Gloster Grouse
| Gloster Grouse | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Test aircraft / trainer aircraft |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Gloster Aircraft Company |
| First flight: |
1923 |
| Commissioning: |
1924 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
The Gloster Grouse was a biplane made by the British manufacturer Gloster Aircraft Company . Originally this model, of which only one copy was made, was intended as a test aircraft. The Grouse was later converted into a training aircraft. Although the Grouse was not a commercial success for Gloster, its compact design and good maneuverability made it the basis for the further developments of the Grebe and Gamecock , which were used by the British Air Force ( RAF ) in the 1930s .
development
The Grouse was developed by Gloster's chief engineer, Henry P. Folland , in order to combine the advantages of the monoplane with those of the biplane. The upper wing of the Grouse was provided with a profile with which a high lift was achieved, while the profile of the lower wing was slightly thinner and produced a medium lift. The combination generated a relatively high lift with little thrust, which gave the aircraft good take-off properties. The fuselage of an originally two-seater Gloster Sparrowhawk II was fitted with this wing combination and the front seat was closed. The machine was powered by the same engine as the Sparrowhawk - a Bentley BR2 rotary engine that worked on a two-bladed propeller. The first flight of the aircraft designated as the Grouse Mk I with the civil aircraft registration G-EAYN took place in 1923. In the course of the test flights, Folland's theories were confirmed, and soon the RAF ordered three prototypes of a fighter version of the Grouse. Gloster therefore produced three airframes identical to the Grouse and equipped them with Armstrong-Siddeley-Jaguar star engines; these machines were called Gloster Grebe . In 1924 the Grouse was converted into a two-seat trainer aircraft known as the Grouse II, and an Armstrong-Siddeley-Lynx star engine was installed. In this version, the machine was proposed to the RAF as the successor to the now outdated Avro 504 trainer aircraft from 1925. However, the RAF opted for the Avro 504N, also equipped with the Lynx engine. The one-off Grouse II was acquired as an advanced trainer by the predecessor of the Swedish Air Force, which was founded shortly afterwards in the summer of 1926, but only completed 109 hours of flight in Sweden. Although the Swedish pilots were impressed with the flight characteristics of the machine, no further aircraft of this type were ordered.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Gloster Grouse II |
|---|---|
| crew | 2 (flight instructor and student pilot) |
| length | 6.19 m |
| height | 2.86 m |
| span | 8.47 m |
| Wing area | 19.00 m² |
| Climb performance | in 17 minutes to 3,050 m |
| Empty mass | 619 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 960 kg |
| Top speed | 193 km / h at sea level |
| Service ceiling | 5,500 m |
| Flight duration | 3 hours 45 min |
| Engine | 7-cylinder radial engine Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV with an output of 138 kW (185 PS) |
| Armament | no |