Bristol Scout

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Scout

The Bristol Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane originally intended
as a civilian racing aircraft. Like other similar fast, light aircraft of the
period it was acquired by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast
reconnaissance type. It was one of the first single-seaters to be used as a
fighter aircraft, although it was not possible to fit it with an effective
forward-firing armament, until the first British synchronisation gears became
available, by which time the Scout was obsolescent. Single-seat fighters
continued to be called "scouts" in British usage into the early 1920s

Role single-seat scout/fighter
Manufacturer British and Colonial Aeroplane Company
Designer Frank Barnwell
First flight 23 February 1914
Primary users Royal Flying Corps
Royal Naval Air Service
Australian Flying Corps
Produced 1914–1916
Number built 374

The design was an equal-span single-bay biplane with staggered parallel-chord
wings with raked wingtips and ailerons fitted to the upper and lower wings,
which were rigged with about half a degree of dihedral, making them look almost
straight when viewed from the front. The wing section was one designed by
Coanda, which had been used for the wings of the Bristol Coanda Biplanes.[3] The
rectangular-section fuselage was an orthodox wire-braced wooden structure
constructed from ash and spruce, with the forward section covered with aluminium
sheeting and the rear section fabric covered. It was powered by an 80 hp (60 kW)
Gnome Lambda rotary engine enclosed in a cowling that had no open frontal area,
although the bottom was cut away to allow cooling air to get to the engine. It
had a rectangular balanced rudder with no fixed fin and split elevators attached
to a non-lifting horizontal stabiliser. The fixed horizontal tail surfaces were
outlined in steel tube with wooden ribs and the elevators constructed entirely
of steel tube.

The period of service of the Bristol Scout (1914–1916) marked the genesis of the
fighter aircraft as a distinct type and many of the earliest attempts to arm
British tractor configuration aircraft with forward-firing guns were tested in
action using Bristol Scouts. These began with the arming of the second Scout B,
RFC number 648, with two rifles, one each side, aimed outwards and forwards to
clear the propeller arc.

Specifications (Bristol Scout D)

General characteristics
Crew: one
Length: 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Wingspan: 24 ft 7 in (7.49 m)
Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m)
Wing area: 198 ft² (18.40 m²)
Empty weight: 789 lb (358 kg)
Loaded weight: 1,195 lb (542 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Le Rhône 9C rotary piston engine, 80 hp (60 kW)

Performance
Maximum speed: 94 mph (151 km/h)
Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m)
Rate of climb: 18 min 30 sec to 10,000 ft (18 min 30 sec to 3,048 m)
Power/mass: 0.067 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)
Combat endurance: 2½ hours




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