Last surviving Fairey Gordon restored and put up for sale in New Zealand

The sole surviving Fairey Gordon is for sale in New Zealand after a restoration that began in 2019 was completed. The single-engine biplane was built by Fairey Aviation in 1932 and is described as the only example of the type still in existence.

According to restorer Robert Reece, the aircraft came down in the Southern Alps on 12 April 1940. Its two pilots, Wilfred Everist and Walter Raphael, survived with injuries. The wreck stayed in the wilderness for decades, hanging in vegetation. Reece said it was recovered in 1972; other accounts, including the website Pacific Wrecks, give 1976.

Reece found the stored remains in 2019 and began a lengthy restoration, now finished. The sale is said to come with an unusual proposal, though no further detail was given.

The Gordon was developed in the early 1930s from the Fairey IIIF. The Royal Air Force used the type as a bomber and for training. On 5 August 1939, weeks before the Second World War began, the aircraft was assigned to the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The Gordon Mk I, the first production variant, was about 11.20 metres long, with a wingspan of 13.95 metres and a height of 4.32 metres.

At the start of the war some Fairey Gordons were in service in the Middle East and flew occasional engagements, including against rebels in British-administered Iraq in 1941.