Building on the experience of the unsuccessful wartime FB.14 fighter-reconnaissance aircraft, the Vixen was a single-bay biplane with a steel tube fuselage and wooden wings, powered by a 450 hp (340 kW) Napier Lion engine.

[2] The Vixen I and II formed the basis of the Venture army co-operation aircraft for the Royal Air Force and the Valparaiso for export purposes.

While it showed improved performance over the Lion-powered versions, it was not successful, and was modified with the enlarged wings of the Vixen III as a general-purpose aircraft (the Type 124 Vixen VI) for evaluation as a private venture entry to meet the requirements of Air Ministry Specification 26/27, competing against the Bristol Beaver, Fairey Ferret, de Havilland Hound, Gloster Goral, Westland Wapiti, and Vickers' own Valiant.

The Vivid was evaluated by Romania, but no orders resulted, with the prototype being sold to a private buyer in 1931, being destroyed in a fire at Chelmsford in 1932.

While prone to engine problems owing to the problems with the special fuel (2⁄3 petrol to 1⁄3 benzol) required for the high-compression Lion V engine, and requiring frequent re-rigging owing to the use of wooden wings in the high temperature of Northern Chile, the Vixen Vs, operated by the Grupo Mixto de Aviación N° 3.