Fairey Gordon

Fairey Gordon
Type:	Light bomber
Design country:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Fairey Aviation
First flight:	March 3, 1931
Commissioning:	1931
Production time:	1931-1934
Number of pieces:	207 + 64 conversions

The Fairey Gordon was a single-engine, two-seat multi-role aircraft of some overseas squadrons and a light day bomber of the land-based forces of the Royal Air Force (RAF). In contrast to the previous Fairey IIIF Mk.IV , the Fairey Gordon was powered by an air-cooled radial engine. Seven squadrons of the Royal Air Force used this type between 1931 and 1938.
The variant for service as a reconnaissance aircraft on the aircraft carriers was given the designation Fairey Seal .

Development of the Fairey Gordon

The Fairey Gordon was the further development of the Fairey IIIF to use an air-cooled radial engine, which was called the Fairey IIIF Mk.V during the planning . The choice fell on the new Armstrong Siddeley Panther engine. The first prototypes were two converted Fairey IIIF Mk.IVs , the J9154 (Mk.IVCM) and K1697 (Mk.IVB). The first rebuilt machine was probably flown as early as 1930, as production was ordered with specification 18/30 .

The numbers differ about the number of Gordon Mk.I's built and range from 154 to 207. The same applies to the number of conversions from Fairey IIIF Mk.IV with 30 to over 80. Known are K1697, K1721-K1748, K1756- K1758, K1762-K1778, K2603-2649, K2683-K2769 as identification of newly produced machines. The Gordon was an extremely simple aircraft with limited technical equipment. Compared to its predecessor IIIF Mk.IV , the Gordon offered improved performance and, in particular, improved take-off behavior when fully loaded.In addition, 24 Gordon Mk.II ( K3986-K4009 ) according to specification 14/33 with the modified tail unit of the sister model Fairey Seal from Fleet Air Arm built and delivered by the end of production in 1934.

production

Approval of the Fairey Gordon by the RAF:

version	1931	1932	1933	1934	total
Mk.I	20th	120	14th		154
Mk.II				24	24
total	20th	120	14th	24	178

There are also 94 conversions from Fairey IIIF Mk.IV.

Use of the Fairey Gordon

The new type of aircraft was supposed to replace the Fairey IIIF Mk.IV in the RAF , which was not fully carried out because the operational machines were rapidly modernized in the thirties and the Gordon was technically obsolete when he entered service. Nevertheless, when the Second World War broke out in 1939, three squadrons (No. 6, 45, 47) of the RAF in the Middle East had Fairey Gordon as operational machines.

As the first season, the season 40 in Upper Heyford , near Bicester ( Oxfordshire ), when it was reorganized in April 1931 Fairey Gordon . In 1932 the two squadrons 35 and 207 , previously equipped with the forerunner Fairey IIIF Mk.IV , followed , which were relocated with their Fairey Gordon to Sudan at the end of 1935 during the Abyssinian crisis until the summer of 1936. At this point in time 207 had already begun the conversion to the Vickers Vincent planned as the successor model . Squadron 40 converted to Hawker Hart in the fall of 1935 , the other two squadrons were Vickers Wellesley squadrons stationed at home in 1937 .

The first with Fairey Gordon equipped RAF squadron in the planned area of application in the summer of 1931, the Season 6 in Ismailia that this a regular part of their machines in Ramleh had stationed and the last season of the RAF still with the developed during World War I Bristol Fighter was equipped . The complete conversion of the squadron dragged on until mid-1932. This was followed by the IIIF Mk.IV squadrons 14 in Amman in 1932, 47 in Khartoum in 1933 and 45 in Egypt in 1934. The latter, however, was never completely converted.
The last two squadrons were partially upgraded from 1935 to the Vickers Vincent, which was planned as a successor, and then to the Vickers Wellesley , but in 1939 they still had Fairey Gordon machines. Season 6 also had mixed equipment with remaining Gordon s alongside the Hawker Hardy introduced in 1938 . Only season 14 had been fully upgraded to Vickers Wellesley since early 1938 .

Despite the relatively long period of service, the Fairey Gordon did not prove itself in the squadrons as expected. Due to the relatively quick change of the operational machines, the conversion of the squadrons in the Middle East was slow, since the supply of the units there with spare parts etc. was more complex. Many of the Fairey Gordon no longer needed for the squadrons were converted and used as tow planes for air targets.

In early 1941 there were seven Gordon s at No. 4 deployed in Habbaniyya in Iraq . This flight was converted back into bombers and used against the Iraqi units that threatened and attacked the British school.

Use in other countries

Brazilian Fairey Gordon floatplane

 Brazil

In 1931, Brazil bought 20 Fairey Gordon named E1Fs , five of which were supplied as float planes . From 1932 to 1940 the machine was organized into four naval squadrons. The remaining four aircraft came to the Luftwaffe in 1941 and the last machine of this type was retired in 1943.

 China

probably a machine got to China.

 Egypt

The Royal Egyptian Air Force received six Fairey Gordon from the RAF's holdings in the Middle East in 1939 .

 New Zealand

From April 1939, 49 Fairey Gordon from the stocks of the RAF in the Middle East were given to the Royal New Zealand Air Force , of which 41 machines were briefly used as training aircraft from the winter of 1939. 40 license plates of eight converted IIIF Mk.IV , 17 Mk.I and 15 Mk.II are known. Some of the machines were badly worn, others had only carried out a short test flight. The machines had many accidents as training machines. In three of the crashes between 1940 and 1942 there were also five fatalities. The last machine was taken out of service in 1943.

Remaining machine

The Gordon Mark I NZ629 is said to have been restored in New Zealand . The aircraft, which made an emergency landing in a mountain forest near the snow line on Mount White on April 12, 1940 , was found in 1976 and recovered with an Aerospatiale Lama helicopter. Reconstruction began in 1996, but was not completed in 2005.

successor

The development of the machines developed from the Fairey III ended with the sister types Fairey Seal and Fairey Gordon . The Air Ministry sought with the tender G.4 / 31 a replacement for the colonial machinery Fairey Gordon and used in India Westland Wapiti . The new type should be used in cooperation with the army, as a horizontal bomber, as a dive bomber, as a reconnaissance aircraft, ambulance aircraft and possibly also as a torpedo bomber.

Fairey G.4 / 31 Mk.II

Although Fairey first proposed a monoplane, the company then received the order to complete a double-decker prototype that had already been started on its own account. The machine known as the Fairey G.4 / 31 had wings connected by a pair of struts that were offset and had different spans. In the central area, the areas were heavily cut out. to give the crew a good view. Because of the given possibility of using torpedo bombers, the landing gear did not have a continuous axle. The fuselage and wing frames were made entirely of metal and were not covered. The pilot sat in his open cockpit immediately behind the upper wing, shifted slightly to the right. This allowed passage from the rear cockpit to a closed cabin between the wings, which could serve as a navigation room, bomb target station and transport room for the wounded. It had access from the outside between the areas.
The first drive was an uncovered 9-cylinder 635 HP (474 ​​kW) Bristol Pegasus IIM3 radial engine, with which the machine made its maiden flight on March 29, 1934. Aerodynamically improved, with a new tail unit and fairings on the wheels, the machine flew from 1935 as a Mk. II version with the narrower 750 HP Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IV double radial engine in a long fairing.

The Fairey G.4 / 31 was not built in series. The winner of the tender, for which the monoplane Handley Page HP.47 and Westland PV.7 as well as the biplane Armstrong Whitworth AW19 , Blackburn B-7 , Hawker PV4 and the Parnall G.4 / 31 had also applied, was the Vickers Type 253 . However, the orders were transferred to the Vickers Wellesley single decker developed by Vickers on its own account . As an interim solution, the RAF had already ordered Vickers Vincent, developed from the Vickers Vildebeest torpedo bomber, with order 16/34 .

Technical specifications

Parameter	Fairey IIIF M.IV	Fairey Seal	Fairey Gordon	Fairey G.4 / 31 Mk.II
crew	2	3	2
length	11.17 m (36 ft 8 in)	10.25 m	11.20 m	12.44 m
span	13.95 m (45 ft 9 in)			16.15 m
height	4.32 m (14 ft 2 in)	3.89 m	4.32 m (14 ft 2 in)	4.78 m
Wing area	40.69 m² (438 ft²)	41.2 m²	40.69 m² (438 ft²)	61.13 m²
Empty mass	1752 kg (3855 lb)	1633 kg	1589 kg (3500 lb)	3169 kg
Takeoff mass	2746 kg (6041 lb)	2727 kg	2679 kg (5906 lb)	3987 kg
Top speed	193 km / h (120 mph)	222 km / h	240 km / h (145 mph)	253 km / h
Range	644 km (400 mi) max. 2,446 km (1,520 mi)	966 km	966 km (600 mi)
Service ceiling	6098 m (20,000 ft)	6705 m	6,700 m (22,000 ft)	7071 m
drive	570 PS (423 kW) -Lion XI	525 hp Panther IIA	525 PS (391 kW) Panther IIA	750 hp Tiger IV
Armament	2 MG
Bomb load	up to 227 kg (500 lb)			680 kg

literature

• Philip Jarrett: Fairey IIIF , Airplane Monthly, March / April 1994, Vol 22 No 3 / Issue 251/2. London: IPC., ISSN  0143-7240 .
• Philip Jarrett: Database: Fairey IIIF , Airplane Monthly, November 2011, Vol 39 No 11 Issue 463. London: Kelsey Publishing Group, ISSN  0143-7240 .
• Peter Lewis: The British Bomber since 1914 , Putnam London, 3rd edition 1980, ISBN 0-370-30265-6
• Francis K. Mason: The Fairey IIIF , Profile 44, 1965
• Kenneth Munson: Bomber 1919–1939 , Orell Füssli; Zurich, 1971
• Harold Anthony Taylor: Fairey Aircraft since 1915 , Putnam London, 1988. ISBN 0-370-00065-X .
• Owen Thetford: Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918 , Putnam London, 7th edition 1979, ISBN 0-370-30186-2
• Owen Thetford: Fairey IIIF and Gordon in Service , Airplane Monthly, May 1994, Vol 22 No 5 Issue 253. London: IPC, ISSN  0143-7240 .

Web links

Commons : Fairey III  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Fairey Gordon (Russian)
• Fairey Gordon (Eng.)
• Fairey Gordon (Eng.)
• Story of the New Zealand Fairey Gordon (engl.)
• 35 Squadron - From Thetford to Scampton (Engl.)
• 207 Squadron (Royal Air Force) Association (Engl.)
• The History of 14 Squadron (Engl.)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Lewis: British Bomber , p. 192.
   According to other sources only on March 3, 1931? K1697 ?
2. ^ ^{A b} Thetford: Aircraft of the RAF , p. 248
3. ↑ Halley, James J .: The K File. The Royal Air Force of the 1930s, Tunbridge Wells, 1995, pp. 195 ff.
4. ↑ List of Gordon s of season 35 ( Memento from September 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (Eng.)
5. ↑ List of Gordon s of season 207
6. ^ Air Vice Marshal AG Dudgeon CBE DFC: The War That Never Was . Airlife Publishing, 1991, ISBN 1-85310-256-3 .
7. ↑ Brazilian Fairey Gordon registered as E1F-47 to E1F-56, E1F-60 to E1F-66, and E1F-54A to E1F-56A
8. ↑ identified Gordon's : K1161, K1715, K1757, K1765, K1767, K1770, K1772, K1775 ( Mk.IV ); K2620, K2633, K2636, K2694, K2706, K2709, K2715-K2717, K2723, K2726 / 27, K2731, K2742, K2759, K2763, K2767 (Mk.I); K3987, K3993 K3995, K3908-K4009 (Mk.II)
9. ↑ Fairey Gordon Mk I NZ629 (pdf; 597 kB) April 2004. Archived from the original on November 4, 2006. Retrieved on September 22, 2013.
10. ^ ^{A b} Lewis: Bomber , p. 241ff.
11. ↑ Lewis, pp. 249f.
12. ↑ Lewis, pp. 251f.