Gloster “Grebe’

Gloster “Grebe’ Royal Air Force Summer 1924

The Gloster ‘Grebe’ was the Royal Air Force's first post-WWI single-seat fighter aircraft, entering service in 1923. With its fabric-covered wooden structure and twin Vickers machine gun armament, it was quite similar to the wartime types it replaced. Its only real improvement was a much more powerful 400 hp rotary engine that gave it a top speed in excess of 150 mph. Only about 130 Grebes were built, and it was superseded in 1929 by marginally more advanced aircraft. Note: ‘Gloster’ was an acronym for ‘Gloucestershire’ Aircraft Company, which was thought too difficult for foreigners to pronounce.