Felixstowe F.5
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| Felixstowe F.5 | |
|---|---|
 Felixstowe F.3 |
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| Type | military flying boat |
| Manufacturer | Seaplane Experimental Station (1) Short Brothers (23) Dick, Kerr & Co. (2) Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company (17) Gosport Aviation (10) |
| Designed by | J C Porte |
| Maiden flight | May 1918 |
| Introduced | 1917 |
| Primary users | RNAS RAF US Navy |
| Number built | 53 (F.5); 227 (F5L) |
| Developed from | Felixstowe F.2 |
| Variants | Felixstowe F5L |
The Felixstowe F.5 was a British First World War flying boat designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN of the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe.
Contents |
[edit] Design and development
Porte had designed a better hull for the larger Curtiss H12 flying boat, giving the Felixstowe F.2a, which was greatly superior to the original Curtiss boat. This entered production and service as a patrol aircraft. In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F3 was flown. This was larger and heavier than the F2, giving it greater range and heavier bomb load, but poorer agility. The Felixstowe F5 was intended to combine the good qualities of the F2 and F3, 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 F.3, in order to ease production, giving lower performance than either the F.2a or F.3.
[edit] Operational history
The F5 did not enter service until after the end of World War I, but replaced the earlier Felixstowe boats (together with Curtiss flying boats) to serve as the RAF's standard flying boat until being replaced by the Supermarine Southampton in 1925.
In 1920. the Canadian Air Board sponsored a project to conduct the first ever Trans-Canada flight. The leg from Rivière du Loup to Winnipeg was flown by Lt.Col. Leckie and Maj. Hobbs in a Felixstowe F.3 to determine the feasibility of such flights for future air mail and passenger service.
[edit] Variants
- Felixstowe F5L: US built version of F5 with two Liberty engines; numbers built.
- Naval Aircraft Factory (USA): 137
- Curtiss Aviation (USA): 60
- Canadian Aeroplanes Limkited (Canada): 30
[edit] Operators
- Royal Air Force - generally formed from RNAS flights.
- No. 230 Squadron RAF
- No. 231 Squadron RAF
- No. 232 Squadron RAF
- No. 238 Squadron RAF
- No. 247 Squadron RAF
- No. 249 Squadron RAF
- No. 259 Squadron RAF
- No. 261 Squadron RAF
- No. 267 Squadron RAF
- Royal Naval Air Service
Japan - (Post-war)
[edit] Specifications (F5)
This aircraft article is missing some (or all) of its specifications. If you have a source, you can help Wikipedia by adding them.Data from Aircraft of the Royal Air Force[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Length: 49 ft 3 in (15 m)
- Wingspan: 103 ft 8 in (31.6 m)
- Height: 18 ft 9 in (5.7 m)
- Wing area: 1,409 ft² (131 m²)
- Empty weight: 9,100 lb (4,136 kg)
- Loaded weight: 12,682 lb (5,765kg)
- Powerplant: 2× Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII V12 inline piston, 345 hp (257 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 76 knots (88 mph, 142 km/h) at 2,000 ft (610 m)
- Service ceiling 6,800 ft (2,070 m)
- Rate of climb: 30 min to 6,500 ft (1,980 m)
- Endurance: 7 hours
Armament
- Guns: 4 × Lewis guns (1 in nose, 3 amidships)
- Bombs: Up to 920 lbs (418 kg) of bombs beneath wings
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ Thetford, Owen. Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918. London: Putnam & Co., 1979. ISBN 0-37030-186-2.
- Bibliography
- Donald, David and Lake Jon, eds. Encyclopedia of World Military Aircraft. London: AIRtime Publishing, 1996. ISBN 1-880588-24-2.
- Taylor, Michael J.H. (ed.). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London, England: Studio Editions, Ltd., 1989. ISBN 0-51710-316-8.
[edit] External links
- Felixstowe Flying-Boats
- britishaircraft.co.uk - Felixstowe F.5
- Smithsonian National Air and Space article on the F5L
[edit] See also
Related development
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