Fairey Fantôme

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The Fairey Fantôme, also called the Fairey Féroce, was a Belgian fighter prototype from the mid-1930s. It was designed by Marcel Lobelle for Belgium’s air force. Fairey Aviation in Britain built the design, and three more aircraft were later finished in Belgium by Avions Fairey.

Design and features:
- It was a single-bay biplane with all-metal construction and fabric covering.
- It had fixed landing gear with covered wheels.
- It used a 925 hp Hispano-Suiza 12Ycrs V12 engine.
- It could carry an engine-mounted 20 mm Oerlikon cannon that fired through the propeller hub.
- It also had two 7.62 mm wing guns, and two more Brownings could be added in the upper fuselage if the cannon wasn’t used.

History:
- First flight was on 6 June 1935 at the Great West Aerodrome near London.
- It was shown at the RAF and SBAC airshows in July 1935 before Belgium used it in a competition to replace the Firefly II.
- The Fantôme crashed at Evere on 17 July during the competition, killing the pilot.

Production and later fate:
- Three other aircraft started in Britain were shipped to Belgium in 1936 and finished as the Fairey Féroce at Avions Fairey’s Gosselies factory, but Belgium later changed its fighter requirements.
- Two of the finished aircraft were sold to the Soviet government; some sources say they were later given to the Spanish Republican Air Force, while others say there is no evidence of this.
- The fourth aircraft returned to Britain, where the Air Ministry evaluated its performance and armament. It was used at the Air Gunnery School at Rolleston from December 1940 and was removed from service in March 1943.
- No further production occurred.