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Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1916

Единственный экземпляр

Single-engine, two-seat, three-bay biplane long-range bomber

F.Manson British Bomber Since 1914 (Putnam)

Beardmore W.B.I

   Among the numerous commercial manufacturers contracted to build the Royal Aircraft Factory's B.E.2C was the Scottish shipbuilder, William Beardmore &c Co Ltd of Dalmuir, its output of these aeroplanes being destined for the Admiralty whose Inspector of Naval Aircraft at the factory was Lieut George Tilghman Richards. This officer had, before the War, been engaged in aircraft design and, in 1916, was permitted to resign his Commission in order to take up the appointment of chief designer in Beardmore's aviation department, so as to enable the company to respond to the Admiralty's encouragement of commercial manufacturers to embark on the design of their own aircraft.
   Richards' first aircraft, the W.B.I, was an imaginative, if not radical attempt to produce a naval bomber whose modus operandi was to attack in a long shallow glide in order to achieve tactical surprise. To this end, careful attention was paid to limiting drag, especially in the engine installation, and it is said that the gliding angle, with engine throttled back and at about half-fuel weight, was of the order of six degrees, made possible by large, high-aspect ratio three-bay wings and a wing loading of 5 lb/sq ft at this weight. Power was initially provided by a 230hp BHP engine built by the Galloway Engineering Company, the radiators being of the vertical type, attached to the sides of the fuselage and extended upwards to converge beneath the upper wing.
   Despite all the care taken to provide clean contours for the engine cowling, the undercarriage was cumbersome, consisting of two pairs of mainwheels, each pair being provided with two small forewheels on struts extending forward, cross-braced and wire-braced to the lower wings.
   It is thought that the heavily staggered wings were not made to fold owing to the interplane strut configuration and, because the mainwheels of the undercarriage were located well forward, the aircraft would have rested on its tailskid if the wings were folded. Ailerons were provided on upper and lower wings, interconnected by external cables.
   The W.B.I was designed to carry six 112 lb bombs, probably suspended from two parallel beams attached beneath the fuselage between the two main wheel mounting structures. The bombs were to be aimed by the observer/gunner who, occupying the rear cockpit situated well aft, was provided with an aperture in the underside of the fuselage for sighting, and two large transparent panels in the sides.
   The sole W.B.I, N525, was delivered to the RNAS at Cranwell on 6 June 1917 (though it was probably first flown rather earlier), but suffered damage in a landing accident while being flown by Wg-Cdr Richard Edmund Charles Peirse RN (later Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard, KCB, DSO, AFC, RAF, C-in-C, Bomber Command, during the Second World War). By the time of this accident the BHP engine had been replaced by a 240hp Sunbeam.
   The aircraft, however, was not accepted by the Admiralty for production, principally because, by the time it was flown, the Handley Page O/100 heavy bomber was already being delivered to the Service; moreover, assuming the wings were not made to fold, the span of the W.B.I would not have conformed to the maximum naval hangar storage dimensions.

   Type: Single-engine, two-seat, three-bay biplane long-range bomber.
   Manufacturer: William Beardmore & Co Ltd, Dalmuir, Dunbartonshire.
   Powerplant: One 230hp Beardmore; later one 240hp Sunbeam.
   Dimensions: Span, 61ft 6in; length, 32ft 10in; height, 14ft 9in; wing area, 796 sq ft.
   Weights (Beardmore): Tare, 3,410 lb; all-up (with 660 lb bomb load), 5,600 lb.
   Performance (Beardmore): Max speed, 91 mph at sea level; climb to 5,000ft, 26 min; endurance, 7 1/4 hr.
   Armament: One 0.303in Lewis machine gun with ring mounting on rear cockpit; bomb load of six 110 lb bombs.
   Prototype: One, N525, probably first flown early in 1917. No production.

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Описание:

  • F.Manson British Bomber Since 1914 (Putnam)
  • P.Lewis British Bomber since 1914 (Putnam)
  • J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)
  • H.King Armament of British Aircraft (Putnam)
  • Jane's All The World Aircraft 1919
  • C.Owers Beardmore Aircraft of WW1 (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 69)