C.Andrews, E.Morgan Supermarine Aircraft since 1914 (Putnam)
Pemberton Billing
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Undaunted, Pemberton Billing went ahead with his plans and secured an order from the Admiralty for twelve Short S.38 dual-control school biplanes. From the multiplicity of project designs he was busy hatching. Billing did secure an option from Germany for two P.B.7 flying-boats, intended for the 225 hp Sunbeam engine, on his pet slip-wing theory. In the event these were abandoned on the outbreak of war in August 1914 and the hulls subsequently used as flying-boat tenders. The slip-wing idea of shedding the wings of a seaplane crippled by engine failure and proceeding on the surface by an auxiliary marine engine and water screw was persevered with in other PB ‘paper’ designs but none ever reached the hardware stage, though the modified P.B.1 was used for this concept as a test vehicle.
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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.2 (PB.11)
This project, which remained unbuilt, was to have the engine installed in the hull, driving the propeller through bevel gearboxes and shafts, at a high thrust angle. The hull design was an enlarged version of PB. 1, with the lower hull portion extended further aft. The pilot sat in the rear cockpit; the front cockpit, under the wing, was larger and could probably hold more than one passenger. The monoplane wing was mounted above the hull on struts, and was braced to the hull by narrow chord aerofoils. The balancing floats, mounted under the aerofoil struts, were sprung by a scissors-like system of struts, passing on either side of the aerofoil struts, to attach to the main wing.
Power: 120hp Austro-Daimler six-cylinder inline water-cooled driving a 9ft diameter three-bladed PB Trinity propeller
Data
Weight allup 2,000lb.
Price .1575
PEMBERTON BILLING flying boat Supermarine PB.3
This was a further enlargement of PB.2 which remained unbuilt. This time wing warping was employed. The machine was to have two engines driving a propeller through bevel gearboxes and shafts as before. In his elaborate publicity material, produced for issue at the Aero Show, PB refers to 'alternate drive', which is presumably for a water propeller, and perhaps the first intended 'slip wing' machine.
Power: Two 90hp Austro-Daimler six-cylinder inline water-cooled driving a 9ft 6in diameter three-bladed PB Trinity propeller
Data
Weight allup 3,000lb.
Price .2310
PEMBERTON BILLING flying lifeboat, Supermarine PB.5 (PB.21) and PB.7 (PB.19)
The first version of this 'slip wing' design was not built, but two of the PB.7 type were ordered by the German Navy and construction of these was commenced in May 1914. The machine was illustrated and details given in advertisements dating from 29 May 1914.
The design consisted of a biplane with engine in the hull, driving twin pusher propellers by chain. The hull was designed as a motor boat, with water propeller and rudder, to which the rear portion of the hull, and complete wing cellule, were attached as one unit. One of the German machines was basically complete by the end of July, but further work was discontinued at the outbreak of war. The boat portion is believed to have been finished and used later on the Solent.
Power: PB.7 200hp Salmson (Canton-Unne) fourteen-cylinder water-cooled radial or 225hp Sunbeam twelve-cylinder water-cooled vee
Data
Span 57ft 6in
Length 34ft
Endurance 4hr
Weight allup 3,000lb.
Speed 45-70 mph
The boat portion had a speed of 35 knots and a range of 200 miles maximum
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G.Duval British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 (Putnam)
Pemberton-Billing Flying-boats (1913/1914)
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Undeterred by failure, Pemberton-Billing’s reference to his marine aircraft as ‘not aeroplanes which float, but boats which fly’ was borne out by his next flying-boat project, the P.B.7, of 1914. In this design, the forward part of the hull consisted of a cabin cruiser motor boat, powered by a 225 h.p. Sunbeam engine, while the after part, including wings, propellers, and tail unit, was detachable. In the assembled state, extended drive linkage connected the Sunbeam to the twin pusher propellers. The P.B.7 layout was intended to eliminate the problem of docking a large flying-boat by loading the motor boat at a pier, then connecting up with the flight structure at a convenient offshore mooring. In emergency, the flight structure could be jettisoned on the water, leaving the seaworthy motor boat to proceed alone and unhindered. A batch of P.B.7s were on order for the German Navy, and at the outbreak of war several motor boats of this type were complete and ready to have the flight structure fitted. Work on them was stopped and the design adapted into the S.S.1 military flying-boat.
The S.S.1 project consisted of a scaled-down version of the P.B.7, equipped with folding wings. Intended for launching from a surfaced submarine, the machine would jettison its flight structure after action, returning to base as a fast motor launch. In the event, it was not built, partly because Pemberton-Billing had joined the R.N.A.S. and was planning the anti-Zeppelin raid on Friedrichshaven, and partly because the company now had priority wartime contracts to fulfil. Eventually the company was transferred to the capable hands of Hubert Scott-Paine, retaining the original description of its marine aircraft, ‘Supermarines’, as the company name.
SPECIFICATION
P.B.7
Power Plant: One 225 h.p. Sunbeam
Span: 57 feet 6 inches
Length: 34 feet
Weight Loaded: 3,950 pounds
Total Area: 558 square feet
Max. Speed: 70 m.p.h. (estimated)
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