Fairey Firefly: GIANT Rolls-Royce 2,000-Horsepower V-12 Griffon Engine!
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- Опубликовано: 25 авг 2024
- This is Eddie Kurdziel's very, very rare, late-WWII and post-war British and Aussie shipboard strike and anti-submarine Fairey Firefly. He has spent untold dollars on this magnificent machine, and man, it is just absolutely pristine! Just perfect. Even the exact degree of sheen of the paint was reseached. Owning something like this becomes a lifestyle in itself; definitely not a minor proposition!
The crack of the Rolls-Royce Griffon 12-cylinder, 2,400-horsepower engine will just rack your eardrums. Enjoy the sound. This is something very rare indeed!
I've been to visit the wreck of one of these which lies in the hills not far from mine, it was lost in 1944 with the loss of both crew. Them and the aircraft lay on the moors for 3 weeks before it was discovered. It was extremely sobering to stand at the spot where 2 people died. Lest we forget
Beautiful Firefly.
Lovely sound.
First British aircraft to fly over Japan at the wars end I believe.
The sound of that engine startup needs to be heard through a headset at full volume
It's definitely a Gargling Griffon. If it was a Merlin it would sound much smoother.
Thanks!
Yes, the landing gear collapsed on the runway during rollout and the aircraft swerved into the adjacent dirt area at Gillespie Field (near San Diego, Calif.) on June 3, 2012. Owner and pilot Eddie Kurdziel was unhurt. Looking at sequential photos taken by somebody at the airshow, it appears that the right main gear collapsed OUTWARD (the main gear normally retracts inward).
Jesus! Metal fatigue?
This aircraft as depicted is the colours and markings of the Fireflies that operated on HMAS Sydney during the Korean War.
They're definitely Korean War markings but also definitely British Fleet Air Arm
At the Reno Air Races (Rolls-Royce Heritage static display) in 2002 we met a U.S. Navy veteran of the Korean War who had seen _this aircraft_ (by fuselage serial number) flying off HMAS Sydney in 1952. The wings and tail feathers have been changed, but the identity of the airframe (I am told) goes with the fuselage. The markings are intended to be Royal Australian Navy circa 1950-52 (Eddie had a lot of drawings and photographs to confirm this) and that airframe definitely did fly for the RAN in both 817 Squadron and 816 Squadron.
RAN and RN markings were pretty much the same at this time. The number 201 is the squadron "tail" number, and the Firefly squadron on Sydney was always numbered from 200 (Sea Furies from 100). the K on the fin certainly denotes Sydney. This aircraft wouldn't have been on Sydney's active war patrol in 1951/2. This a/c started life as an anti submarine Mk 6 and for the war patrol Sydney exchanged her Mk VIs, which didn't have guns, for RN Mk Vs, which had cannon armament. This image shows my father on Sydney's war patrol standing (R) in front of a Mk V with bombs and cannon armament
farm1.staticflickr.com/160/333835069_0392241297.jpg
I can't see the Australian serial numbers - they start with "A", then have a two or three number type series and an individual aircraft number.
Dude, your videos are just awesome. But, they are too short. Can't we get, like 15 minutes of non-stop radial and V-12 engines? :):)
Fireflies were still being used as pilotless missile-target drones in the late '50s: painted maroon, they would fly out of my local airport on test- or delivery flights (with pilots) . The Fairey company still had a works at the airport but they stopped making aircraft soon after the Fireflies had left.
The rear of the Firefly had a small canteen, the pilot could go back there for a cup of cha and a spam sandwich -- the canteen lady would fly the plane while the navigator and pilot had a cigarette and a quick game of poker.
We need to do more to raise awareness of the role played by those brave FAA canteen ladies.
Thanks I wasn't sure exactly what had happened, just heard about it through the grapevine, glad to hear that Eddie's okay, and I'm sure that they'll have back in the air again once repairs have been made.
Love the plane - love the sound.
Just love these classic FAA birds!
Marvellous aeroplane. and it is exactly that. not an airplane.
Saw it on display at Miramar Airshow in October, it was a shame that not many people recognized its rarity.
cool , un spitfire avec une veranda à l'arrière!
They used those R.R. Griffons in the four engine Shackleton anti-sub bombers. We had the Shackletons fly low over our house when I was a kid in England in the early '60s. I think they were 37 liter whereas the Merlin was 27 liter. Also the Shacks had contra-rotating airscrews whereas the Firefly is conventional.
This would be fun to own, it's like a WW2 fighter that you could fit your family or friends into :)
except it's a post war intradictor >.>
@@19Koty96 First went into service in 1943, saw operational use in both the European and Pacific theaters in WW2. As a FAA fighter.
I read a memoire, “Bring Back My Stringbag: Swordfish Pilot at War”, and the Fairey corporation killed a lot of pilots by using ether in its hydraulic lines. Should vibrations cause a pipe to crack, the pilot could be anaesthetized in flight and crash.
Six viewers were in U-boats during the war.
Some Fireflies were sold to Ethiopia (go figure) and a few were discovered relatively well-preserved. Maybe someone with money may restore/preserve them.
Didn't this have a landing mishap a few weeks ago ?
kinda looks like a fat spitfire.... minus the super charger of the merlin version of the 12 cylinder of course!
And a carburettor Sth size of a Mini Minor engine!
Please explain what you mean by that, T Casterson!
@pegoda17 Carrier Fighter...as well as Anti-Submarine attacker
this is a joy to fly in the game war thunder
I have the Mk. 1, thinking about getting this in game though.
I was at Duxford Airshow in 2003 when a Firefly crashed killing both crew.
Am I seeing things or is the direction of rotation opposite of the Merlin? He's also using left rudder on takeoff instead of right rudder.
Yes, the Griffon rotates in the opposite direction of the Merlin. Or what we in the US would call the "normal" direction LOL!
No, you're not seeing things. The Griffon turned in the opposite direction to the Merlin.
@@barryervin8536 You might want to verify that. Most piston engines world wide were RH tractor.
The Merlin rotated counterclockwise (as viewed from the pilot's seat) which was common on British engines but unusual elsewhere. The Griffon rotated clockwise. Pilots used to holding left rudder on takeoff in Merlin Spitfires had to learn to hold right rudder in Griffon Spitfires.
@@barryervin8536 Erm... I think you've gone reciprocal there..As viewed from the pilot's seat the Merlin rotates clockwise, Griffon anticlockwise (or counterclockwise as Americans would say)
The Merlin is referred to as a right hand tractor, Griffon left hand tractor. During the war the industries (at least the UK ones anyway) clubbed together to agree that all future props would be left hand tractor. This was the reason the Griffon was a lefty. The Merlin was conceived before this agreement was reached.
i wonder if you can fit the engine in a bf109....
nope, only a Merlin, this was made for the Spanish bf109 named Buchon...and a french Dewoitine D520 fighter was fitted after the war , for tests, with a merlin III: it fly a bit faster as a Spitfire with same engine...
Nope, it's a Fairey Firefly AS Mk.6
The difference is not striking, however.
Merlins are awesome...
But this is a Griffon! Ha, ha, ha!
Their sounds are like music in my ears!
soaringtractor yes but musical noise!
This is a Griffon site, so what is I-Love-The-PACKARD-Merlin-SOOOOO-Much-And-I-Hate-The-British-SOOOOO-Much snoringfarmmachine doing here?
Actually it’s 3,000 horsepower
? No Griffons rated at 3,000hp for military service. Griffon 74 fitted to all later Firefly's. See for yourself.... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Griffon
Damn! Throw that engine in a mustang and see what it does!?
See ''Precious Metal.''
The Griffon was fitted to late model Spitfires, but pilots reported that the aircraft had been ruined, and needed constant trim adjustment during flight because the aircraft was nose heavy. Four Griffons in a Lancaster would have been interesting! The Shackleton did have them and stayed in service for decades.
lol.. i meant no offence. i know the Merlin version of the v-12 Rolls Royce engine, from Lancasters spits and stangs. and the various other crafts i wasnt aware that the griffon was used in air crafts i know them to be more a tank engine.
check out the Spitfire MK XII. It used Griffon power.
That is correct. The Mark XII was the first operational Spitfire with a Griffon. The first Spitfire actually *fitted* with a Griffon was the Mark IV in 1941, but it was no more than a test item and only two Mark IVs were made - one of them was upgraded to Mark XII standard later .
The Mark XIV and all successive Spitfires, except the Mark XVI, came with the Griffon - the Mark XVI was a Mark IX with a Packard Merlin.
The engine used in tanks had the 27 litre Merlin block and pistons but no supercharger and was called the Comet. The Griffon replaced the Merlin because the smaller engine was nearing it's power limit. Used in Fireflies as well as Spits and Avro Lincolns and Shackletons.
"A polite, respectful and grown up comment I hope."
Indeed it is. Better than anything that you will ever receive from the boringtractor, who contaminates every thread he appears on with his infantile postings.
He has never once, on any thread, posted something that could be considered polite, respectful and grown up.
Comet was the name of the tank ... the engine used in the Comet tank was the Rolls Royce Meteor, basically a Merlin without the supercharger.
Bullshit; it is not a "GIANT Rolls-Royce 2,000-Horsepower V-12 Griffon Engine". It's just a normal size Rolls-Royce 2,000-Horsepower V-12 Griffon Engine. Click bait.
Compare it to your car's engine and tell me it's not giant...
*tips memehat*
soaringtractor chill out mate
Didn't this have a landing mishap a few weeks ago ?