Gloster Grebe
| Gloster Grebe | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Double-decker single-seater hunting |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Gloster Aircraft Company |
| First flight: |
1923 |
| Commissioning: |
1923 |
| Number of pieces: |
133 |
The Gloster Grebe was a biplane designed British fighter aircraft manufactured by Gloster Aircraft Company . The aircraft, named after the divers bird family, was the first British fighter built after the First World War .
development
In 1923 Gloster built a one-off test aircraft called the Grouse , which was based on the Gloster Sparrowhawk fighter training aircraft. In this machine, Henry P. Folland , the chief designer at Gloster, wanted to combine the advantages of a monoplane with those of a biplane. After successful test flights, the British Ministry of Aviation initially ordered three prototypes based on the Grouse designed as a fighter aircraft. The machines, powered by the 350 hp (260 kW) Jaguar III radial engine from Armstrong Siddeley , were initially called the "Nighthawk" - perhaps because this aircraft was seen as a logical further development of the Folland-designed Nieuport Nighthawk , a fighter aircraft from 1919 .
In May 1923, the first of the three prototypes - Gloster built a fourth machine for its own use as a demonstration machine - took off on its maiden flight under the designation Grebe I. The performance of the three machines during the tests at the RAF air base Martlesham Heath were regarded as satisfactory and led to orders for further machines, now called Grebe II and equipped with the 405 hp (298 kW) Jaguar IV engine.
The Grebe replaced the Sopwith Snipe at the RAF and, like this, was a single-seat, single-engine biplane, designed as a fabric-covered wooden structure. The hull was made of ash and spruce beams and was planked with plywood. Two 7.7 mm synchronized Vickers machine guns were rigidly mounted on the hull.
Mission history
The Grebe was put into service by the RAF in October 1923 and was very popular with the troops because it was faster than its predecessor Snipe and extremely agile. The wing flutter that occurred at the beginning was later stopped by baffles mounted on the upper surface, the tendency of the heavy and unreliable Jaguar engines to engine fires was more problematic.
Including the four prototypes, a total of 133 Grebe were built, of which 108 Grebe II single-seaters and 21 double-seated school machines. Two machines were fitted with special devices on the upper wing for tests with the British airship R33. The Grebe hung under the airship carried out several successful "drops" with subsequent landing on an airfield. However, since no long-term perspective was seen for the further use of airships, the experiments carried out in 1926 were not continued. The British armed forces carried out extensive test programs on some machines, during which various modifications were made to individual aircraft. In one of these programs a top speed of 386 km / h could be reached with a machine in a dive; the Grebe II was the first RAF fighter aircraft to reach this speed.
The service life of this aircraft type ended with the RAF in 1929. The Grebe was replaced by the Gloster Gamecock , a direct further development of the Grebe.
A unique piece was given away to New Zealand . As a result, the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, forerunner of the Royal New Zealand Air Force , acquired two more machines, which flew there from March 1928 to 1938 and were finally scrapped in 1943/1944.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Gloster Grebe Mk.II |
|---|---|
| crew | 1 |
| length | 6.16 m |
| height | 2.81 m |
| span | 8.93 m |
| Wing area | 23.59 m² |
| Climb performance | in 23 min to 6,095 m in 12.5 min to 1,524 m (Mk. I) |
| Empty mass | 769 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 1,151 kg |
| Top speed | 261 km at sea level 243 km / h at 1,524 m (Mk. I) |
| Service ceiling | 7,162 m 7,010 m (Mk. I) |
| Max. Flight duration | 3 hours 2 hours 45 minutes |
| Engine | 14-cylinder radial engine Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IV with an output of 298 kW (405 hp) |
| Armament | two rigidly built forward-firing 7.7 mm Vickers machine guns |
literature
- Owen Thetford, Alec Lumsden: On Silver Wings - Gloster Grebe Part 1. In: Airplane Monthly December 1990, p. 729 ff.
- Owen Thetford, Alec Lumsden: On Silver Wings - Gloster Grebe Part 2. In: Airplane Monthly January 1991, p. 11 ff.
- Derek N. James: Gloster Aircraft since 1917. Putnam, ISBN 0-85177-807-0 , pp. 97-107.