As built, the Mk I model held a running length of 37.7 feet, a wingspan of 44.5 feet and a height of 13.6 feet. Empty weight was 9,750lb against an MTOW of 14,000lb. The Griffon IIB engine outputted 1,730 horsepower and drove the aircraft to speeds reaching 315 miles per hour and a range of 1,300 miles up to a service ceiling of 28,000 feet. It could reach 10,000 feet of altitude in under six minutes.
Beyond its fixed, forward-firing 4 x 20mm Hispano-Suiza battery of cannon, the aircraft was cleared to carry 2 x 1,000lb bombs under the wings and 8 x RP-3 "60lb" aerial rockets. This made for a versatile attack platform that could hold its own in air-to-air fighting.
The NF.Mk II was featured as a dedicated night-fighter development of the Firefly and given a slightly lengthened fuselage so as to carry the needed airborne interception radar and applicable equipment. About 37 aircraft were built to this standard. The "Firefly III" was a proposed, ultimately abandoned improvement of the Firefly line set to feature the Griffon 61 series engine.
The F.Mk IV carried the Rolls-Royce Griffon 72 engine of 2,330 horsepower and, though flying sometime in 1944, only entered service after the war had ended in 1945. Its fighter-reconnaissance variant became FR.Mk 4. The NF.Mk 5 was another night-fighter entry and the RF.Mk 5 was a reconnaissance-centric model. Its anti-submarine variant became AS.Mk 5 and other anti-submarine platforms were the AS.Mk 6 and AS.Mk 7 - the latter featuring the Rolls-Royce Griffon 59 engine. Its training form became T.Mk 7.
The Mk 4, Mk 5 and Mk 6 Fireflies were all converted at some point to serve out the remainder of their days as target tugs and designated accordingly as TT.Mk 4, TT.Mk 5 and TT.Mk 6. The TT.Mk I was a limited batch of early Firefly Mk Is converted to the same role.
Post-war, twin-flight-cockpit trainer models became Firefly T.Mk 1, the T.Mk 2 and the T.Mk 3.
Some six total Royal Australian Navy squadrons were formed with the Firefly and two Royal Canadian Navy squadrons equipped with the type as well. The Dutch Naval Aviation Service made use of the aircraft through no fewer than six squadrons all their own. The Indian Navy began operations involving Fireflies from 1955 on and Sweden operated the type from early-1949 until late-1963. Similarly the Royal Thai Air Force made use of the aircraft from 1952 until 1966.
Twenty-four total squadrons of the Royal Navy - Fleet Air Arm - operated Fireflies, making the British the definitive operator of the series. The Fairey Gannet, detailed elsewhere on this site, succeeded the Firefly in FAA service.
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