The Fairey Gordon was almost identical to the Fairey IIIF, except for having a 391kW Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIA radial air-cooled engine in place of the Napier Lion water-cooled engine. It was a medium-range day bomber with a forward-firing Vickers machine-gun mounted on the left side of the fuselage and a rear-mounted Lewis gun. Up to 209kg of bombs could be carried and a prone bombing position was provided in the fuselage.
The prototype flew for the first time in 1930 and a total of 163 were built for the RAF, including a small number of trainers. Compared to the IIIF, the Gordon offered a considerable increase in speed, due mainly to the increased efficiency of the engine and a lighter AUW. In addition to the production Gordon Is, 24 refined Gordon IIs were built for the RAF and about 90 IIIFs were brought up to Gordon standard. They remained operational until 1938. A number were also exported, production examples going to China and Brazil, while RAF types were passed to Egypt and New Zealand.
