Gloster Gorcock

Gloucestershire Aircraft's first military aircraft of all-metal construction was the third prototype Gorcock single-seat fighter resulting from a May 1924 Air Ministry contract for three prototypes powered by the Napier Lion 12-cylinder water-cooled engine. The first two combined a steel fuselage with wooden wings and the third had an all-steel structure. The first mixed-construction Gorcock was powered by a 450hp geared Lion IV and was flown mid-1925, the second Gorcock having a 525hp direct-drive Lion VIII. Engine difficulties prevented their delivery until 1927, together with the all-metal third Gorcock which had a Lion IV. All three aircraft carried the standard armament of twin synchronised 7.7mm Vickers guns and were used for research and development flying, no production being ordered. Although 72kg heavier than the mixed-construction prototypes, the all-metal prototype, to which the following data refer, was 16km/h faster.