The Gloster Goral was a single-engined two-seat biplane built to an
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 ...
contract for a general-purpose military aircraft in the late 1920s. It did not win the contest and only one was built.
Development
In 1927, driven by conflicting pressures of an ageing,
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
aircraft stock and the continual need for economy the
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 ...
was attracted by the idea of a general-purpose, multi-tasking machine which used many components from the large stocks of
Airco DH.9A
The Airco DH.9A was a British single-engined light bomber designed and first used shortly before the end of the First World War. It was a development of the unsuccessful Airco DH.9 bomber, featuring a strengthened structure and, crucially, repla ...
accumulated ten years before. The result was
Air Ministry specification
This is a partial list of the British Air Ministry (AM) specifications for aircraft. A specification stemmed from an Operational Requirement, abbreviated "OR", describing what the aircraft would be used for. This in turn led to the specification ...
26/27, which also encouraged the use of a metal airframe for use overseas and of the abundant
Napier Lion
The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in prod ...
engine. At least eight manufacturers responded and the Goral was Gloster's submission.
The Goral was an all-metal framed, fabric-covered biplane using DH9A wings of two-bay construction and of slight stagger, with parallel interplane struts. There were ailerons on all wings. The fuselage was oval in cross section and quite slim. The wire-braced, round-tipped tailplane carried unbalanced elevators but the small fin carried a square-topped horn-balanced rudder. The pilot sat under the wing trailing edge cutout, with the gunner behind him, his gun on a ring, mounted on the raised rear decking. The undercarriage had a single axle strutted to the fuselage near the front spar and forward to the engine firewall.
[''Flight'', 28 July 1927]
The Goral was powered by an uncowled 425 hp (315 kW)
Bristol Jupiter VIA radial engine rather than the suggested Lion, driving a 12 ft (3.65 m) two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller. The engine exhausts ran along both sides of the lower fuselage from the Goral's long nose to below the gunner's cockpit.
The Goral was designed to allow the wings to be replaced with those from existing DH.9A stocks and the fuselage was constructed so that metal components could be replaced by wooden ones to optimise the possibility of overseas sales. Nevertheless, these did not materialise, despite Argentinian interest as late as 1931. At home, the Goral had been in competition for the Air Ministry contract almost immediately after its first flight in February 1927. The competition winner was the
Westland Wapiti
The Westland Wapiti was a British two-seat general-purpose military single-engined biplane of the 1920s. It was designed and built by Westland Aircraft Works to replace the Airco DH.9A in Royal Air Force service.
First flying in 1927, the Wa ...
.
The name
Goral
The gorals are four species in the genus ''Naemorhedus''. They are small ungulates with a goat-like or antelope-like appearance. Until recently, this genus also contained the serow species (now in genus '' Capricornis'').
Etymology
The original ...
is the local name for a goat-antelope, native to the mountains of Northern India, ''Nemorhaedus goral''.
Specifications
See also
References
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{{Gloster aircraft
1920s British aircraft
Goral
The gorals are four species in the genus ''Naemorhedus''. They are small ungulates with a goat-like or antelope-like appearance. Until recently, this genus also contained the serow species (now in genus '' Capricornis'').
Etymology
The original ...
Aircraft first flown in 1927
Biplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft