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| Frequently referred to as the "Austin Ball Scout"
because the Austin Motor Company incorporated some
of the ideas of Capt Albert Ball, VC, DSO, MC, in this
fighter's design, the A.F.B.1 was designed by C H
Brooks and was flown for the first time in July 1917. It
was of wooden construction with fabric covering, and
was powered by a 200hp Hispano-Suiza eight-cylinder
liquid-cooled engine. Armament comprised a single
7.7mm Lewis machine gun firing through
the hollow propeller shaft, and a similar weapon on a
Foster mounting above the upper wing centre section.
As originally built, the sole prototype of the A.F.B.1 had
slightly sweptback wing surfaces and conventional
single-bay bracing, but during the course of development
new unswept surfaces accompanied by revised
interplane bracing of two-bay form were introduced. The aircraft flew for the first time after these modifications
on 17 September 1917.
 | A three-view drawing (600 x 414) |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 942 kg | 2077 lb |
| Empty weight | 692 kg | 1526 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 9.14 m | 30 ft 0 in |
| Length | 6.55 m | 22 ft 6 in |
| Height | 2.82 m | 9 ft 3 in |
| Wing area | 26.94 m2 | 289.98 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 222 km/h | 138 mph |
| lxbfYeaa, e-mail, 14.03.2024 06:13 20 reply | | Colin Pengelly, e-mail, 13.03.2008 19:01 Re your comments on the Austin-Ball Scout, I am writing a biography of Albert Ball and have recently spent some time looking at the reports on the Austin Ball in the National Archives. The specification, despite what has been written previously, called for a Vickers Gun to fire through the hollow propellor shaft not a Lewis. The gun was to take a 500 round belt and was to be reloadable in flight. reply | | Ashlee, e-mail, 17.12.2006 03:28 you didnt say who invented the Austin-Ball AFB.1 fighter plane.where or even why... reply | | Austin, e-mail, 17.12.2006 03:33 you didnt state who was the inventor of this craft. reply |
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All the World's Rotorcraft |
