The Air Ministry issued the type III specification in order to obtain a replacement for the Bristol F.2b in 1918 which had to be powered by the ABC Dragonfly radial engine. As Austin Motor Company manufactured more than 800 RAF SE.5, submitted a design made by J. Kenworthy, who was a former designer at the Royal Aircraft Factory. That design was named Austin Greyhound and three prototypes were ordered on 18th May 1918.
It was a two-bay biplane made entirely out of wood with the engine covered by a conical cowling with the cylinder heads protruding. The circular shape of the cowling continued down the fuselage and both upper and lower wings were almost of the same size. It was armed with two synchronised Vickers 0.303 machine guns plus a 0.303 Lewis machine gun placed in a scarff ring in the rear cockpit. Most probably it could also carry a small load of bombs, however we didn't find any info about it whatsoever.
The first prototype was quickly built, but the Dragonfly engine proved to be overweight, underpowered and had some unsolvable reliability problems, so the testing was delayed. The second prototype was sent to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment located at Martlesham Heath in January 1919, which followed the first and the third prototype in May and February 1920 respectively. Even if the performance wasn't bad, no production order was placed from any of the competitors and the Bristol F2b remained in active service until 1932 and the last Greyhound remained in use as a flying testbed at Martlesham Heath until June 1922.
Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_Greyhound
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
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