The Fairey Firefly IIM Biplane History
The Fairey Firefly IIM, designed by Marcel Lobelle and built by the Fairey Aviation Company Limited, was a single seated British biplane that was designed as a fighter. Despite sharing it’s name with the Firefly I, it was an entirely different design. The prototype Fairey Firefly II was mainly wood, however, in order to compete for a Royal Air Force contract, it was renamed IIM after being rebuilt using metal. That contract was won by the Hawker Fury. Another version, the Firefly IIIM was built to be used on aircraft carriers as a replacement for the Fairey Flycatchers, however this contract was won by the Hawker Nimrod. Variants included: Fairey Firefly II,  IIM, III, IIIM and IV.

The Fairey Firefly IIM Biplane Operational History
Twenty five of these biplanes were supplied to Belgium’s Aeronautique Militaire, followed by a further sixty two, which were built by Fairey’s Belgian subsidiary Avions Fairey. They saw early service in WW2 with the Aeronautique Militaire, however they weren’t used beyond June 1940.

One IIM underwent tests and trials with the Soviet Air Force, and a single IIIM had floats fitted before being supplied to the Royal Air Force’s High Speed Flight, where, in preparation for the 1931 Schneider Trophy race, it was used as a trainer.

Various scale models, model kits and plans of this aircraft have been available in the market place.

Fairey Firefly IIM Biplane Specifications:

Fairey Firefly IIM Crew: Pilot Only
Fairey Firefly IIM Length: 24ft 8in (7.52m)
Fairey Firefly IIM Wingspan: 31ft 6in (9.60m)
Fairey Firefly IIM Height: 9ft 4in (2.85m)
Fairey Firefly IIM Wing area: 236.8ft² (22.0m²)
Fairey Firefly IIM Empty weight: 2,387lb (1,083kg)
Fairey Firefly IIM Maximum takeoff weight: 3,404lb (1,544kg)
Fairey Firefly IIM Engine: Single Rolls-Royce F.XIS 12-cylinder inline liquid-cooled, 480 hp (358 kW)
Fairey Firefly IIM Maximum speed: 175mph (282 km/h)
Fairey Firefly IIM Range: 240 mi (386 km)
Fairey Firefly IIM Service Ceiling: 30,840ft (9,400m)

Fairey Firefly IIM Biplane Armament

Guns:
2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers Machine guns