Fairey Firefly

Survivors


There are approximately 24 Fairey Fireflies surviving worldwide, including three airworthy examples and at least one other being restored to flying condition.

The Fleet Air Arm Museum possesses two Fireflies, the latest acquisition arriving in 2000 from the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Duxford. Firefly WB271 was destroyed in July 2003 during an aerobatic air display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Cambridgeshire - Europe's largest display of vintage war planes.

There are three airworthy Fireflies at present: the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] (Canada) Firefly AS 6 WH632, which was damaged in a crash and has since been restored to flying condition (painted as an RCN Firefly AS 5), AS 6s WD826 at the Royal Australian Navy Historic Flight, NAS Nowra NSW (Australia) and WB518, another former RAN machine, in the USA.

The latter was one of the first ten Mk 6s built, but retained the earlier Mk 5 fuselage; originally delivered to the Royal Australian Navy's 817 Squadron, it served in 816 Squadron before being retired and ending up as a memorial on a pole in Griffith, New South Wales, Australia.

Purchased by American Eddie Kurdziel, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Northwest Airlines captain, after an extensive restoration WB518 made its first public appearance at the 2002 Oshkosh event.

Other survivors include: in Australia, Firefly AS 6 WD827 which was first owned by the Australian Air League, Blacktown, New South Wales, and now on display in the Moorabin Air Museum, Melbourne, Victoria;
and AS 6 "WD828" is displayed on a pole at Griffith, New South Wales (painted as "WB518", which originally was displayed there);
and AS 6 WJ109 is on display at Australia's Museum of Flight, Nowra, NSW. Another ex-Australian Flying, AS 6 WD833, is
owned by Henry "Butch" Schroeder who moved the aircraft to Danville, Illinois USA for restoration.

The present whereabouts of this aircraft are unclear.

The Thai Air Force Museum has a Firefly Mk I on display. A sole remaining Firefly of the 10 acquired by India is reported to be in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

A Firefly is on static display outside the Returned and Services League (RSL) club in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

As well as the Canadian Warplane Heritage's ex-Australian Firefly, two other Fireflies are known to exist in Canada: one is at the Canadian Aviation Museum in Ottawa and another is being restored at the Shearwater Aviation Museum at Eastern Passage (near Dartmouth), Nova Scotia.

Both are Mk I models that served in the Canadian Navy from 1946 to 1954, after which they were sold to the Ethiopian Air Force.

Following their discovery in the Ethiopian desert in 1993, they were repatriated to Canada.

Specifications (Mk I)

Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912

General characteristics

• Crew: Two (pilot & observer)
  
• Length: 37 ft 7¼ in (11.46 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 44 ft 6 in (13.57 m)
  
• Height: 13 ft 7 in (4.14 m)
  
• Wing area: 328 ft² (30.5 m²)
  
• Empty weight: 9,750 lb (4,432 kg)
  
• Loaded weight: 14,020 lb (6,373 kg)
  
• Powerplant: 1× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] IIB liquid-cooled [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 1,730 hp (1,290 kW)
  

• Harrison, William A. Fairey Firefly in Action (Aircraft number 200). Carrollton, Texas:
  Squadron/Signal Publications Inc., 2006. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
  
• Taylor, H.A. Fairey Aircraft since 1915.
  London: Putnam, 1974. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
  
• Thetford, Owen. British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London:
  Putnam, Fourth edition, 1978. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
  
• Thomas, Graham. Furies and Fireflies over Korea: The Story of the Men and Machines of the Fleet Air Arm, RAF and Commonwealth Who Defended South Korea 1950-1953. London: Grub Street, 2004. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
  

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Rappel des sources à crediter pour les dessins et images.

Avec mes remerciements :


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Carlos Fernandez

Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]