{| |} the fairey fulmar was a british carrier-borne fighter aircraft that served with the fleet air arm (faa) during the second world war. a total of 600 were built by fairey aviation at its stockport factory between january 1940 and december 1942. the fulmar's design was based on that of the earlier fairey p.4/34 that was in turn developed in 1936 as a replacement for the fairey battle light bomber. although its performance (like that of its battle antecedent) was lacking, the fulmar was a reliable, sturdy aircraft with long range and an effective eight machine gun armament. ==design and development== the fairey p.4/34 was built to specification p.4/34 as a light bomber capable of being used as a dive bomber, in competition with the hawker henley and an unbuilt gloster design.mason 1994, p. 306. despite its high speed of 284&nbsp;mph,thetford 1991, p. 152. it lost out to the 300&nbsp;mph henley (which was eventually ordered as a target tug). the fulmar, a navalised version of the p.4/34 was submitted to meet specification o.8/38 for a two-crew fleet defence fighter. as it was not expected to encounter fighter opposition, high performance or maneuverability was not considered important, but long range and heavy armament were. the provision of a navigator/wireless operator was considered essential for the long, over-ocean flights that would be required. thumb|right|n1854, the first production fulmar at farnborough at the sbac show on 8 september 1962 looking much like its sister, the battle, the fulmar prototype was aerodynamically cleaner and featured a folding wing that was 16&nbsp;in (41&nbsp;cm) shorter than its bomber lookalike.winchester 2004, p. 85. the prototype p.4/34 serial number k5099 first flew on 13 january 1937 at fairey aviation's great west aerodrome (now covered by london heathrow airport), with fairey test pilot chris staniland at the controls.mason 1992, p. 287.lumsden 1990, p. 354. after the first flight tests, the tail was revised, being raised 8&nbsp;in (20&nbsp;cm). the first prototype fulmar, acting as a "flying mock-up", was powered by a 1,080&nbsp;hp (810&nb
British_fighter_aircraft_1940a1949 Carrier-based_aircraft Fairey_aircraft Low-wing_aircraft Single-engined_tractor_aircraft