Gloster Nightjar

Last updated

Nightjar
Gloster Nightjar01.jpg
RoleFighter
Manufacturer Gloster Aircraft Company
Designer Henry Folland
First flight1921
Introduction1922
Retired1924
Primary user Royal Air Force
Number built22
Developed from Nieuport Nighthawk

The Nightjar was a British carrier-based fighter aircraft of the early 1920s. It was a modification of the earlier Nieuport Nighthawk fighter produced by Gloster after the Nieuport & General company, which designed the Nighthawk, closed down. Twenty-two were converted, serving with the British Royal Air Force from 1922 to 1924.

Contents

Design and development

The prototype Nightjar GNightjar(a).jpg
The prototype Nightjar

The Nieuport & General Aircraft Co Ltd was formed before the start of the First World War to license-produce French Nieuport aircraft. During 1917, after hiring Henry Folland as chief designer, the company started to design its own aircraft, with the first type, the Nieuport B.N.1 fighter flying early in 1918.

Folland designed the Nieuport Nighthawk fighter to meet the requirements of RAF Specification Type 1 which specified using the ABC Dragonfly radial engine, [1] first flying in April 1919. [1] During initial evaluation, this showed excellent performance, and was ordered into production. The Dragonfly engine, however, proved hopelessly unreliable, and none of the Dragonfly-powered Nighthawks that were completed entered service.

Nieuport & General closed down in August 1920, and the rights to the Nighthawk were purchased by the Gloster Aircraft Company, who hired Folland as chief designer. [2] Gloster proceeded to produce a number of derivatives of the Nighthawk, calling them Gloster Mars, with variants being sold to Japan (Gloster Sparrowhawk) and Greece, and being evaluated by the RAF.

Nightjar during evaluation at Farnborough in 1922 - Note arrestor jaws on undercarriage Gloster Nightjar02.jpg
Nightjar during evaluation at Farnborough in 1922 - Note arrestor jaws on undercarriage

The final derivative of the Nighthawk was the Gloster Mars X, also known as the Nightjar. This was intended as a single-seat shipboard fighter to replace Sopwith Camels aboard the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers. It was a simple conversion of surplus Nighthawks, with the Bentley BR2 rotary engine (which was readily available from surplus stocks) replacing the Dragonfly. The Nightjar was a two-bay biplane of wooden construction, and was fitted with a new, wide-track undercarriage, with jaws fitted to act as arresting gear for use with the fore and aft arrestor cables then in use on British aircraft carriers. [1]

The first Nightjar was delivered for evaluation by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment in May 1921. [1] A total of 22 Nighthawks were converted to Nightjars in 1922. [3]

Operational history

The Nightjar entered service with 203 Squadron at RAF Leuchars in June 1922. [1] Six Nightjars of 203 Squadron were deployed aboard HMS Argus in September 1922, when Argus sailed for the Dardanelles during the Chanak Crisis. [1] [3]

The Nightjar continued to serve with fighter flights aboard Royal Navy aircraft carriers until replaced by the Fairey Flycatcher in 1924. [3]

Operators

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom

Specifications (Nightjar)

Production Nightjar without armament GNightjar(b).jpg
Production Nightjar without armament

Data fromBritish Naval Aircraft since 1912 [3]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey Barracuda</span> British carrier-borne torpedo/dive bomber

The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo and dive bomber designed by Fairey Aviation. It was the first aircraft of this type operated by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) to be fabricated entirely from metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey Fulmar</span> British carrier-borne reconnaissance aircraft/fighter aircraft

The Fairey Fulmar is a British carrier-borne reconnaissance aircraft/fighter aircraft which was developed and manufactured by aircraft company Fairey Aviation. It was named after the northern fulmar, a seabird native to the British Isles. The Fulmar served with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA) during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armstrong Whitworth Siskin</span> Type of aircraft

The Armstrong Whitworth Siskin was a sesquiplane single-seat fighter aircraft developed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. It was also the first all-metal fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as being one of the first new fighters to enter service following the end of the First World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey III</span> Type of aircraft

The Fairey Aviation Company Fairey III was a family of British reconnaissance biplanes that enjoyed a very long production and service history in both landplane and seaplane variants. First flying on 14 September 1917, examples were still in use during the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fairey Flycatcher</span> Type of aircraft

The Fairey Flycatcher was a British single-seat biplane carrier-borne fighter aircraft made by Fairey Aviation Company which served from 1923 to 1934. It was produced with a conventional undercarriage for carrier use, although this could be exchanged for floats for catapult use aboard capital ships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloster Grebe</span> Type of aircraft

The Gloster Grebe was developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company from the Gloster Grouse, and was the Royal Air Force's first post-First World War fighter aircraft, entering service in 1923.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hawker Henley</span> Type of aircraft

The Hawker Henley was a British two-seat target tug derived from the Hawker Hurricane that was operated by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.

Henry Philip Folland OBE was an English aviation engineer and aircraft designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloster Gamecock</span> British biplane fighter

The Gloster Gamecock was a biplane fighter designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Gloster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar</span> 1920s British piston aircraft engine

The Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar is an aircraft engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. The Jaguar was a petrol-fuelled air-cooled 14-cylinder two-row radial engine design. The Jaguar III was first used in 1923, followed in 1925 by the Jaguar IV and in 1927 by the Jaguar VI. In 1925 the Jaguar became the first production aero engine incorporating a geared supercharger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parnall Plover</span> British single-seat naval fighter aircraft

The Parnall Plover was a British single-seat naval fighter aircraft of the 1920s. Designed and built by George Parnall & Co. for use on Royal Navy aircraft carriers, it was ordered into small-scale production but after extensive evaluation, the Fairey Flycatcher was preferred for large-scale service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitsubishi 1MF</span> Japanese carrier-based fighter

The Mitsubishi 1MF was a Japanese carrier fighter aircraft of the 1920s. Designed for the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company by the British aircraft designer Herbert Smith, the 1MF, also known as the Navy Type 10 Carrier Fighter was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1923 to 1930.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloster Sparrowhawk</span> Type of aircraft

The Gloster Sparrowhawk was a single-seat fighter aircraft designed and produced during the early 1920s by the British aircraft manufacturer Gloster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentley BR2</span> 1910s British piston aircraft engine

The Bentley B.R.2 was a nine-cylinder British rotary aircraft engine developed during the First World War by the motor car engine designer W. O. Bentley from his earlier Bentley BR.1. The BR.2 was built in small numbers during the war, its main use being by the Royal Air Force in the early 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nieuport Nighthawk</span> Type of aircraft

The Nieuport Nighthawk was a British fighter aircraft developed by the Nieuport & General Aircraft company for the Royal Air Force towards the end of the First World War. Although ordered into production before the aircraft first flew, it did not enter large scale service with the RAF owing to unreliable engines. Re-engined aircraft did see service in Greece, serving from 1923 to 1938.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloster Grouse</span> Type of aircraft

The Gloster Grouse was a British biplane of the 1920s developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company. Often referred to as the prototype to the Gloster Grebe, the Grouse originally built as an experimental aircraft and then later developed as a trainer. Despite its compact design and maneuverability, the Grouse was not in itself a commercial success, although it formed the basis for the Gloster Grebe and Gamecock fighters which were used by Britain's Royal Air Force into the 1930s.

The Nieuport London was a British night bomber aircraft designed in the First World War. A twin-engined triplane, the London was dogged by the unavailability and unreliability of its engines, and did not fly until 1920. Only two were built.

The Nieuport B.N.1 was a prototype British single-engined fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was a single-engined biplane intended to replace the Sopwith Camel, but only one was built, being destroyed in a crash. The Sopwith Snipe was built instead to replace the Camel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Handley Page Type S</span> Type of aircraft

The Handley Page Type S, or HPS-1 was a prototype British carrier-based fighter developed for the United States Navy in the early 1920s. A low-wing monoplane, it was unsuccessful, only two being built and flown.

The Nieuport & General Aircraft Company Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer, established during the First World War to build French Nieuport aircraft under licence, which closed down in 1920.

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Mason, Francis K (1992). The British Fighter since 1912. Naval Institute Press. ISBN   1-55750-082-7.
  2. Green, W; Swanborough, G (1994). The Complete Book of Fighters. Smithmark. ISBN   0-8317-3939-8.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Thetford, Owen (1994). British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (Fourth ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN   0-85177-861-5.

Bibliography

  • James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam and Company Ltd., 1987. ISBN   0-85177-807-0.