C.Andrews, E.Morgan Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 (Putnam)
Pemberton Billing
Perhaps the most eccentric of the early British aviators was the ‘incredible' Noel Pemberton Billing, as one writer called him. He was the genius who founded a little aircraft company at Woolston, Southampton, before the First World War, an enterprise that in later decades was to play an important part in aviation history.
Pemberton Billing took an early interest in aeronautics and in 1904 nearly succeeded in killing himself in the classic mode by jumping off the roof of his house in a home-made glider. His first efforts at making a successful flying machine also followed precedent with qualified failure but he was a man with big ideas and in 1909 attempted to establish a large aviation complex and flying ground at South Fambridge in Essex. Although this enterprise attracted other pioneers, including Howard Wright, Weiss and McFie, it failed before a full year of operation probably because of marshy terrain and a transverse ditch across the take-off zone.
Pemberton Billing’s marine interests were mainly centred on dealings in yachts which his friend C. G. Grey of The Aeroplane thought was a dubious business. With capital accrued from this and other sources and with a financial backer, in 1912 he purchased a site next to Woolston Ferry on the River Itchen at Southampton for a factory to produce fast launches and marine aircraft and work started there in 1913. Billing was so obsessed with the idea of flying over the sea instead of ploughing through it that he coined the word Supermarine for his telegraphic address, as the antonym of submarine for underwater craft. This word was to prefix many famous aircraft names at later dates even when the proprietary name of Vickers was officially prefixed after 1928.
Even before the company was officially registered on 27 June, 1914, a striking biplane flying-boat had emerged from the Woolston Works and had been exhibited at the Aero Show at Olympia in London in the previous March. This was labelled the Supermarine P.B.1 and revealed a rakish fish-like hull with flared sponsons or fins, with the bottom planes attached to and built integrally with the upper frames of the hull. These features were the work of Linton Hope, a marine architect of some distinction, who introduced advanced yacht design techniques into flying-boat hull design which stood the test of time and found many applications later. Another novel feature of the P.B.1 was the rotary engine mounted power-egg fashion forward of the wings (the pilot was located aft) driving a three-blade propeller, with an upward thrust line to induce take-off performance. In fact, this characteristic had the reverse effect, that is, poor take-off caused mainly by the very low power delivered by the alleged 50 hp Gnome. Two attempts to fly this ’boat failed, the second after a redesign and rebuild.
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M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
PEMBERTON BILLING flying boat Supermarine PB.l (PB.7 and 9)
This small single-seater flying boat was displayed at the Olympia Aero Show in March 1914 and was tested later with little success. The machine was broken up later in the year after an altered layout had been tried.
The PB.l had a well shaped, circular section hull with an added lower section, with flared sides, ending in a step. The pilot was seated behind the wings, with the engine in a nacelle on struts ahead of the wings, mounted at a steep thrust angle. The wings were of unequal span and were made in one piece, without dihedral. Sprung, streamlined, circular section floats were mounted below the outboard interplane struts. Ailerons and conventional tail surfaces were fitted. An instrument named a 'Supermeter', to register the height above the water on alighting, was a special feature. A grapnel in the nose, controlled from the cockpit, was another original fitment.
After unsuccessful attempts to takeoff, the engine and pilot's position were interchanged. The engine was buried in the hull and drove twin pusher propellers by chain drives. The pilot was positioned ahead of the wings to balance the aircraft. In this form the machine was tested in May 1914 by Howard Pixton and was later identified as PB.9.
Power: 50hp Gnome seven-cylinder air-cooled rotary driving a 8ft diameter three-bladed PB Trinity propeller, replaced by twin chain driven outboard propellers
Data
Span top 30ft
Span bottom 28ft
Chord 5ft 7 l/2in
Gap 5ft 3in
Area 293 sq. ft
Area elevator 20 sq. ft
Area rudder 12 sq. ft
Area tailplane 31 sq. ft
Weight 750 lb.
Price .525
Weight allup 970 lb.
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P.Lewis British Aircraft 1809-1914 (Putnam)
Pemberton Billing P.B.7
Noel Pemberton Billing's P.B.7 flying-boat was one of the most elegant aircraft displayed at the 1914 Olympia Aero Show. It was built by his Supermarine works at Woolston, Hants., under the Supermarine number P.B. I, and was powered by the 50 h.p. Gnome driving a Pemberton Billing three-bladed propeller. The single-seat cockpit was installed in the after section of the 200 lb. finely-constructed, cigar-shaped hull, through the upper part of which the lower wings passed in one piece. The thrust-line was set at a considerable angle of up-thrust by pointing the nacelle downward towards the tail-unit, in support of a theory that the machine would rise quickly from the water. This idea was discarded, however, and the lay-out was revised so that the engine was mounted in the hull behind the pilot, with a pair of pusher propellers driven by chains.
The P.B.7 was tested during May, 1914, on Southampton Water, but, owing to the unsatisfactory propellers, only a short hop was possible. Among the detail refinements of the design were the sprung outer floats and the buoyant pilot's seat, which was detachable in the event of an accident in the water. The P.B.7. was intended to be the predecessor of the proposed Supermarine P.B.7 flying-boat, whose hull was to have been a boat unit complete with under-water propeller, on which was to be mounted a removable aircraft unit of wings and tail so that the lower section could be converted into a high-speed motor-boat. Span, 28 ft. Wing area, 293 sq. ft. Weight empty, 750 lb. Weight loaded, 970 lb. Maximum speed, 50 m.p.h.
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G.Duval British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 (Putnam)
Pemberton-Billing Flying-boats (1913/1914)
The first product of this company, formed in 1913 by Noel Pemberton-Billing, was a small flying-boat, the P.B.1. Exhibited at the 1914 Aero Show, the machine attracted much attention by virtue of its advanced design and clean lines. A single-seater biplane, the P.B.1 had a wing span of only 28 feet, and a loaded weight of a mere 970 pounds. The hull, cigar-shaped and beautifully streamlined by a skin of moulded plywood, had external planing surfaces in the form of longitudinal fins attached to the hull sides, with the cockpit placed well aft of the wing trailing edges. Lateral water stability was obtained by cylindrical wing-tip floats. The power unit, a 50 h.p. Gnome rotary, drove a three-bladed tractor propeller, and was enclosed in a streamlined nacelle mounted high in the centre section, with the thrust fine inclined above the horizontal to assist take-off. In common with several other early flying-boats, the P.B.1. fell victim to the twin problems of low power and water drag, and did not fly.
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SPECIFICATION
P.B.1
Power Plant: One 50 h.p. Gnome
Span: 28 feet
Weight Loaded: 970 pounds
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Журнал Flight
Flight, March 14, 1914.
WHAT THERE WILL BE TO SEE AT OLYMPIA.
THE EXHIBITS.
Pemberton Billing. (49.)
AMONGST the new comers at the Show one of the most interesting will be the flying boat exhibited by Mr. Pemberton Billing. The "Supermarine," as Mr. Billing calls his flying boat, represents radical changes from usual practice in flying boat construction and design. The boat itself, as will be seen from accompanying sketch, is cigar shaped, thus providing a perfect streamline. The construction of the boat is unusual and will be fully described later. The Supermarine is of the tractor type, and it will be seen that the position and attitude of the engine and propeller is highly original inasmuch as they are mounted above the boat and in front of the main planes. It will be interesting to see how this arrangement will work in practice, the theory, of course, being that setting the propeller-shaft at an angle to the boat will facilitate getting off the water.
In addition to the complete machine there will be exhibited on this stand a model of the next Supermarine to be built, which is to be known as the P.B. 2, whilst the present machine is called the P.B. 1. A three-bladed propeller of special construction, and a supermeter for determining the height above the ground or the sea, and described elsewhere in this issue, will complete the exhibit on this stand.
Flight, March 21, 1914.
THE OLYMPIA EXHIBITION.
THE EXHIBITS.
THE SUPERMARINE P.B. 1 (PEMBERTON BILLING). (49.)
AMONGST the newcomers at the Show, one of the most ordinal machines is the flying boat exhibited by Mr. Pemberton Billing. This machine differs radically from any flying boat hitherto turned out in this or any other country, and is an attempt to produce as Mr. Pemberton Billing puts it, a boat that will fly rather than an aeroplane that will float. The construction of the cigar-shaped hull is very interesting. The upper portion of the hull consists of two layers of spruce, whilst the thickness of the lower portion of the hull has been very carefully proportioned according to the strains imposed upon it. Thus at the keel there are five thicknesses of wood, while from the keel towards the deck it gradually tapers off into four, three and two thicknesses. The step of the boat, which forms a separate structure, riveted to the main hull, is built up of spruce, mahogany, rock elm and ash, beginning with the weaker wood near the nose of the boat, and having the strongest wood at the step where the greatest load is taken.
It will thus be seen that strength is obtained where necessary, not only by bulk, but also by careful selection of the materials best suited for the purpose. In addition to this, the circular construction of the hall has the advantage that a pressure applied at any point is transmitted to the whole surface, thereby making it possible to reduce the weight to a minimum and yet preserve the necessary strength. The weight of the hull is only about 200 lbs. Further rigidity is added to the boat by internal cross-bracing of the usual type, and bulkheads divide the boat into watertight compartments. These bulkheads are fitted with manholes in order to allow of adjustment of the internal cross-bracing. In the nose of the boat rests an anchor or grapnel, which, on being released, is shot forward by a strong coil spring. The anchor cable passes round a drum in front of the pilot's seat, so that the pilot is able to lower or hoist his anchor without leaving his seat. Interesting as the design and construction of the boat itself undoubtedly is, the engine mounting is even more so, for instead of mounting the engine as it is usually done, either in the boat itself or between the inner plane struts, Mr. Billing has mounted it in a streamline casing of wood, which also encloses the tanks. The rear portion of this casing is secured to the two front inner plane struts, whilst an additional two struts running from the engine down to the deck of the boat take the weight of the engine, a 50 h.p. Gnome driving directly a three-bladed propeller. The main planes, which are perfectly straight, that is to say, they have no dihedral angle, are set at an angle of incidence of 3 degrees. They are separated by spruce struts, and cross - braced in the usual way by stranded cables. The lower wing tips are protected by floats of a similar construction to that of the boat. By introducing springs in the cross-bracing of the floats these are allowed to travel backwards and upwards, thus adapting themselves to undulations of the water. One of the accompanying sketches shows the tail planes, which are mounted on a small structure of steel tubes. The pilot's seat, which is situated just to the rear of the lower plane rear spar, is made quickly detachable, so that in case of accident the pilot can throw it overboard, and as it possesses sufficient buoyancy to keep a man afloat, it serves the purpose of the lifebelt frequently worn by pilots of waterplanes. Control is by means of a single central lever and a pivoted foot-bar.
In addition to the complete machine, there is shown on this stand a scale model of the Supermarine P.B. 3, which Mr. Pemberton Billing was unable to get finished in time for the Show. This machine will be fitted with two Austro-Daimler engines placed in the hull, and driving the propeller through bevel-gearing. Another interesting item is the Supermeter, which indicates to the pilot his height above the surface from a height of 15 ft. downwards. As this instrument was fully described in these columns last week, further reference is unnecessary. Some examples of the three-bladed propellers with which the Supermarines are fitted will be found to be well worth a careful inspection.
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