Gloster IV

Gloster IV
Role	Racing seaplane
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Gloster Aircraft Company
Designer	Henry Folland
First flight	1927
Primary user	Royal Air Force
Number built	3

The Gloster IV was a British racing floatplane of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane, the Gloster IV was a development of the earlier Gloster III intended to compete in the 1927 Schneider Trophy race. One aircraft competed in the race, but retired part way through. The three aircraft built continued to be used as trainers by the High Speed Flight for several years.

To compete for the 1927 Schneider Trophy, Britain's Air Ministry was determined to improve Britain's performance for the last few competitions, with British entries being soundly beaten by American Curtiss floatplanes in 1923 and 1925, and failing to even enter the 1926 competition which was won by the Italian Macchi M.39. To improve on this disappointing state of affairs, the Air Ministry placed orders for designs of high speed floatplanes from Gloster, Supermarine (the S.5) and Shorts (the Crusader).

Gloster's design, the Gloster IV was a development of the Gloster III which had finished second in the 1925 race. Henry Folland, the Chief designer of Gloster, redesigned the aircraft to reduce drag. Like its predecessors, the Gloster IV was of wooden construction, with a monocoque fuselage and single bay wings. Both the upper and lower wings were gulled to allow the drag of the wing/fuselage junction to be minimised, while radiators were built into the surfaces of the wings and floats.

Three aircraft were built, differing in the surface area of the wings and the arrangement of the tail.

...
Wikipedia