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The Fulmar was a two-seat Fleet fighter armed with eight 7.7mm Browning machine-guns, four in each wing. It was unusual for a two-seater in having no rear-mounted gun for the observer/radio operator. The prototype flew for the first time on 4 January 1940 and by the latter part of the same year early production Mk Is were firmly in action. A total of 250 853kW Rolls-Royce Merlin VIII-powered Mk Is were built, followed by 350 969kW Merlin 30-powered Mk IIs. During its career, which lasted until the end of the war, it performed many roles including those of escort fighter, convoy protection and reconnaissance, but with the introduction of the faster Supermarine Spitfire its main carrier-borne day-fighter role was substituted for the less demanding night-fighter role.
| MODEL | Fairey "Fulmar" Mk.I |
| CREW | 2 |
| ENGINE | 1 x Rolls-Royce "Merlin" VIII, 805kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 4853 kg | 10699 lb |
| Empty weight | 3955 kg | 8719 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 14.14 m | 46 ft 5 in |
| Length | 12.24 m | 40 ft 2 in |
| Height | 4.27 m | 14 ft 0 in |
| Wing area | 31.77 m2 | 341.97 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 398 km/h | 247 mph |
| Ceiling | 6555 m | 21500 ft |
| ARMAMENT | 8 x 7.7mm machine-guns |
 | A three-view drawing of Fulmar II (1280 x 974) |
| Leo Rudnicki, leo_rudnicki(@)hotmail.com, 21.07.2009 The Admiralty self-fulfilled the myth that ship-board naval fighters would never compete with land-based fighters. The Martlet/Wildcat came as a pleasant surprise, the Zero a bit of a shock. A properly defined naval air doctrine came late to the FAA. | | Steve, steveg(@)abkj.com, 17.07.2009 The Fulmar's real problem was that it was too much airframe for one rather small engine - a circumstance inherited from its ancestry as the P.4/34 light bomber. Their Lordships' insistence that a fighter needed a navigator was not unrealistic, however, and it is worth considering a turret-less Boulton Paul Defiant (particularly the Mk.II) as an indication that a purpose-built single-Merlin fleet fighter could have had a better performance. Better yet, imagine such an aircraft powered by the Bristol Hercules, using a landplane equivalent of the Aichi E16 as a gauge. | | Ian, taffwob(@)googlemail.com, 23.04.2009 Always had a soft spot for this aircraft, I seem to favour underdogs. I've read that a few were fitted with a rear gun as a makeshift defence & some even carried large bundles of toilet paper that would be hurled out of the rear seat to try & confuse any fighters on it's tail. |
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COMPANY
PROFILE
FACTS AND FIGURES© The Fulmar had essentially the same
engine and armament as the early
Spitfires, although it was a lot
heavier and carried an extra
crewman. © The Fulmar Mk II had a Merlin 30
engine with nearly 300 more
horsepower. Despite this, it was only
16km/h faster than the Mk I. © The relatively light armament of eight rifle-calibre
machine guns and the slow top speed of
the Fulmar allowed many German and Italian
bombers to get away with limited damage.
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