P.Lewis The British Fighter since 1912 (Putnam)
Among the companies engaged in sub-contract aircraft work was the firm of F. C. Nestler, Ltd., and near the close of 1916 they constructed a manoeuvrable 100 h.p. Monosoupape Gnome-powered single-seat biplane scout to the designs of Mons. Boudot. The Nestler Scout was quite conventional in conception but was abandoned after it crashed at Hendon on 26th March, 1917, while being flown by J. B. Fitzsimmons who lost his life in the accident.
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F.Mason The British Fighter since 1912 (Putnam)
Nestler Scout
A relatively little known and short-lived single-seat scout was designed by the Frenchman M Boudot for the small company of F C Nestler Ltd of Westminster, London, during 1916, a firm that had been on the fringe of the aircraft industry since before the War, when it negotiated the British franchise in foreign aeroplanes.
The Nestler Scout was a small aircraft for the 100hp Gnome monosoupape engine fitted and, no doubt, was fast on this account. Though unremarkable, it was a well-proportioned single-bay biplane with moderately staggered wings with ailerons fitted top and bottom. There was no fixed fin, and the rudder was not unlike that of the Avro 504. The fuselage appears to have been the customary fabric-covered wooden box-girder with curved upper decking, and the wings were evidently built in two halves, being joined on the centreline of the aircraft without centre section.
The aircraft was accepted by the Air Board for preliminary trials and a freelance pilot engaged for the purpose in January. This was J B Fitzsimmons, an ex-RFC pilot who had been invalided from the Service. It is said that the Nestler was an agile aeroplane and Fitzsimmons evidently found little trouble in its handling. However on 26 March the pilot was engaging in some low level aerobatics in a high wind when the fabric began stripping from the wings; the aircraft crashed into a hangar and Fitzsimmons was killed.
The Scout was totally wrecked and no attempt was made to continue work on the design. Boudot later joined the Grahame-White company on the design staff.
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W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters
NESTLER SCOUT UK
In 1916, F C Nestler Limited established it own design office under E Boudot and embarked on the design of a single-seat fighting scout as a private venture. Of conventional wire-braced, fabric-covered wooden construction, this was a single-bay staggered biplane powered by a 100 hp Gnome Monosoupape nine-cylinder rotary engine. Of compact design, the Nestler fighting scout proved very manoeuvrable, but crashed on 26 March 1917, the damage being too extensive for the aircraft to be rebuilt. No data concerning this aircraft have apparently survived and the intended armament is unknown.
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J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)
Nestler Scout
F.C. NESTLER, LTD., entered the aircraft industry before the outbreak of war by obtaining the . British agency for Sanchez-Besa aircraft. During the war the firm were primarily contractors for the manufacture of aircraft components, but towards the end of 1916 they built a small single-seat biplane which had been designed for them by M. Boudot, a Frenchman who later went to the Grahame-White Company. The new aircraft was intended for use as a fighting scout.
The Nestler Scout was a single-bay biplane powered by a 100 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine. A shallow, large-diameter spinner was fitted to the airscrew, and the cowling appeared to cover most of the front of the engine. There was no centre-section in the upper wing, and both wing halves met at the trestle-shaped cabane structure. A plain vee undercarriage was fitted. There was no fin, and the rudder was somewhat similar to that of the Avro 504.
In February, 1917, the Nestler Scout was at Hendon, and had been accepted, at least for trial purposes, by the Air Board. The test-flying was done by J. B. Fitzsimmons, a free-lance pilot who had taken up test-flying after being invalided out of the R.F.C. The Nestler was highly manoeuvrable, and Fitzsimmons exploited its tractability daringly but dangerously at very low level. On March 26th, 1917, while he was stunting the Scout in a very high wind, the fabric stripped off the wings. The aircraft dived through the roof of the hangar belonging to the London and Provincial School of Flying and was completely wrecked; Fitzsimmons was killed.
The rebuilding of the Nestler Scout was out of the question, but no further example of the type was built.
SPECIFICATION
Manufacturers: F. C. Nestler, Ltd., 9 Greycoat Street, Westminster, London, S.W.
Power: 100 h.p. Gnome Monosoupape.
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