Felixstowe F.1

Felixstowe F.1
Prototype Felixstowe F.1 (No. 3580)
Role	Military flying boat
Designer	John Cyril Porte
Primary user	Royal Naval Air Service
Number built	4
Developed from	Curtiss H-4
Variants	Felixstowe F.2

The Felixstowe F.1 was an experimental British flying boat designed and developed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe based on the Curtiss H-4 with a new hull.^[1]

Development

Before the war Porte worked with American aircraft designer Glenn Curtiss on a trans-atlantic flying boat. Due to the start of the Great War he returned to England, eventually to command of the naval air station at Felixstowe, Suffolk.^[1] Porte decided that the original Curtiss flying-boats that the Royal Navy acquired could be improved and a number of modifications to in-service flying-boats were made.^[1] The modifications had a mixed result so Porte using the experience gained, developed a new single-step hull known as the Porte I.^[1] The new hull used the wings and tail unit of an H-4 powered by two Hispano-Suiza engines; the new flying boat was designated the Felixstowe F.1.^[1] During trials of the F.1 two further steps were added to the hull which greatly improved the performance.^[1] Porte went on to design a similar hull for the larger Curtiss H-12 flying boat, which became the Felixstowe F.2.^[1]

Operators

 United Kingdom

• Royal Naval Air Service

See also

Related development

• Curtiss H-4
• Felixstowe F.2

Related lists

• List of seaplanes and amphibious aircraft

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Felixstowe Flying Boats.

• Sons of Our Empire: Film of the Royal Naval Air Service at Felixstowe taken after the Battle of Jutland, including John Cyril Porte studying a map with some other officers, Curtiss Model H-2 and prototype Felixstowe F.1 (No. 3580) fitted with Anzani engines, Porte and Commodore George C. Cayley RN returning from a flight in a Felixstowe F.1; Porte, Cayley and Commander Hubert Lynes RN together, 1916.
• "The Felixstowe Flying-Boats - part 1" a 1955 Flight article
• "The Felixstowe Flying-Boats - part 2" a 1955 Flight article
• "F-Boats - A Postscript by an Ex-pilot" a 1956 Flight article on the Felixstowe flying boats
• Felixstowe Flying-Boats