Gloster Nightjar
1921 carrier-based fighter aircraft
title: "Gloster Nightjar" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1920s-british-fighter-aircraft", "gloster-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1921", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "biplanes", "rotary-engined-aircraft", "aircraft-with-fixed-conventional-landing-gear"] description: "1921 carrier-based fighter aircraft" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloster_Nightjar" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1921 carrier-based fighter aircraft ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Nightjar |
| image | Gloster Nightjar01.jpg |
| caption | |
| type | Fighter |
| manufacturer | Gloster Aircraft Company |
| designer | Henry Folland |
| first_flight | 1921 |
| introduction | 1922 |
| retired | 1924 |
| status | |
| primary_user | Royal Air Force |
| more_users | |
| produced | |
| number_built | 22 |
| developed_from | Nieuport Nighthawk |
| variants | |
| :: |
|name = Nightjar |image = Gloster Nightjar01.jpg |caption = |type = Fighter |manufacturer = Gloster Aircraft Company |designer = Henry Folland |first_flight = 1921 |introduction = 1922 |retired = 1924 |status = |primary_user = Royal Air Force |more_users = |produced = |number_built = 22 |unit cost = |developed_from = Nieuport Nighthawk |variants = 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.
Design and development
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/GNightjar(a).jpg" caption="The prototype Nightjar"] ::
The Nieuport & General Aircraft Co Ltd was formed before 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 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 the Nighthawk, calling them Gloster Mars, with variants being sold to Japan (Gloster Sparrowhawk) and Greece, and being evaluated by the RAF.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Gloster_Nightjar02.jpg" caption="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.<ref name="mason fighter"/>"] ::
The first Nightjar was delivered for evaluation by the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment in May 1921. A total of 22 Nighthawks were converted to Nightjars in 1922.
Operational history
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 the Fairey Flycatcher in 1924.
Operators
;
Specifications (Nightjar)
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/GNightjar(b).jpg" caption="Production Nightjar without armament"] ::
|ref=British Naval Aircraft since 1912 |prime units?=imp General characteristics
|crew=1 |length ft=19 |length in=2 |length note= |span ft=28 |span in=0 |span note= |height ft=9 |height in=7 |height note= |wing area sqft=270 |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight lb=1765 |empty weight note= |gross weight lb=2165 |gross weight note= |max takeoff weight lb= |max takeoff weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general= Powerplant
|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name= Bentley BR2 |eng1 type=9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine |eng1 hp=230 |eng1 note=
|prop blade number=2 |prop name=fixed-pitch propeller |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop dia note= Performance
|max speed mph=120 |max speed note=at sea level |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed note= |stall speed mph= |stall speed note= |never exceed speed mph= |never exceed speed note= |range miles= |range note= |combat range miles= |combat range note= |ferry range miles= |ferry range note= |endurance=2 hours |ceiling ft=19000 |ceiling note= |climb rate ftmin= |climb rate note= |time to altitude=15000 ft in 20 minutes |lift to drag= |wing loading lb/sqft=8.01 |wing loading note= |fuel consumption lb/mi= |power/mass=0.11 hp/lb |more performance=
- Take-off run: ft
- Take-off distance to 50 ft: ft
- Landing run: ft
- Landing distance from 50 ft: ft-- Armament -- |guns=2 × fixed forward firing .303 in Vickers machine guns.
References
Notes
Bibliography
- James, Derek N. Gloster Aircraft since 1917. London: Putnam and Company Ltd., 1987. .
References
- Mason, Francis K. (1992). "The British Fighter since 1912". Naval Institute Press.
- Green, W. (1994). "The Complete Book of Fighters". Smithmark.
- Thetford, Owen. (1994). "British Naval Aircraft since 1912". Putnam.
- "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage".
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