AD Scout

infobox Aircraft
name = AD Scout
type = Fighter
manufacturer = Air Department

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caption =
designer =Harris Booth
first flight =1915
introduction =
retired =
status = Scrapped
primary user = Royal Naval Air Service
more users =
produced =
number built = 4
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

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.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Naval Air Service

pecifications (AD Scout)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=
crew=1
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 22 ft 9 in
length alt=6.93 m
span main=33 ft 5 in
span alt=10.18 m
height main=10 ft 3 in
height alt=3.12 m
area main=
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main=
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useful load main=
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engine (prop)=Gnôme Monosoupape
type of prop=rotary engine
number of props=1
power main= 100 hp
power alt=75 kW
power original=

max speed main= 84 mph
max speed alt= 135 km/h
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main= 210 miles
range alt=336 km
ceiling main=
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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

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=529 British Aircraft Directory] accessed 1 February 2007

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft=

sequence=
* Blackburn: Type I - AD Scout - R.T.1 Kangaroo - Blackbird - T.1 Swift

lists=

see also=