Fairey Fox

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Fairey Fox

Fairey Fox Mk.IV of the Belgian Air Force.
Type	Light bomber
Manufacturer	Fairey Aviation
Maiden flight	January 3, 1925 (Mk.I)
Primary users	Royal Air Force Belgian Air Force Air Force of Peru

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. Twenty-eight 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 four months to reach Melbourne.

The Fox Mk.IIM had a narrower chord lower wing and 480hp (360kW) Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine. It was delivered to the Belgian Air Force from 1931. Twelve 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. Thirteen were built in Belgium.

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

The Fox Mk.IV Floatplane was produced as a seaplane. Six 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 two 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.