Felixstowe F.3
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| Felixstowe F.3 | |
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 Felixstowe F3 |
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| Type | anti-submarine flying boat |
| Manufacturer | Short Brothers Dick, Kerr & Co. Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company Malta Dockyard |
| Designed by | J C Porte, |
| Maiden flight | February 1917 |
| Introduced | 1917 |
| Primary users | RNAS RAF US Navy |
| Number built | 182 |
| Developed from | Felixstowe F.2 |
| Variants | Felixstowe F.5 Felixstowe F5L |
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The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN of the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe the successor to the Felixstowe F.2
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[edit] Development
The Felixstowe F.2a entered production and service as a patrol aircraft, with about 100 being completed by the end of World War I. In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. This was larger and heavier then the F.2, giving it greater range and heavier bomb load, but poorer agility. Approximately 100 Felixstowe F.3s were produced before the end of the war.
The Felixstowe F.5 was intended to combine the good qualities of the F.2 and F.3, with the prototype first flying in May 1918. The prototype showed superior qualities to its predecessors but the production version was modified to make extensive use of components from the F3, in order to ease production, giving lower performance than either the F.2a or F.3.
The Felixstowe was re-exported to America, and a re-jigged Felixstowe/Curtiss with the Curtiss Company, provided the basis for NC-4 which was the first plane to fly the Atlantic.[citation needed]
[edit] Operational service
The larger F3, which was less popular with its crews than the more maneuverable F2a, served in the Mediterranean as well as the North Sea.
[edit] Operators
- Royal Naval Air Service
- Royal Air Force
- No. 232 Squadron RAF
- No. 234 Squadron RAF
- No. 238 Squadron RAF
- No. 261 Squadron RAF
- No. 263 Squadron RAF
- No. 265 Squadron RAF
- No. 267 Squadron RAF
- No. 269 Squadron RAF
- No. 270 Squadron RAF
- No. 271 Squadron RAF
[edit] Specifications (F.3)
Data from British Aircraft Directory [1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Length: 49 ft 2 in (14.99 m)
- Wingspan: 102 ft (31.10 m)
- Height: 18 ft 8 in (5.69 m)
- Wing area: 1,432 ft² (133 m²)
- Empty weight: 7,958 lb (3,167 kg)
- Loaded weight: 12,235 lb (5,561 kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII V12 inline piston, 345 hp (257 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 91 mph at 2,000 ft (147 km/h)
- Service ceiling 8,000 ft (2,440 m)
- Rate of climb: 5 min 15 sec to 2,000 ft (610 m)
- Endurance: 6 hours
Armament
- Guns: 4 × Lewis guns (1 in nose, 3 amidships)
- Bombs: Up to 920 lb (418 kg) of bombs beneath wings
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Felixstowe Flying-Boats
- britishaircraft.co.uk - Felixstowe F.3
- Smithsonian National Air and Space article on the F5L
[edit] See also
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Related development
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