AD Scout

AD Scout
Type	Fighter
Manufacturer	Air Department
Designed by	Harris Booth
Maiden flight	1915
Status	Scrapped
Primary user	Royal Naval Air Service
Number built	4

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. The Scout was a decidedly 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. Four prototypes were ordered in 1915 and two each were built by Hewlett & Blondeau and the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company. Trials flown by pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service 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.

Specifications (AD Scout)

This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• 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× Gnôme Monosoupape rotary engine, 100 hp (75 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 84 mph (135 km/h)
• Range: 210 miles (336 km)

Armament

• 1x downward-firing .303 Lewis gun
• 1x 2-lb Davis recoilless gun (intended, but never fitted in view of the fragility of the Scout's construction)

References

• British Aircraft Directory accessed 1 February 2007

Related content

Designation sequence

• Air Department: AD Scout - AD Boat - AD Navyplane - AD Type 1000
• Blackburn: Type I - AD Scout - R.T.1 Kangaroo - Blackbird - T.1 Swift

See also