The Gloster SS.35 Gnatsnapper was a British naval

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

fighter design of the late 1920s. Two prototypes were built but the type did not enter production.

Design and development

The Gnatsnapper was a submission to

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

specification N.21/26 for a

carrier Carrier may refer to: Entertainment * ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos * ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game * ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...

fighter, which called for an aircraft powered by a Bristol Mercury II engine, capable of at least 160 mph at 10,000 ft. However, when the first available Mercury was delivered to Gloster in September 1927, it was apparent that it would not be satisfactory since it failed to produce the expected output of 450 hp, was 160 lb overweight, and was unreliable. In order to expedite flight trials, work was therefore started on a second prototype (N227) which was fitted with a 450 hp Bristol Jupiter VII engine. The aircraft first flew in this form in February 1928. More examples of the Mercury were delivered during that year and although the aircraft was flown using them, it was obvious that it was still not satisfactory and, having missed the N.21/26 evaluation (in which no type had been declared the winner), the aircraft was refitted with the Jupiter and delivered to the A & AEE for evaluation, which proved entirely successful. In 1930, a new carrier fighter competition (N16/30) was announced by the Air Ministry, for which Gloster was requested to redesign the Gnatsnapper to use the 540 hp Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar VIII. Designated the Gnatsnapper II, the aircraft was submitted for evaluation but was badly damaged in a landing accident before the trials had been completed, eliminating it from the competition, which was eventually won by the

Hawker Nimrod The Hawker Nimrod is a British carrier-based single-engine, single-seat biplane fighter aircraft built in the early 1930s by Hawker Aircraft. Design and development In 1926 the Air Ministry specification N.21/26 was intended to produce a suc ...

. After repair, the aircraft was substantially modified to accept a 525 hp

Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIS The Kestrel or type F is a 21 litre (1,300 in³) 700 horsepower (520 kW) class V-12 aircraft engine from Rolls-Royce, their first cast-block engine and the pattern for most of their future piston-engine designs. Used during the interwar pe ...

evaporatively-cooled engine, with the condensers in the leading edges of the wings, this version being designated the Gnatsnapper III. It was subsequently used by Rolls-Royce as a flying testbed for the ill-fated

Goshawk Goshawk may refer to several species of birds of prey, mainly in the genus ''Accipiter'': * Northern goshawk, ''Accipiter gentilis'', often referred to simply as the goshawk, since it is the only goshawk found in much of its range (in Europe and N ...

engine, and ended its career as a company hack. A second prototype (N254) had been ordered in May 1929. This was first flown in the spring of 1930, powered by a

Bristol Mercury IIA The Bristol Mercury is a British nine-cylinder, air-cooled, single-row, piston radial engine. Designed by Roy Fedden of the Bristol Aeroplane Company it was used to power both civil and military aircraft of the 1930s and 1940s. Developed from ...

. This is thought to be the airframe that had been abandoned in 1927 when the Mercury failed to meet expectations. Although an attempt to make this aircraft meet the requirements of N.16/30 was made, the obvious superiority of the Nimrod caused Gloster to stop development work on the type.

Specifications (Gnatsnapper II)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* James, Derek N. ''Gloster Aircraft since 1917.'' London: Putnam, 1971. . * Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter Since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. .

External links