The Fairey Gordon was a British light bomber (2-seat day bomber) and utility aircraft of the 1930s.

The Gordon was a conventional two-bay fabric-covered metal biplane. It was powered by 525–605 horsepower (391–451 kW) variants of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa engine. Armament was one fixed, forward-firing .303-inch (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun and a .303-inch (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun in the rear cockpit, plus 500 pounds (230 kg) of bombs. The aircraft was somewhat basic; instruments were airspeed indicator, altimeter, oil pressure gauge, tachometer, turn and bank indicator and compass.
Development
The Gordon was developed from the IIIF, primarily by use of the new Armstrong Siddeley Panther engine. The prototype was first flown on 3 March 1931, and around 80 earlier IIIFs were converted to a similar standard, 178 new-built aircraft were made for the RAF, a handful of IIIFs being converted on the production line. 154 Mark Is were produced, before production switched to the Mark II with a larger fin and rudder; only 24 of these were completed before production switched to the Swordfish. The naval version of the Gordon, used by the Royal Navy, was known as the Seal.
Service
The type had mostly been retired from Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm service prior to the Second World War, although No. 6 Squadron RAF, No. 45 Squadron RAF, and No. 47 Squadron RAF, still operated the type in Egypt. Six of these aircraft were transferred to the Egyptian Air Force.

49 Gordons were dispatched to the Royal New Zealand Air Force in April 1939, 41 entering brief service as pilot trainers. The RNZAF found the aircraft worn out and showing signs of their service in the Middle East – including at least one scorpion. The last of these – and the last intact Gordon anywhere – was struck from RNZAF service in 1943.

Seven Gordons were adapted to target towing and stationed at No 4 Flying Training School at RAF Habbaniya in Iraq. At the end of April 1941 these aircraft were hastily converted back into bombers, and in early May they took part in the defence of Habbaniya against Iraqi forces threatening and then attacking the School.
Variants
Fairey IIIF Mk V
Prototype.
Gordon Mk I
Two-seat day bomber and general purpose aircraft.
Gordon Mk II
Two-seat training version.
E1F
Brazilian Navy designation for the Fairey Gordon.
below cockpit

Below Gordons flying low over RNZAF Station Wigram.

Below Gordon NZ637 with engine running at RNZAF Station Wigram.

Below Gordon NZ628, at the No. 2 Service Flying Training School, RNZAF Station Woodbourne.

Below Gordon NZ628 '6' after braking heavily, believed to be at RNZAF Station Wigram.

Below Gordon NZ620 from No. 1 Service Flying Training School, after it flew into the ground north of Wigram while low level formation flying.

Below Gordon NZ616 '14', being prepared for a flight. RNZAF Station Ohakea.

Below Gordon NZ606 from No. 1 Service Flying Training School, after overturning while landing at night at RNZAF Station Wigram.

Below Gordon NZ606 at RNZAF Station Wigram.

Below Gordon NZ605, from No. 1 Service Flying Training School, being towed by a truck, parked near a car on the side of the road from Lake Ellesmere to Wigram.

Below Gordon light day bomber (K2757) of No 47 Squadron, Royal Air Force, in flight over the Sudan in the mid 1930s.

below Gordon K4006 at RNZAF Station Hobsonville.

Below Gordon K4005 (later NZ609), from No. 1 Service Flying Training School, after crashing near Birdlings Flat airstrip


Below Gordon K4005 (later NZ609) with engine running at RNZAF Station Wigram.

Below Gordon K3999. Presumed to be on a test flight from RNZAF Station Hobsonville before delivery to Wigram.

Below Gordon K3998. RNZAF Station Wigram

Below Gordon K1743

Below Gordon K1736

Below Fairey Gordon seaplane heading to meet the Training Ship Almirante Saldanha da Gama, which arrived in Rio de Janeiro for the first time on October 24, 1934

Below Brazilian Fairey Gordon Aircraft at Baptista das Neves Cove - 1930s

Specifications (Mark I)
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 36 ft 9 in (11.20 m)
Wingspan: 45 ft 9 in (13.94 m)
Height: 14 ft 2 in (4.32 m)
Wing area: 438 sq ft (40.7 m2)
Empty weight: 3,500 lb (1,588 kg)
Gross weight: 5,906 lb (2,679 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 525 hp (391 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 145 mph (233 km/h, 126 kn)
Cruise speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 96 kn)
Range: 600 mi (970 km, 520 nmi)
Service ceiling: 22,000 ft (6,700 m)
Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 13.5 lb/sq ft (66 kg/m2)
Power/mass: 0.089 hp/lb (0.146 kW/kg)
Armament
Guns: 1 × fixed, forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun and 1 × flexible .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun in the rear cockpit
Bombs: 500 lb (227 kg) of bombs carried under wings
Fairey Seal
The Fairey Seal was a British carrier-borne spotter-reconnaissance aircraft, operated in the 1930s. The Seal was derived – like the Gordon – from the IIIF. To enable the Fairey Seal to be launched by catapult from warships, it could be fitted with floats.
Service life and operations
The Seal was designed and built by Fairey Aviation. It first flew in 1930 and entered squadron service with the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in 1933. Ninety-one aircraft were produced.

The FAA started to replace it with the Swordfish Mk1 from 1936. By 1938 all FAA torpedo squadrons had been entirely re-equipped with the Swordfish. The Seal was removed from front-line service by 1938, but remained in secondary and support roles. By the outbreak of the Second World War, only four remained in service. The type was retired fully by 1943. The type was last used in India as an instructional airframe from the Royal Navy Photographic Unit.

The RAF also operated the Seal as a target tug. Twelve aircraft were part of the RAF's No 10 Bombing and Gunnery School until 1940. A further four aircraft were used by 273 Squadron in Ceylon. These aircraft were used on coastal patrols, some as floatplanes. By May 1942, the type had been retired from RAF service.

In 1934 Latvia ordered four Seal floatplanes for its naval aviation (factory numbers F.2112 – 2115, tactical numbers 26 – 29, later 98 – 101). Between 22 June and 5 July 1936 three floatplanes under Colonel Janis Indans undertook a 6000 km long journey from Liepāja through Baltic and North European countries to England and back. In autumn 1940, after Latvia's annexation, the aircraft were taken by the Soviets, but they were not used by them, and they remained stored on Kisezers lake. On 28 June 1941 they were destroyed there by German planes.
Below beaching of a Fairey Seal.

Below Fairey Seal of the Peruvian Air Corps


below Fairey Seal K3577

Below Fairey Seal K3514

Below Fairey Seal K3481

Below Schellingwoude Naval Air Station near Amsterdam.Visit of three Latvian Fairey-Seal aircraft, 1936


Variants
Fairey IIIF Mk VI : The first prototype was converted from a Fairey IIIF MK IIIB.
Fairey Seal : Three-seat spotter-reconnaissance aircraft for the Royal Navy.
Specifications (Landplane)
General characteristics
Crew: 3
Length: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
Wingspan: 45 ft 9 in (13.94 m)
Height: 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Wing area: 443.5 sq ft (41.20 m2)
Gross weight: 6,000 lb (2,722 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIA 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine, 525 hp (391 kW)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 138 mph (222 km/h, 120 kn)
Endurance: 4 hours 30 minutes
Service ceiling: 17,000 ft (5,200 m)
Time to altitude: 5,000 ft (1,524 m) in 5 minutes 20 seconds
Armament
Guns: 1 fixed forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun and .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun in rear cockpit
Bombs: 500 lb (230 kg) or stores carried under lower wings
(text from Wikki)