Page 28 - David Masters

David is seen in this picture flying the Fleet Air Arm Fairey Firefly. This was
designed from a 1938 Admiralty specification N.5/40 as a two seat
reconnaissance/fighter for carrier operations in 9 Mark variants.
First flown on 22nd December 1941, it was operational in 1943 and was
retired from Fleet Air Arm operations in 1956.
The Fighter was powered by the 1,735 hp Rolls-Royce Griffon IIB engine.
Top Speed was in later variants achieved 315 mph, with a service ceiling of
30,100 feet and a range of 1,300 miles.
Armament consisted of two 20mm Hispano cannon in each wing with two
1,000 lb Bombs and 8x 60 lb rockets in various configurations.
1,702 airframes were built with many being on charge to Canada, Australia
and post war Denmark, The Netherlands, Ethiopia, India and Thailand.
Today just 21 Firefly’s remain on display in museums World wide with a
further two airworthy and one at the Imperial War museum Duxford
undergoing rebuild to flying condition.