Fairey Campania

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Campania
Type Carrier-borne patrol and reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer Fairey Aviation
Maiden flight 16 February 1917
Retired August 1919
Primary users Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Air Force
Number built 62[1]

The Fairey Campania was a British ship-borne, patrol and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War. It was a single-engine, two-seat biplane with twin main floats and backward-folding wings. The Campania was the first aeroplane ever designed specifically for carrier operations[1].

Contents

[edit] Development

The Royal Navy was an early leader in carrier aviation and, in the autumn of 1914, purchased the liner Campania for conversion into a seaplane carrier. Operating seaplanes required the carrier to stop to hoist the aircraft out- and in-board by crane, leaving the ship exceedingly vulnerable to U-Boat attacks and the technique fell into disfavour with the Admiralty, who began to seek alternatives[2]. By the middle of 1916, the Campania had been fitted with a 200-foot (60.9 m) flight deck forward and experiments were being carried out into launching aircraft from this[1]. Against this background, the Admiralty issued a specification for a purpose-built, two-seat patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.

The aircraft that Fairey designed in response first flew on 16 February 1917. This was the first of two prototypes, designated F.16 and powered by a 250-hp Rolls-Royce Eagle IV. The second, powered by an Eagle V of 275-hp, was designated F.17. Both prototypes would later see active service operating from Scapa Flow[1].

[edit] Operational history

Trials proving satisfactory, the type went into production and service. Most of the F.17s shipped aboard the carriers Campania, Nairana and Pegasus; the first aircraft joined the Campania and the type took its name from her. Only the Campania possessed a flight-deck; Campanias operated from this using jettisonable, wheeled bogies fitted to the floats. The aircraft in the other ships took off from the water in the normal way.

The 27 F.22s operated from RNAS air stations. The Campania had an undistinguished career but performed useful work as a spotter aeroplane. In all, 100 aircraft were ordered but only 62 were completed[1].

During the War of Intervention, some Campanias from Nairana operated against the Bolsheviks[1] from Archangel.

The Campania was declared obsolete in August 1919.

[edit] Variants

  • F.16 - 250 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle IV
  • F.17 - 275 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle V or 345 hp Eagle III
  • F.22 - 260 hp Sunbeam Maori II

[edit] Aircraft markings

[edit] Units using this aircraft/Operators

[edit] Specifications (F.22)

Data from Fairey Aircraft since 1915[2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 43 ft 4 in (13.21 m)
  • Wingspan: 61 ft 7 in (18.77 m)
  • Height: 15 ft 1 in (4.59 m)
  • Wing area: 686.6 ft² (63.78 m²)
  • Empty weight: 3,672 lb (1,757 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 5,657 lb (2,417 kg)
  • Useful load: 641 lb (291 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: lb (kg)
  • Powerplant: 1× Sunbeam Maori II , 260-hp (kW)

Performance

Armament

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Munson, Kenneth. Flying Boats and Seaplanes since 1910. Blandford. 
  2. ^ a b Taylor, H.A.. Fairey Aircraft since 1915. Putnam. 

[edit] External links

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