AD Scout

AD Scout
A.D. Scout Sparrow ExCC.
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	Air Department
Designer	Harris Booth[1]
First flight	1915
Primary user	Royal Naval Air Service - testing only
Number built	4[1]

The AD Scout (also known as the Sparrow) was designed by Harris Booth of the British Admiralty's Air Department as a fighter aircraft to defend Britain from Zeppelin bombers during World War I.^[1]

Design and development

The Scout was a very unconventional aircraft - a biplane with a fuselage pod mounted on the upper wing. A twin-rudder tail was attached by four booms, and it was provided with an extremely narrow-track undercarriage. The primary armament was intended to be a 2-pounder recoilless Davis Gun, but this was never fitted.^[1] Four prototypes were ordered in 1915 and two each were built by Hewlett & Blondeau and the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company.

Operational history

Trials flown by pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service at Chingford proved the aircraft to be seriously overweight, fragile, sluggish, and difficult to handle, even on the ground. The project was abandoned and all four prototypes scrapped.^[1]

Operators

 United Kingdom

• Royal Naval Air Service

Specifications (AD Scout)

Data from The British Fighter since 1912^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Length: 22 ft 9 in (6.93 m)
• Wingspan: 33 ft 5 in (10.18 m)
• Height: 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Monosoupape^[3] rotary engine, 100 hp (75 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 84 mph ^[4] (73 knots, 135 km/h)
• Range: 210 miles (336 km)

Armament

• Guns: 1x 2-pounder (40 mm) Davis recoilless gun (intended, but never fitted in view of the fragility of the Scout's construction)

See also

References

Notes

1. Jackson, Aubrey Joseph (16 March 1989). Blackburn Aircraft since 1909 (1st ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. pp. 98–101. ISBN 0-85177-830-5.
2. Mason 1992, p.42.
3. Bruce 1965, p.5.
4. Lewis 1979, pp. 392—393.

• Jackson, Aubrey Joseph (16 March 1989). Blackburn Aircraft since 1909 (1st ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. pp. 98–101. ISBN 0-85177-830-5.
• Lewis, Peter (1979). The British Fighter since 1912 (4th ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd. ISBN 0-370-10049-2.
• Mason, Francis K. (1992). The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, USA: Putnam & Company Ltd. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
• Bruce, J.M. (1965). War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters. London: Macdonald.