Britain - 1915 Air Department Sparrow Scout

Things have been hectic. I am in the process of updating over 130 HTML documents and making master files for new planes. I decided today's post would be an aircraft I had put off finishing for a while now. A friend of mine posted an article about weird aircraft on warnepieces.blogspot.com and it spurred me on to finish a W.I.P. profile. I am glad I took the time to finish the profile. Now I have another strange bird in the box.

The Air Department's Failed Giant Killer

In the early war the perceived threat of German Zeppelins loomed large. Of course this was before it became apparent Germany had invested too much time and resources in white elephants. Britain made many attempts to design purpose built Zeppelin killers. The British Admiralty hoped the weapon needed to accomplish this mission would be the Davis two-pounder quick-fire recoilless gun. There would be several planes built to carry this weapon, although none proved to be acceptable. One of the earlier attempts was the Air Department Scout.

Air Department Sparrow (Blackburn) s/n 1536 - 1915

This is the first A.D.Sout flown during the R.N.A.S test trials. It was built by Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company. Notable is the Union Jack on the rudder and the red and white roundels on both the upper surface of the top and the bottom surface of the lower wing. Due to the height of the cockpit there are steps on the forward landing gear strut and in three places on the lower fuselage. The span of the oversize tail plane was 21 feet.

A Short Overview of the Air Department Sparrow

The AD Scout (later 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.

This aircraft was an unconventional heavily-staggered, single-bay biplane, built to meet an Admiralty requirement for a fighter built from commercially obtainable materials and which could be armed with the Davis two-pounder quick-fire recoilless gun. The gun was mounted in the bottom of a short, single-seat nacelle, the top longerons were bolted directly to the main spars of the upper wing. The A.D. Scout was powered by a 100 hp Gnôme Monosoupape rotary engine driving a 9 ft pusher air-screw. The pilot had a excellent view in nearly every direction. A twin-rudder tail was attached by four booms, and it was provided with an extremely narrow-track "pogo stick" type undercarriage.

Four prototype aircraft were ordered in 1915. Two aircraft, (serial numbers 1452 and 1453) built by Hewlett and Blondeau Ltd of Leagrave, Beds. The remaining two (serial numbers 1536 and 1537) were built by Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company.

The four prototypes were all delivered to RNAS Chingford. The test trials flown by pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service were less than favorable. They proved the aircraft to be seriously overweight, fragile, sluggish, and difficult to handle, even on the ground. Due to the fact the Sparrow was considerably over-weight and difficult to handle in the air, all of the examples were scrapped.

References

1. AD Scout. (2012, January 26). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 09:01, March 24, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AD_Scout&oldid=473329231
2. A.D. Scout Retrieved 08:55, March 24, 2012, from http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/air_scout.php
3. Jackson, Aubrey Joseph Blackburn Aircraft since 1909 (1st ed.) 16 March 1989 pp. 98 - 101. London: Putnam & Company Ltd.. pp. 98 - 101. ISBN 0851778305.
4. Lewis, Peter. The British Fighter since 1912 (4th ed.) 1979, pp. 392—393. London: Putnam & Company Ltd.. ISBN 0-370-10049-2.
5. Mason, Francis K.. The British Fighter since 1912. Annapolis, USA: Putnam & Company Ltd.. ISBN 1-55750-082-7.
6. Bruce, J.M.. War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters. London: Macdonald 1965, p.5.

Britain - 1916 AD-1 Seaplane

First off, Let me say this:

I received a comment the other day from Roger Moss pointing out I had rode the sleep deprivation train off the track and I had posted rubbish. And I quote:

The AD.1 (aka Navyplane) and the AD Seaplane Type 1000 were VERY different beasts. The description is that of the Type 1000, being a 5 seat, 3 engined torpedo carrying floatplane built in 1915.. The illustration is that of the AD.1, a 2 seat, 1 engine pusher biplane floatplane, the prototype of which was built in 1916 and was designed by Harold Bolas after Booth left the Admiralty. See British Bomber Since 1914, Francis K. Mason (Putnam 1994)

Yes you are correct sir. Thanks for pointing that out and keeping me honest. I should have slept first, reread my post and fixed it at the time of posting. It is much preferable to wiping the egg off my face. Instead of leaving a post filled with struck out old text I chose to rewrite it in hopefully more accurate manner.

The First Attempt to Build a Ship Killer-Take Two

Air Department A.D.I Navyplane 1916

This was a fun profile to do. I liked the looks of the AD1 and its place in the evolution of technology and naval tactics. The development of an airborne ship killer began here.

A Brief Overview of the Air Department A.D.I Navyplane

The AD.1 was designed as a reconnaissance/bombing seaplane by Harris Booth of the Admiralty's Air Department early in 1916. Although officially designated the A.D.I, it was generally referred to as the Navyplane. The initial A.D.I design was presented to the Supermarine Aviation Works at Woolston, Southampton, for the detail design to be completed and construction of a prototype. Bolas worked in close collaboration with
Reginald Mitchell to finish the manufacturing drawings needed to construct the prototype, No 9095. The prototype was completed and flown for the first time by Cdr. John Seddon in August of 1916.

The A.D.I was a compact two-bay biplane whose two-man crew was accommodated in a finely-contoured lightweight monocoque nacelle located in the wing gap, the experimental air-cooled 150hp Smith Static radial engine driving a four-blade pusher propeller. Twin pontoon-type floats were braced to the nacelle and to the lower wings immediately below the inboard interplane struts. Twin fins and rudders were carried between two pairs of steel tubular tail booms, and the tailplane was mounted above the vertical surfaces. Twin tail floats, each with a water rudder, were attached beneath the lower pair of tail booms. The pilot occupied the rear cockpit, with the observer in the bow position. Two 100 lb bombs were to be carried under the center section of the lower wing.

The tests revealed several design flaws. It was found that the recoilless Davis 12-pounder gun (approximately 76 mm caliber) would project a blast rearwards so the weapon was changed for a conventional 12-pounder "Naval Landing Gun" though in practice a gun was never installed in the AD.1. The performance of the A.D.I fell short of the Admiralty's expectations, and the remaining six aircraft originally ordered were never built.

References

1. British Bomber Since 1914, Francis K. Mason (Putnam 1994)
2. The Air Department of the Admiralty - Roger Moss Retrieved September 30 2012, 06:20 from http://britishaviation-ptp.com/ad.html
3. Air Department A.D.1 Navyplane 1916 Virtual Aircraft Museum Retrieved Feb 19, 03:00 from http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/air_navyplane.php
4. Air Department A.D.1 Navyplane (England) (1916) The-Blueprints.com Retrieved August 36, 2010 09:40 from http://www.the-blueprints.com/blueprints/ww1planes/ww1-english/36034/view/air_department_a_d_1_navyplane_%28england%29/