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Fairey Fox | bgcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3" align="center" style="border-bottom:3px solid"|Fairey Fox VI | | olspan="3" align="center"|300px | | gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Description | | ole | colspan="2"|Light bomber | | rew | colspan="2"|2 | | irst flight | colspan="2"|January 3, 1925 (Mk.I) | | ntered service | colspan="2"|June, 1926 (Mk.I) | | anufacturer | colspan="2"|Fairey | | gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Dimensions | | ength | 29 ft 8 in | 9 m | | ingspan | 37 ft 8 in | 11.5 m | | eight | 10 ft 10 in | 3.3 m | | ing area | 370 ft² | 34.4 m² | | gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Weights | | mpty | 3,950 lb | 1,790 kg | | oaded | 5,400 lb | 2,450 kg | | aximum takeoff | lb | kg | | gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Powerplant | | ngine | colspan="2"|Hispano-Suiza 12 Ybrs. | | ower | 860 hp | 640 kW | | gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Performance | | aximum speed | 230 mph @ 13,120 ft | 370 km/h @ 4,000 m | | ombat range | 370 miles | 600 km | | erry range | km | miles | | ervice ceiling | 23,000 ft | 7,000 m | | ate of climb | 2,500 ft/min | 760 m/min | | gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|Armament | | uns | colspan="2"|2 forward machine guns
1 rear Lewis gun | | ombs | 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 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.II 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 2-seater fighter variant. 13 were built in Belgium. The Fox Mk.IIIC had an enclosed cockpit and raised the forward fire-power to two guns in a trough on the port side of the fuselage. 48 were built in Belgium. The Fox Mk.IV 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 spatted wheels and a much more powerful Hispano-Suiza engine. About 85 were built, plus 12 of the Fox Mk.VIII with 2 additional wing-mounted guns. 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.
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