Alcock Scout

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Use British English|date=February 2018}} {{Infobox aircraft | name=Alcock Scout | image=Alcock Scout 02.jpg | caption=Alcock Scout | type=Fighter | national_origin=United Kingdom | manufacturer= | designer=Flight Lieutenant John Alcock | first_flight=15 October 1917 | introduction= | retired=1918 | status= | primary_user= | number_built=1 | developed_from= | variants= }} thumb|right|Sopwith Triplane of No. 2 (Naval) Wing at Mudros like the one used for parts. The '''Alcock Scout''', a.k.a. '''A.1''' and '''Sopwith Mouse''', was a curious "one-off" experimental fighter biplane flown briefly during World War I. It was assembled by Flight Lieutenant John Alcock at Moudros, a Royal Naval Air Service base in the Aegean Sea. Alcock took the forward fuselage and lower wings of a Sopwith Triplane, the upper wings of a Sopwith Pup and the tailplane and elevators of a Sopwith Camel, and married them to a rear fuselage and vertical tail surface of original design (presumably by Alcock himself). It was powered by a 110 hp Clerget 9Z engine, and carried a .303 Vickers machine gun.

Affectionally referred to as the 'Sopwith Mouse' by Alcock and his fellow designers, Alcock never flew it himself, but squadron-mate FSL Norman Starbuck made a few flights in it, the first on 15 October 1917. However, it crashed in early 1918, was written off and never flew again.

==Specifications (approximate) == {{Aircraft specs |ref=War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters<ref name="Brucev1 p8">Bruce 1965, p. 8.</ref>{{#tag:ref|No weight or performance details are available.<ref name="Brucev1 p8"/>|group=nb}} |prime units? = imp |crew=1 |length m=5.82 |length ft=19 |length in=1 |span m=7.39 |span ft=24 |span in=3 |height m=2.36 |height ft=7 |height in=9 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Clerget 9Z nine-cylinder rotary engine |eng1 kw=84 |eng1 hp=110 |perfhide=Y |armament = *1 x .303 Vickers machine gun }}  {{aircontent  |related= |similar aircraft= |sequence= |lists= |see also= }}

==Notes== {{reflist|group=nb}}

==Citations== {{Reflist}}

==References== * {{cite book|last=Bruce|first=J.M.|title=War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters|year=1965|publisher=Macdonald|location=London}} * {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London |pages=56 }} * {{cite book |title=The Complete Book of Fighters |publisher=Salamander Books|location=Godalming, UK|pages=302 }}

Category:1910s British fighter aircraft Category:Sesquiplanes Category:Rotary-engined aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1917