Hauksbee 103 Posted November 10, 2014 Air Department Sparrow - 1915 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 airscrew. 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. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
+Dave 2,322 Posted November 10, 2014 Oh this thing. I saw the title and thought you were saying YOU were too damn ugly to fly Hauksbee. I was going to agree. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skyviper 1,101 Posted November 11, 2014 Oh this thing. I saw the title and thought you were saying YOU were too damn ugly to fly Hauksbee. I was going to agree. lol I was expecting to see some chick without her makeup on her something myself. I kid you not I prepared myself to see someone that was just so damn ugly they were told they couldn't fly. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hauksbee 103 Posted November 11, 2014 Oh this thing. I saw the title and thought you were saying YOU were too damn ugly to fly Hauksbee. I was going to agree. That makes us both right! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
von Baur 54 Posted November 12, 2014 Same here. Only I was wondering how he was going to get a mirror to pop up on my monitor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
