Fairey Fox

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Fairey Fox VI

Description
Role	Light bomber
Crew	2
First flight	January 3, 1925 (Mk.I)
Entered service	June, 1926 (Mk.I)
Manufacturer	Fairey
Dimensions
Length	29 ft 8 in	9 m
Wingspan	37 ft 8 in	11.5 m
Height	10 ft 10 in	3.3 m
Wing area	370 ft²	34.4 m²
Weights
Empty	3,950 lb	1,790 kg
Loaded	5,400 lb	2,450 kg
Maximum takeoff	lb	kg
Powerplant
Engine	Hispano-Suiza 12 Ybrs.
Power	860 hp	640 kW
Performance
Maximum speed	230 mph @ 13,120 ft	370 km/h @ 4,000 m
Combat range	370 miles	600 km
Ferry range	km	miles
Service ceiling	23,000 ft	7,000 m
Rate of climb	2,500 ft/min	760 m/min
Armament
Guns	2 forward machine guns 1 rear Lewis gun
Bombs	528 lb	240 kg

The Fairey Fox was a light bomber and fighter biplane of the 1920s and 1930s. It was originally produced in Britain for the RAF, but continued in production and use in Belgium long after it was retired in Britain.

The Fox Mk.I had equal chord upper and lower wings, single forward and rear guns. It was powered by the 450hp (340kW) Curtiss D12 in-line liquid-cooled engine, which had caught C.R. Fairey's attention when a Curtiss seaplane won the 1923 Schneider Trophy race. 28 were built and served with No. 12 Squadron, RAF, which later adopted a fox's mask as squadron badge in memory of their sole usage of the aircraft. They were faster than any contemporary fighter aircraft.

Two superannuated Fox Mk.Is took part in the 1934 MacRobertson Air Race from London to Melbourne. Sadly, one of them occasioned the only fatalities of the race when it crashed in Italy. The other, commanded by Australian Ray Parer (a veteran of the 1919 England to Australia Air Race), had struggled no further than Paris when news came through that the race winner had completed the course. Parer and co-pilot Geoff Hemsworth continued an epic and eventful journey, taking nearly 4 months to reach Melbourne.

The Fox Mk.IIM had a narrower chord lower wing and 480hp (360kW) Rolls-Royce Kestrel engines. It was delivered to the Belgian Air Force from 1931. 12 were built in Britain and a further 31 under licence by Belgian Avions Fairey at Gosselies.

The Fox Mk III was a privately-funded version, which later became the one and only Fox Mk IV prototype. The Fox Mk IV was powered by a 578-kW (775-hp) Hispano-Suiza engine.

The Fox Mk III Trainer was a two-seat training version, powered by a 269-kW (360-hp)Armstrong Siddeley Serval engine. Only one aircraft was built. The Fox Mk IIIS was the same aircraft, fitted with a supercharged Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIMS engine.

The Fox Mk.III was a two-seat reconnaissance fighter version, armed with two forward-firing FN-Browning 7.62-mm (0.30-inch) machine-guns. 13 were built in Belgium.

The Fox Mk.IIIC two-seat army co-operation, reconnaissance biplane. The Mk.IIIC had an enclosed cockpit, which raised the forward fire-power to two machine guns, in a trough on the port side of the fuselage. 48 were built in Belgium, including one Fox Mk IIICS dual-control trainer.

The Fox Mk.IV Floatplane was produced as a seaplane. 6 were produced for the Peruvian Air Force and carried out observation duties in wars against Colombia in 1933 and (with the floats removed) Ecuador in 1941.

The Fox Mk.VI, introduced in 1934, was a major improvement, with an enclosed cockpit, spatted wheels, and a much more powerful 641-kW (860-hp) Hispano-Suiza engine. About 85 were built, plus 15 Fox Mk.VIII fighters. The Mk.VIII was an improved version with 2 additional wing-mounted 7.62-mm (0.30-inch) FN-Browning machine-guns.

THe Fox Mk VIC was a two-seat fighter version, and the Fox Mk VIR was a two-seat reconnaissance-fighter version.

The Fox Mk V was the designation given by the parent company, to a single Fox Mk VI aircraft in the United Kingdom, fitted with enclosed cockpits and wheel spats. When the aircraft returned to Belgium, it was fitted with the 619-kW (830-hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Y drs engine, and its wheel spats removed.

The Fox Mk VII was a single-seat fighter version of the Fox Mk VIR, it was armed with six machine-guns. Only two aircraft were built

Over 100 Foxes were still in front-line service with the Belgian Air Force at the time of the German invasion on May 10, 1940. Although massively outclassed by the aircraft of the Luftwaffe they flew about 100 sorties and even claimed one kill of a Messerschmitt Bf 109.