observers in anti-submarine warfare
The Fairey Firefly F.3 was the first attempt to fit a two-stage supercharged Griffon 61 to the Firefly, but was abandoned after problems with the new engine installation.
The Fairey Firefly FR.4 saw a major redesign of the basic Firefly design, with leading-edge radiators installed to provide cooling for a more powerful Griffon 61 engine
The Fairey Firefly FR.5 was the fighter-reconnaissance version of the multi-purpose Firefly Mk.5, and saw extensive service during the Korean War
The Fairey Firefly NF.5 was the night-fighter version of the multi-purpose Firefly Mk.5.
The Fairey Firefly AS.5 was the anti-submarine version of the multi-purpose Firefly Mk.5, and was equipped with submarine detection gear carried under the wings.
The Fairey Firefly AS.6 was a dedicated anti-submarine version of the aircraft, sacrificing defensive armament for an improved anti-submarine capability.
The Fairey Firefly AS.7 was developed to provide the Fleet Air Arm with a three-seat anti-submarine aircraft while work continued on the Fairey Gannet, but was never used in that role and instead entered service as the Firefly T.7
The Fairey Firefly U.8 was a pilotless target drone based on the Firefly T.7 and used to test a number of early anti-aircraft missiles
The Fairey Firefly U.9 was the designation given to forty Firefly Mk.5s converted to serve as pilotless target drones starting in 1956
After the Second World War a number of Fairey Fireflies were converted into target tugs, serving with the Fleet Air Arm, as well as with Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Australia.

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