- Yes
- No
- Benelux
- Britain
- Other / I don’t know
- I said no
Little note to begin with, although Wikipedia describes the Firefly IIM as a “British fighter”, i will suggest this plane under the Belgian flag for a few good reasons;
While he was working for a British company, the Firefly IIM was designed as a private venture by Belgian engineer Marcel Lobelle, the fighter was built in Hayes but assembled in Belgium and later ones were all built by a new, associated company called Avions Fairey which was formed on September 12, 1931 at Gosselies near Charleroi.
And most importantly, the British never operated the Firefly IIM and Belgium was practically the only user.
Now with that out of the way, we can talk about the plane itself.
The Fairey Firefly IIM was, as stated previously, a private venture by Marcel Lobelle who wanted a fast-climbing, single-seat interceptor fighter powered by a radial engine. The latter powerplant was soon dispensed with in favour of a liquid-cooled inline engine, which was in keeping with Lobelle’s thinking around fighter design at the time.
Strikingly similar to the Hawker Fury, which its predecessor competed against for an RAF contract, 88 Firefly IIMs were built; 25 at Hayes and 62 in Belgium by Avions Fairey. A single IIM was built for sale in the USSR.
Fairey Firefly IIM
Specifications
Engine: Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS (480 hp)
Wingspan: 9.6 m
Length: 7.52 m
Height: 2.85 m
Wing area: 22 m²
Empty weight: 1083 kg
Loaded weight: 1490 kg
Wing loading: 68 kg - Est. Turn time: <15 s
Max speed: 359 km/h at 4000 m, 292 km/h at sea level
Armament: 2 × 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns
Climb rate: 9.2 m/s
Service ceiling: 9400 m
So this is a fairly standard biplane, very similar to a Fury which you could find in a British tree where the Firefly IIM could eventually go or it could be a reserve aircraft for a possible Benelux tree, let me know what you think!
Sources