In 1923, Charles Richard Fairey, founder and chief designer of Fairey Aviation, disappointed with his Fawn bomber, which owing to the constraints of Air Ministry specifications, was slower than the Airco DH.9A which it was meant to replace while carrying no greater bombload, conceived the idea of a private venture bomber not subject to official limitations, which could demonstrate superior performance and handling.

The resultant aircraft, the Fairey Fox, was a single-bay biplane with highly staggered wings,[2] with a composite wood and metal structure.

[5] The prototype Fox first flew at RAF Hendon on 3 January 1925, piloted by Norman Macmillan, quickly demonstrating good performance and handling.

[12] The Fox proved to have spectacular performance, being 50 mph (80 km/h) faster than the Fairey Fawns that it replaced in 12 Squadron, and as fast as contemporary fighters.

[13] Such was the performance of the Fox that 12 Squadron was instructed to fly no faster than 140 mph (225 km/h) during annual Air Defence Exercises in order to give the defending fighters a chance.

Parer and co-pilot Geoff Hemsworth continued an epic and eventful journey, taking nearly four months to reach Melbourne.

[17][18] The Fox continued in production at Avions Fairey at Gosselies for much of the 1930s, forming the backbone of the Belgian Air Force, being used as reconnaissance, reconnaissance-bomber and two-seater fighters.