what is it?
The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants. First flying on 14 September 1917, examples were still in use during the Second World War.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 13.9 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 109 years ago, in 1917.
- Wingspan of 13.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1917-09-14
- introduced
- 1918
- retired
- 1942
- status
- retired
- number built
- 964
- role
- reconnaissance aircraft
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- makers
- Fairey Aviation Company
- engines
- 1× Napier Lion XI / Napier Lion II
- crew
- 2
- length
- 10.5 m
- wingspan
- 13.9 m
- height
- 3.8 m
- max take-off weight
- 2,740 kg
- top speed
- 193 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 6,096 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q1393189, Wikipedia: Fairey III (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.