Alcock A.1 Scout (Sopwith Mouse)

The Story of Alcock A. 1 Scout (Sopwith Mouse)

The Alcock A.1 (aka "Scout" and "Sopwith Mouse") was born during the First World War (1914-1918) by Flying Lieutenant John Alcock of Moudros, Royal Naval Air Service. The fighter is largely of a traditional biplane design, accommodates a crew and is powered by a single engine.

To speed up development, parts from existing fighter types (mainly from the Sopwith series) were used to assemble the machine. Only an airworthy prototype was eventually completed, a crash in early 1918 ended its time in the air, and its potential as a British wartime military fighter was never realized.

Lieutenant. In mid-1917, with World War II raging and no end in sight, Alcock began work on a new combat scout. The structure of the biplane consists of the forward fuselage and lower wing section of the Sopwith triplane and the upper wing assembly (with parallel support struts) of the Sopwith Pup biplane. There is also an all-new tail section, including the original fuselage tail. The tail and elevator control surfaces of the Sopwith Camel biplane complete the portfolio of aircraft components used to create the new biplane.

Armament is a 7.7mm Vickers machine gun powered by a Clerget 9Z 9-cylinder 110hp rotary engine (driving a twin-bladed propeller on the nose). The landing gear was attached to the main elements and rolled (they were located under the front hull).

The pilot's position was behind and below the upper wing element, sitting in the open-air cockpit.

The dimensions of the Alcock A.1 include a length of 5.8 meters, a wingspan of 7.4 meters and a height of 2.3 meters.

Because the plane was made from a series of Sopwith aircraft parts, it was called the "Sopwith Mouse" by its creator circle.

The only completed prototype made its maiden flight on 15 October 1917 at Mudros in the northern Aegean Sea, and until 1918 (the last year of the war) the machine made several flights. However, in early 1918, the Alcock Scout suffered a crash that nearly brought the intriguing fighter project to a halt.

As the aircraft was considered a total loss, development of the product ceased altogether. In any case, the war ended in November 1918, which further helped the UK not need another biplane.

Specification

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Production

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Armor

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