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30-577: The Nightjar was a British carrier-based fighter aircraft of the early 1920s. It was a modification of the earlier Nieuport Nighthawk fighter produced by Gloster after the Nieuport & General company, which designed the Nighthawk, closed down. Twenty-two were converted, serving with the British Royal Air Force from 1922 to 1924. The Nieuport & General Aircraft Co Ltd was formed before

60-399: A British speed record of 196.4 mph (313.3 km/h). In 1922, the aircraft made an attempt on the world air speed record . Although the recorded speed of 212.15 mph (342 km/h) was faster than the existing record, it did not exceed it by the required margin, so the record was not recognised. In 1923, this aircraft was modified with new wings and a more powerful Lion engine as

90-521: A shipboard configuration at the Isle of Grain in 1920. In a vain attempt to work out the problems with the Dragonfly engine, four Nighthawks were also retained by the R.A.E. with experiments carried out in 1920–21. The K-151 was further converted to a two-seater with a new cockpit fitted forward of the pilot's position and was sent to India and Malaya in 1920 for a series of sales-promotion flights. After completing

120-782: The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment in May 1921. A total of 22 Nighthawks were converted to Nightjars in 1922. The Nightjar entered service with 203 Squadron at RAF Leuchars in June 1922. Six Nightjars of 203 Squadron were deployed aboard HMS Argus in September 1922, when Argus sailed for the Dardanelles during the Chanak Crisis . The Nightjar continued to serve with fighter flights aboard Royal Navy aircraft carriers until replaced by

150-463: The Bentley BR2 rotary engine (which was readily available from surplus stocks) replacing the Dragonfly. The Nightjar was a two-bay biplane of wooden construction, and was fitted with a new, wide-track undercarriage , with jaws fitted to act as arresting gear for use with the fore and aft arrestor cables then in use on British aircraft carriers. The first Nightjar was delivered for evaluation by

180-601: The British Marine Aircraft Company at Hamble , near Southampton , renaming it Folland Aircraft Limited . Initially, Folland Aircraft was mainly involved in sub-contract work for other aircraft manufacturers particularly during the Second World War. Some 45 civil and military projects were offered by Follands to meet Air Ministry requirements. Only one – the Fo.108 – a flying engine testbed nicknamed

210-530: The Fairey Flycatcher in 1924. Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Nieuport Nighthawk The Nieuport Nighthawk was a British fighter aircraft developed by the Nieuport & General Aircraft company for the Royal Air Force towards

240-704: The Gloster Aircraft Company , who had built Nighthawks under licence during the First World War , joining them in 1921. Folland was the chief designer for Gloster for many years, producing a range of successful fighter aircraft such as the Grebe , Gamecock , Gauntlet and finally the Gloster Gladiator . Folland left the company in 1937, following the takeover of Gloster by Hawker , feeling that Hawker designs would be favoured over his own. Folland purchased

270-730: The Gloster I . The Gloster I was sold to the RAF in December 1923, being fitted with floats and used as a Trainer for the High Speed Flight RAF , being scrapped in 1927. The Mars I, after conversion to the Gloster I, was fitted with floats and used as a training seaplane for the British 1925 and 1927 Schneider Trophy teams, remaining in use until 1930. The Gloster Sparrowhawk (or Mars II, III and IV)

300-584: The Nieuport & General Aircraft company as chief designer., designing the Nieuport Nighthawk , which was adopted as a standard fighter by the Royal Air Force but did not enter service owing to the problems in development of its ABC Dragonfly engine. Not long after starting at Nieuport, Folland was joined by Howard Preston – a design and stress man – who was also to work with him later at Gloster and Follands. Nieuport & General ceased operations in 1920 and his services were taken up by

330-478: The Royal Aeronautical Establishment (R.A.E.) at Farnborough , but in that form did not enter operational service. Nieuport built a sport aircraft, the L.C.1 (Land Commercial) Nighthawk with the first civil registered aircraft, K-151 appearing on 21 June 1919 at the first postwar Aerial Derby at Hendon . An additional Nighthawk prototype (H8553) was fitted with a hydrovane and was tested in

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360-627: The "Frightful" from its appearance, was accepted and 12 of these were built. By July 1951, Folland was suffering from severe ill health and resigned as Managing Director being succeeded by the designer W. E. W. Petter who had left English Electric . Nonetheless he remained on the Board until his death on 4 September 1954. Three weeks earlier, Petter's Folland Midge , the precursor to the Folland Gnat had made its first flight. In his book, Sky Fever , Sir Geoffrey de Havilland describes Folland as becoming

390-537: The 1921 Aerial Derby. Nieuport & General closed down in August 1920, and the rights to the Nighthawk were purchased by the Gloster Aircraft Company , who also hired Folland as chief designer. Gloster proceeded to produce a number of derivatives of the Nighthawk, using stocks of Nighthawk components acquired by the company from the cancelled production run, calling them the Gloster Mars . The first of these derivatives

420-546: The 1921 event, the aircraft was privately sold. A much-modified Nighthawk appeared in 1920, designated the Goshawk with the aircraft incorporating a more streamlined fuselage, rounded tips on the upper wings and a tightly cowled engine installation. In testing, the Goshawk reached 166.5 mph (268.0 km/h), a British record at the time. On 12 July 1921 the Goshawk was destroyed when Harry Hawker fatally crashed while practising for

450-500: The Chanak Crisis in 1922 and were operated from H.M.S. Argus from 1922–1924. Data from The British Fighter since 1912 General characteristics Performance Armament Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Related lists Henry Folland Folland was born on 22 January 1889 to Frederick and Mary Folland at 2 King Street, Holy Trinity, Cambridge. His father

480-577: The Nighthawk, calling them Gloster Mars , with variants being sold to Japan ( Gloster Sparrowhawk ) and Greece, and being evaluated by the RAF . The final derivative of the Nighthawk was the Gloster Mars X , also known as the Nightjar . This was intended as a single-seat shipboard fighter to replace Sopwith Camels aboard the Royal Navy 's aircraft carriers . It was a simple conversion of surplus Nighthawks, with

510-519: The RAF's Gloster Nighthawks were sent to Iraq in 1923 for more extensive evaluation, being tested by No 1 , 8 and 55 Squadrons. The 25 Greek aircraft were delivered in 1923, remaining in service until 1938. The final Nighthawk variant was the Mars X or Nightjar naval fighter powered by a 230 hp Bentley B.R. 2. All of the series of 22 Nightjars were converted from available stocks of original Nighthawks. Nightjars were used operationally during

540-584: The company started to design its own aircraft, with the first type, the Nieuport B.N.1 fighter (the designation signifying British Nieuport) flying early in 1918. To produce a fighter to replace the Sopwith Snipe in service with the RAF, the Air Ministry produced RAF Specification Type 1 for a single-seat fighter to be powered by the ABC Dragonfly engine. This was a radial engine under development which

570-489: The end of the First World War . Although ordered into production before the aircraft first flew, it did not enter large scale service with the RAF owing to unreliable engines. Re-engined aircraft did see service in Greece, serving from 1923 to 1938. The Nieuport & General Aircraft Co. Ltd. was formed on 16 November 1916 to produce French Nieuport aircraft under licence. During 1917, hiring Henry Folland as chief designer,

600-556: The engine could be persuaded to work, the Nighthawk showed excellent performance, but in September 1919, it was finally recognised that the Dragonfly was unsalvagable and the engine programme was cancelled, although by this time 1,147 engines had been delivered. Seventy Nighthawks were completed by Nieuport and the Gloucestershire Aircraft Company , with a further 54 airframes without engines being completed. Small numbers of Dragonfly-powered Nighthawks were delivered to

630-455: The first "newspaper" flight from Bombay to Poona in February 1920, delivering newspapers, the sales demonstrator was sold to India in September 1920. A new civil Nighthawk, registered G-EAJY, again modified to a two-seater, had its wingspan reduced by two ft and was flown at the 1920 Aerial Derby where it placed fourth at an average speed of 132.67 mph (213.51 km/h). After appearing in

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660-452: The prototype for a small production run of Grouse II for Sweden. The Grouse series was the progenitor of the later Gloster Grebe . The Gloster Nighthawk , or Mars VI, replaced the Dragonfly with either an Armstrong-Siddeley Jaguar or a Bristol Jupiter radial. In 1922, the RAF acquired 29 aircraft converted from Nieuport Nighthawks, powered by both Jaguar and Jupiter engines, while Greece purchased 25 Jaguar powered fighters. Three of

690-572: The start of the First World War to license-produce French Nieuport aircraft. During 1917, after hiring Henry Folland as chief designer, the company started to design its own aircraft, with the first type, the Nieuport B.N.1 fighter flying early in 1918. Folland designed the Nieuport Nighthawk fighter to meet the requirements of RAF Specification Type 1 which specified using the ABC Dragonfly radial engine , first flying in April 1919. During initial evaluation, this showed excellent performance, and

720-606: Was a naval fighter for Japan , powered by the Bentley BR2 rotary engine. The Japanese Sparrowhawks were flown from the Yokosuka Naval Base as well as from platforms built on gun turrets of warships. The Nightjar (known as the Mars X) was a similar carrier fighter for the RAF. A further factory conversion of a Mars III (civil registered as G-EAYN) led to the Gloster Grouse I powered by a 185 hp Siddeley Lynx, that became

750-481: Was lead designer on the S.E.4 and later S.E.5 . The S.E.4 was the fastest aircraft known in 1914, and the S.E.5 was a major fighter aircraft during the First World War . He also designed the Royal Aircraft Factory's "Aerial Target" (built by Ruston Proctor), an anti- Zeppelin pilotless aircraft designed to use A M Low 's radio control systems. Folland left the Royal Aircraft Factory in 1917, joining

780-646: Was listed as a Stonemason. In 1905, Folland became an apprentice at the Lanchester Motor Company in Birmingham , he then joined the design staff at Swift Motor Company and then in 1908 he became a draughtsman at the Daimler Company . It was at Daimler that he developed his interest in powered flying machines. Folland worked at the Royal Aircraft Factory at Farnborough from 1912, where he

810-413: Was meant to deliver 340 hp (254 kW) while weighing only 600 lb (272 kg), and on the basis of the promised performance, was ordered into production in large numbers. The design was also projected as a shipboard fighter, although this was considered a secondary role. To meet this requirement, Folland designed the Nighthawk, a wooden two-bay biplane . An initial order for 150 Nighthawks

840-472: Was ordered into production. The Dragonfly engine, however, proved hopelessly unreliable, and none of the Dragonfly-powered Nighthawks that were completed entered service. Nieuport & General closed down in August 1920, and the rights to the Nighthawk were purchased by the Gloster Aircraft Company , who hired Folland as chief designer. Gloster proceeded to produce a number of derivatives of

870-437: Was placed in August 1918, well before prototypes or flight-ready engines were available, with the first prototype, serial number F-2909 flying in April or May 1919. By this time, it was clear that the Dragonfly had serious problems, being prone to extreme overheating (which was so severe as to char propeller hubs), high fuel consumption and severe vibration (inadvertently being designed to run at its resonance frequency ). When

900-475: Was the Mars I (or Bamel ) racing aircraft. Powered by a 450 hp (336 kW) Napier Lion II engine, this used a Nighthawk undercarriage, rear fuselage and tail with new, single-bay wings, first flying on 20 June 1921. It was modified progressively to reduce drag and increase speed, with the wing area at one stage being reduced from the original 205 ft (19.0m ) to 165 ft (15.3 m ), in this form setting

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