The Gloster Grouse was a British

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 ...

of the 1920s developed by the

Gloster Aircraft Company The Gloster Aircraft Company was a British aircraft manufacturer from 1917 to 1963. Founded as the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company Limited during the First World War, with the aircraft construction activities of H H Martyn & Co Ltd of Chelte ...

. Often referred to as the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...

to the

Gloster Grebe The Gloster Grebe was developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company from the Gloster Grouse (an experimental aircraft later developed as a trainer), and was the Royal Air Force's first post-First World War fighter aircraft, entering service in 1923 ...

, the Grouse originally built as an

experimental aircraft An experimental aircraft is an aircraft intended for testing new aerospace technologies and design concepts. The term ''research aircraft'' or ''testbed aircraft'', by contrast, generally denotes aircraft modified to perform scientific studies, ...

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 The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

into the 1930s.

Design and development

The design of the Gloster Grouse was an experiment to combine the advantages of the

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

with those of a

. It was designed by

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

engineer and aircraft designer

Henry Folland Henry Philip Folland OBE (22 January 1889 – 5 September 1954) was an English aviation engineer and aircraft designer. Early years Folland was born on 22 January 1889 to Frederick and Mary Folland at 2 King Street, Holy Trinity, Cambridge.1 ...

, the designer of the

S.E.5 The Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 is a British biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War. It was developed at the Royal Aircraft Factory by a team consisting of Henry Folland, John Kenworthy and Major Frank Goodden. It was one of the ...

among other aircraft. The top wing had a thick, high

lift Lift or LIFT may refer to: Physical devices * Elevator, or lift, a device used for raising and lowering people or goods ** Paternoster lift, a type of lift using a continuous chain of cars which do not stop ** Patient lift, or Hoyer lift, mobile ...

aerofoil, while the bottom wing was smaller, with a thinner medium lift aerofoil set at a smaller

angle of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a reference line on a body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and the vector representing the relative motion between the body and the fluid through which it is m ...

than the upper wing. This arrangement was meant to produce high lift for take-off with low drag.James 1971, p.89. To test this arrangement, new wings were fitted to a modified

Gloster Sparrowhawk The Gloster Sparrowhawk was a single-seat fighter aircraft designed and produced during the early 1920s by the British aircraft manufacturer Gloster. It was developed by aircraft designer Henry Folland, who had recently joined Gloster after t ...

fuselage to produce the Gloster Grouse. The resulting aircraft was a small biplane with single bay wooden wings. The fuselage was rather short, and while the aircraft used the fuselage of a two-seat Sparrowhawk II, the forward cockpit was faired over, leaving a single seat for the

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

in an open

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

. The Grouse retained the Bentley BR2

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

of the Sparrowhawk driving a two blade propeller. The prototype Grouse Mk I (registration ''G-EAYN'') first flew in 1923,Jackson 1973, p.335. proving during testing that Folland's theories were correct. After evaluation by the RAF, orders were placed for three fighter derivatives, to be powered by Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar radial engines, designated

.James 1971, pp. 90–91. In 1924, Gloster rebuilt the Grouse into a two-seat basic trainer, the Grouse II, powered by an

Armstrong Siddeley Lynx The Armstrong Siddeley Lynx is a British seven-cylinder aero engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. Testing began in 1920 and 6,000 had been produced by 1939. In Italy Alfa Romeo built a licensed version of this engine named the Alfa Romeo ...

radial to replace the RAFs aging Avro 504s, emerging in this form in 1925.James 1971, p.72.

Operational history

The Grouse II was unsuccessful in meeting the RAF's needs, a new version of the Avro 504, the 504N, also powered by the Lynx engine, being preferred. The

Swedish Army Aviation Company Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

purchased the Grouse II prototype as an advanced trainer. The aircraft was delivered just a short time before the

Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

was founded in the summer of 1926. During its time in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, it only flew 109 hours. The pilots were impressed with the good performance of the aircraft, but no more Gloster Grouses were provided to the Air Force.

Operators

; *

Royal Swedish Air Force The Swedish Air Force ( sv, Svenska flygvapnet or just ) is the air force branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. History The Swedish Air Force was created on 1 July, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the es ...

Specifications (Grouse II)

Gloster Grouse II 3 view NACA Aircraft Circular No

Notes

References

*. *. {{Swedish military aircraft designations 1920s British fighter aircraft

Grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondr ...