The Firefly - which in its prototype form first flew on 22 December 1941 - was produced until the mid-1950s although most of the earlier operational versions remained in use with the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy. Reconditioned Firefly Is were also supplied to the air forces of Ethiopia and Siam during this period; while Firefly target tugs served in Sweden and Denmark.
The Firefly 1 was powered by a 1,483kW Rolls-Royce Griffon 2 or 12 engine driving a Rotol three-bladed propeller. The F.1 was the early two-seat day fighter and was followed by the FR.1 and 1A standard reconnaissance fighters (with search radar in a radome under the nose of the fuselage) and the NF.1 night fighter. Each was armed with two 20mm cannon in each wing. The Firefly T.1 was basically an F.1 converted for use as a deck-landing conversion and instrument-flying trainer. The raised rear cockpit was occupied by the instructor. They were usually unarmed, although a few carried two 20mm cannon.
The Firefly TT.1 was fitted for towing a glider, banner or sleeve target for ground-to-air or air-to-air firing practice. The Firefly T.2 was an armaments trainer, similar to the T.1 with two 20mm cannon and provision for carrying bombs, rockets and long-range drop tanks. The Griffon 12-powered Firefly T.3 was a version of the FR.1 intended specifically to train observers, the rear cockpit being equipped with the fullest possible range of radio and radar equipment. The Firefly FR.4 (first flown on 25 May 1945) was powered by a Griffon 74 engine driving a Rotol four-bladed propeller and had radiators moved from beneath the nose to leading-edge extensions of the centre-section. The wings were reduced in span and given square tips and the area of the tailfin was increased. Armament was the same as for the Firefly 1 but could also carry two 450kg bombs, 16 x 27kg rockets or eight heavier rockets, or long-range fuel tanks. A modified version for target-towing was the TT.4.
The similarly powered Firefly 5 was produced in three forms, as the NF, FR and AS, all similar externally to the 4. The FR.5 carried the same radar in the starboard wing nacelle as the 4 and was equipped with beam approach, IFF and communications radio. The NF.5 had the same basic radio plus a radio altimeter and other night-flying equipment. The AS.5 was an anti-submarine version and carried special submarine-detection equipment under the wings and fuselage. The Firefly AS.6 was another anti-submarine aircraft, structurally similar to the 5 but with different operational equipment and no defensive armament.
The Firefly 7 of 1953 was produced in two forms, as the AS and T, although it was used mainly as an anti-submarine training aircraft. Powered by a Griffon engine with a 'chin' radiator, the three-seat anti-submarine aircraft carried the latest detection devices and sonobuoys for tracking a target at sea. A new blister-enclosed rear cockpit accommodated two radar operators and the aircraft had elliptical wings without wing radiators and a new tail unit. The final Firefly variant was the U.8/U.9, designed as new or conversions of earlier aircraft to help with the development of guided missiles and equipped to be used as radio-controlled photographic drones.
Firefly fighters and reconnaissance fighters first went into operational service in late 1943 and were mainly used in the Pacific theatre of war against Japanese forces and targets. Successes on the Western Front included a reconnaissance over the German battleship Tirpitz which resulted in the bombing attack by Vought Corsairs and Barracudas on 3 April 1944. Post-war, Fireflies saw action in Korea, flying vast numbers of sorties from British and Australian aircraft carriers, and later in Malaya; finally going out of service in 1956. Firefly production totalled more than 1,700 aircraft of all variants.
Effects
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-On startup there is automatic engine smoke.
-Then follow the exhaust flames with smoke.
-Wing vortex effect appears by default at 2.5g or quick roll rate.
-Continuous blue flames with smoke if engine is running .
-War Emergency Power is controlled by the WEP.gau (Tick 1 or 0)
-Wing cannon with flash, smoke and falling cartridges can be triggered with the standard Strobe key (O).
It is much nicer however if you put the FS2004/FSX standard Strobe key (O) to the trigger from your joystick. You can change this in the Key menu.
It is a good idea if you replace the standard (L) key for lights by the L+CTRL, (normaly activating the landing lights only). This avoids you having to have all lights on when pulling the trigger.
-Combinations of Flaps/spoilers extensions are triggered by the flaps and spoiler keys.
Installation:
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-Unzip " Firefly Mk 1a" into a temporary file and move the "Firefly Mk 1a" folder into the main Aircraft directory.
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-Read instructions carefully when installing the gauges , say YES...when asked if the gauges sources should be trusted. If you say no....most of the gauges are not going to work !
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-Leave the fighters.cab in your panel folder.
-Paste the WEP.gau into your flightsim\gauges folder.
-Copy the effects into the Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\effects folder.
-Add the 20can.wav in your Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\sound folder.
ATTENTION :
-For FS2004, change the FS9_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns.fx
-For FSX change the FSX_Wing_Guns.fx into FX_Wing_Guns.fx
If having trouble with the cockpit transparencies in FSX acceleration, copy the glass.bmp from the Acceleration.texture into the plane's texture folder.
CREDITS
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Special thanks to :
-GMAX for the drawing program and Microsoft for their makmdls.mdk.
-Morton who did these magnificent textures.
LEGAL:
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The project is released as freeware. You may modify it and repaint it. You may upload this file to another website as long as it is not for profit.
You need the written permission of the original authors to use any of these files for commercial purposes, otherwise a simple credit would be nice. Non commercial repaints-remakes are welcome but I would appreciate very much receiving a copy of your model.
This file should not cause any problems with your computer, but I accept no responsibility if you think it does. Remarks and hints are welcome and are being considered.
Happy Landings!
A.F.Scrub
September 2009
Email: af_scrubbypc@hotmail.com
