Fairey Fox

Cvairwerks · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 1:14 pm

Does anyone happen to know if there are any Foxes still in existance? I'm also looking for any factory info on them too, especially the Fox III series or the Fox VI series.

JDK · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 5:38 pm

That'd be the British aircraft with the American V-12, wouldn't it!

Cvairwerks wrote:

Does anyone happen to know if there are any Foxes still in existance?

Yes, I do, no their aren't.

For info I'd start with the RAF Museum's DoRIS: http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/research/

As per this thread ( http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=97294 ) some Fairey material ended up with Westlands, and you can contact the Westland's historic archivist 'Judwin' via there (or drop me a PM).

Much longer shot would be to contact the Brussels Air Museum, and 12 Squadron RAF. Given 12 Squadron still celebrate their operation of the type, they may have some stuff. The Belgians, of course also built and operated the type, and Avions Fairey items may well have got to the Belgian museum. http://www.airmuseum.be/en/index.php

For those not familiar with the type:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Fox

Good luck, great aircraft!

JDK · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 5:41 pm

Oh, and why the III or VI? AFAIK, both minor versions...

Cvairwerks · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 7:18 pm

Thanks for the info James. I'll drop you a pm for the contact info for Judwin in the next day or two. My main interest is the IIICS/IIIS and VIC's. Between the three versions, there were 11 built as dual control aircraft. This is purely a data compilation for now.

As to an American powerplant???? Not unless the Kestrel, the Hispano or the Armstrong were made in the US...

JDK · **Posted:** Wed May 30, 2012 7:46 pm

Cvairwerks wrote:

Thanks for the info James. I'll drop you a pm for the contact info for Judwin in the next day or two.

No problem, standing by.

Quote:

As to an American powerplant???? Not unless the Kestrel, the Hispano or the Armstrong were made in the US...

Nil points. :wink:

(And what's an 'Armstrong' engine?)

From the wiki link above:

Quote:

On seeing the Curtiss CR, powered by a Curtiss D-12 V-12 liquid-cooled engine of low frontal area and in a low drag installation, win the 1923 Schneider Trophy race, Fairey realised that this engine would be well suited to a new bomber and acquired an example of the engine and a licence for production.[2][3]
Fairey commenced design of a bomber around this engine, with detailed design carried out by a team at first led by Frank Duncanson and then by the Belgian Marcel Lobelle. The resultant aircraft, the Fairey Fox, was a single-bay biplane with highly staggered wings,[2] with a composite wood and metal structure.[4] The Curtiss D-12 was installed in a closely cowled tractor installation, ...
...
there was much resistance to the new bomber within the Air Ministry, with the Fox not designed to an official specification and having several features, such as fuel tanks within the fuselage, that went against official norm, and most importantly, it featured an American engine.[8] (Although Fairey had negotiated a license for the D-12, in the end it built no engines, with 50 engines being imported.[2])

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Fox#Fox_I

I'd say there are two things one should know about the Fox; 1) It was designed around an American engine to deliver a superior performance for the day (as it did) as a private venture (not to an official requirement) and 2) that resulted in Air Ministry bureaucrat's revenge, with only one squadron's worth of aircraft being accepted and Fairey (already having existing issues with the Air Min drones) getting grief from the Air Min for years afterwards.

The lesson is don't make the customer's bureaucracy look bad by delivering a superior product, you'll be punished. :axe:

(As you say, the later versions had other engines. But the Fox was inspired and built for a US engine.)

Regards,

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