History

As the war begun in 1939, it became clear the Felkan Navy had outdated planes, and so the government issued an order for a high-performance naval fighter capable of ground attack, with that in mind, Falken engineers designed a plane with gull wings for a shorter and stronger landing gear and contra-rotating propellers to eliminate the torque of the powerful engine when taking off.

The prototype was ready by mid 1944 and proved very promising, so the government ordered 600 to be built. The production started by late 1944 and the Firefly saw limited service before the end of the war, although it’s career didn’t end there, as it proved to be a well liked and reliable plane the Navy kept them around until the Ascadian government collapsed in 1951 and a civil war broke out, lasting until 1955.

This conflict was marked by the heavy use of jet powered aircraft, and even though it looked like the Firefly had no place in that conflict, it again proved itself to be a good attacker aircraft, although being used in smaller numbers since they were quite vulnerable to the faster jet aircraft the Ascadians had.

Ultimately, the Fk-48 was retired by the Felkans when the war ended, serving in other air forces until 1968. Several variants were made, with the most famous ones being the Navy version (FK.48A) and the Army version (FK-48B), which could carry bombs and rockets instead of a torpedo.

Pilot

Marcus “Mac” Almeida was a Navy pilot that served in the Felkan war and the Ascadian war, being credited with the sinking of 2 enemy ships and downing 11 aircraft, including a jet.

He was well liked by his squadron and was a fun guy to be around, and in 1952 he became famous when he shot down an Ascadian jet fighter by luring it into a dogfight.

Misc

(Tested with payload only)
Top Speed: 715 km/h at 1,500 meters
Takeoff Speed: 200 km/h
Stall Speed: 180 km/h
Manufacturer: Falken
Produced: 1944-1955
Numbers Built: 1,025
Powerplant: 18 cylinder radial engine with 2,825 hp
Armament: 4 20 mm Escreva cannon and 1 2,000 lb torpedo

Controls

VTOL: Flaps
AG-1: Bail out
AG-2: Fold wings
AG-3: Tail hook
AG-7: Jettison payload

Army variant