The requirements included maximum reliability, all-metal construction so that it could operate in the tropics or the arctic, a preference that it could be broken down into parts for transport.

[2] However, de Havilland was busy with production of the Hercules and DH.60 Moth and in November 1928 it transferred the project to Gloster Aircraft Company.

[1] Provision was made in the design to take alternative engines including the Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar, Pratt & Whitney Hornet, Lorraine-Dietrich 14Asc and Wright Cyclone.

On 20 March 1930, piloted by Alan S. Butler, it departed from Heston Aerodrome for a survey of Northern Rhodesia, covering the 7,000 miles at an average speed of 128 mph.

[1][12] A second Gloster Survey (K2602) was built for the British Air Ministry, and in November 1931, it was delivered to the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.