bristol scout

History

Flying first in 1914, the Bristol Scout saw service throughout the First World War, with the Royal Navy Air Service- and extensively throughout the Aegean flown by Greek crews in British squadrons. At the end of hostilities, one aircraft was gifted to the Hellenic Navy Air Service - where it was adopted into service.

The type delivered was a Model C, which differed from other production variants primarily in that it was fitted with an 80 hp Gnome Lambda rotary engine - which was the powerplant of choice of the RNAS at the time. Unfortunately, little more is known, and there don't appear to be any surviving photos of the type, or any records of operational use.

Design

The Bristol Scout had originally been designed as a racing plane, being designed in the latter half of 1913. The fuselage was of rectangular construction, clad in wood and being wire braced, whilst the forward section was skinned in aluminium and the rear in fabric.

At the outbreak of war, preliminary testing with two rifle calibre guns was conducted, situated at each side of the cockpit and firing outward to clear the propeller arc. A later revision saw the addition of a single 7.7 mm Lewis machine gun at the side of the fuselage.

The C variant, delivered to Greece, would have been armed with a single Lewis or Vickers machine gun.