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A.D. Flying Boat

Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1916

A.D. - AD.1 Navyplane - 1916 - Великобритания<– –>Aerial Manufacturing Co. - monoplane - 1909 - Великобритания


G.Duval British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 (Putnam)


A.D. Flying-boat (1915/17)

   The A.D. Flying-Boat was built to a design of the Air Department of the Admiralty as a patrol and reconnaissance machine to Specification N.2A. The design team consisted of Harold Yendall, Harold Bolas, Clifford Tinson, and Lt.-Col. Linton Hope, the latter responsible for the construction layout of the monocoque hull. Construction of two prototypes commenced in October 1915, the serials allocated being No. 1412 and No. 1413, contracts having been placed with Pemberton-Billing, Ltd, for the superstructure, and with May, Harden and May, for the hulls. A two-seater biplane, the A.D. boat was of mixed wooden construction, fabric covered and wire braced, with the mainplanes arranged to fold forward for shipboard stowage. A biplane tail unit was fitted, with twin fins and rudders, the lower plane made as a watertight unit as it was awash during taxying. The upper tailplane had an inverted aerofoil and a negative angle of incidence, to prevent a tail-heavy trim change when the engine was throttled back. In its original form, the first prototype, No. 1412, was powered by a pusher Sunbeam Nubian engine of 150 h.p. driving a 10-foot diameter four-bladed propeller, and with this power unit No. 1412 underwent its first trials in the summer of 1916. The results were not promising, for the machine suffered from porpoising and poor rudder control, and the design weight had already been exceeded by 500 pounds. At the suggestion of Sqdn. Comm. Travers, the step was moved 2 feet aft to improve water handling, but this had little effect, and as a result of porpoising trials held at Southampton in August 1916, by a Seaplane Research Team under G. S. Baker, o.b.e., a trials report stated that the machine was unsatisfactory, further trials being cancelled by the Air Department. Work continued on the machine throughout the winter of 1916, the most obvious changes being the installation of a 200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine, shorter span ailerons, and greatly enlarged wing-tip floats. In this form, No. 1412 was tested at Southampton on 12 and 15 March, 1917, and performed satisfactorily. Production was soon under way, and on 5 September, 1917, the first production machine, N1520, was the subject of a satisfactory trials report from the Isle of Grain.
   However, engine trouble proved to be the main reason for the A.D. boat’s eventual downfall, apart from the fact that it was not an easy machine to handle both in water manoeuvring and on take-off. The geared Hispano- Suiza engine, French-built, was vibrating and failing in flight, the same faults that were giving cause for anxiety with the S.E.5a. In July 1917, No. 1412 was fitted with a 150 h.p. direct-drive Hispano-Suiza engine in an attempt to remedy the situation, but with this power unit the performance was impaired. February 1918 saw No. 1412 fitted with a 200 h.p. Sunbeam Arab, but this engine performed no better in the A.D. boat than in other aircraft to which it had been fitted, and it, too, was shelved. In mid-1918, a production machine, N1525, was fitted with a Wolseley Python engine of 211 h.p., and later with a 200 h.p. Wolseley Viper, neither installation being satisfactory. Most of the A.D. boats produced other than those mentioned went into storage, with the exception of N1719 and N1712 which were allocated to the Isle of Grain for experimental purposes. In 1921, Harry Busteed and G. Bentley Dacre, both by now senior R.A.F. officers, used N1719 for successful hydrofoil experiments. The total A.D. boat production consisted of the two prototypes and twenty-seven production machines, and the type was declared obsolete in the late autumn of 1918. In June 1919, ten A.D. boats were re-purchased by Supermarines, lately Pemberton-Billing, Ltd, and after fitment of a 160 h.p. Beardmore engine and some modification became civilianised as the Supermarine Channel, the first Channel being a conversion of N1529. Further purchases of A.D. boats were made later, to a total of some nineteen machines in all.


SPECIFICATION

   Power Plant:
   150 h.p. Sunbeam Nubian
   200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza
   150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza
   200 h.p. Wolseley Python
   200 h.p. Wolseley Viper
   200 h.p. Sunbeam Arab
   Span: 50 feet 4 inches. Folded: 14 feet
   Length: 30 feet 7 inches. Folded: 42 feet 3 inches
   Weight Loaded:
   2,880 pounds (No. 1412) (200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza)
   3,388 pounds (N1525) (200 h.p. Wolseley Python)
   Total Area: 479 square feet
   Max. Speed: 87,5 - 100 m.p.h., depending upon loaded weight and engine installed
   Endurance: 3,5 - 5 hours, as above
   Armament:
   Production - one .303-inch Lewis gun
   Type 54A wireless set fitted


Supermarine Channel (1919)

   In 1919, the Supermarine Company re-purchased most of the A.D. flyingboats from the Air Ministry and converted them for civil use by replacing the original engines with the more economical 160 h.p. Beardmore, and by modifying the forward part of the hull to seat three passengers, one in a bow cockpit, two side-by-side in the main cockpit, with the pilot positioned just forward of the lower mainplane. The first machine to be converted was ex-A.D. Boat N1529, which became G-EAED in the civil register, and renamed as the Supermarine Channel. Three Channels, ’ED, ’EE, and ’EK, were the first commercial flying-boats to receive British certificates of airworthiness, dated 23 July, 1919. These three machines were used for pleasure flights along the South Coast from Bournemouth Pier and also for charter work, the delicate water handling required for such employment being provided by fitment of a long-overdue water rudder. On 28 September, 1919, the day after the British railway strike began, the Company started a regular service between Southampton and Le Havre with the Channels, inaugurated ceremonially by G-EAED. The venture lasted until the strike ended on 5 October and was a success, despite the fact that the underpowered Channels, with their lengthy take-off run, gave rise to a rumour that the service was mainly seaborne! Of all the sorties flown during this busy season, only one terminated in misfortune when ’EE crashed and sank during a pleasure flight.
   In the same year the New Zealand Flying School purchased a Channel, which was assembled at Auckland and registered G-NZAI. The engine was the standard Beardmore, but its low power did not satisfy the New Zealanders and in 1920 they replaced it with a 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma extracted from a D.H.9. The improvement in performance was immediate, with a speed increase of some 20 m.p.h., and it is perhaps no coincidence that Supermarines made a similar engine change to a Puma at about the same time. The Company further modified the Channel by fitting strut-mounted wing-tip floats and watertight camera-hatch doors in the hull bottoms, also fitting some, but not all, machines with rudders of greater area. So modified, the machine became known as the Channel Mk. II. The last three machines of the original ex-A.D. Boat batch were shipped to Bermuda and used for pleasure flying with the Bermuda and Western Atlantic Aviation Co. Ltd, on an expendable basis, for shortage of spares ended their careers within a few months. However, one of the Bermuda Channels was shipped to Trinidad in March 1921, where it joined two Channel Mk. Ils employed on air photographic work for survey of the Orinoco Delta. This was satisfactorily completed and a further contract received for air photographs of the interior of British Guiana by one machine, during the course of which a new mountain range was discovered. Unfortunately, this Channel sank after striking driftwood in the River Essequibo. One Channel Mk. II flew photographic sorties in the Fiji Islands during July 1921, and the following year G-NZAI continued this work, having previously operated an experimental air mail service in the Auckland area. Three Channel Mk. Ils were taken to Japan in 1921 by the British Aviation Mission to the Imperial Japanese Navy, and one machine supplied to the Royal Swedish Navy, but the latter was soon written-off in a crash. In 1920, seven Beardmore-engined Channels had been sold to Norway, three going to the civil company, Det Norske Luftfartsrederi, and operating on the Stavanger-Bergen route as well as airmail services between Oslo and Christiansand. The other four machines, one of which had dual control, went to the Royal Norwegian Navy which subsequently re-engined two of them with the 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma. Possibly the last Channel to be sold overseas was a single Mk. II shipped to Chile in 1922. Some idea of the hard-wearing qualities of the Channel’s hull may be obtained from the fact that the hull of the New Zealand machine, G-NZAI, was still in use as a boat in 1943!


SPECIFICATION

   Power Plant:
   One 160 h.p. Beardmore
   Mk.II - One 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma
   Span: 50 feet 4 inches
   Length: 30 feet 7 inches
   Loaded: (Beardmore) 3,400 pounds
   Total Area: 479 square feet
   Max. Speed:
   (Beardmore) 80 m.p.h.
   Mk.II - 100 m.p.h.
Endurance:
   (Beardmore) 3-75 hours
   Mk.II - 3 hours


J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)


A.D. Flying Boat

  THIS two-seat patrol flying boat was designed by the Air Department of the Admiralty. The design work was carried out in the autumn of 1915 under Harris Booth, and the hull was one of the first to be designed by Lieutenant Linton Hope.
  Construction of the first hull was undertaken by May, Harden & May, and the completion of the aircraft was entrusted to Pemberton-Billing, Ltd. The detail design was carried out by Harold Bolas, Harold Yendall and Clifford W. Tinson of the Air Department, who went to the Pemberton-Billing works specially for the purpose.
  Two prototypes, numbered 1412 and 1413, were flying in 1916. These machines differed slightly in detail: the first had a semi-enclosed bow cockpit, whilst the second had an open bow cockpit and a slightly deeper radiator.
  At first, considerable trouble was experienced, for the machine porpoised badly on the water. The Admiralty sought the advice of the scientists who were associated with the experimental work carried out at the Froude National Tank of the National Physical Laboratory. Tests were carried out in August, 1916, at Southampton but were discontinued before the trouble was eradicated. At one time the step was moved two feet farther aft at the suggestion of Squadron Commander J. L. Travers, but that did not cure the machine of porpoising.
  A solution must have been found at a later stage, for production was undertaken on a small scale; the production machines were generally similar to No. 1413. The engine for which the original installation was designed was the 150 h.p. Sunbeam Nubian, but both prototypes and production A.D. Flying Boats were built with Hispano-Suiza engines. The standard power-plant was the 200 h.p. geared Hispano-Suiza, but N.1525 at least had the 150 h.p. direct-drive engine of the same make.
  The A.D. Flying Boat was flown in February, 1917, by Squadron Commander Travers, Flight-Lieutenant Goodwin and Flight-Lieutenant Barlow, when some excellent performances were recorded. One A.D. Boat rode out a 38 m.p.h. gale for seven hours in an open harbour without damage and shipped only 120 lb of water.
  The hull was a wooden monocoque of good form and sturdy construction; it was claimed that the A.D. Flying Boats were stronger, weight for weight, than the larger F boats. One was subjected to rather drastic tests to prove the strength of the hull: it successfully withstood thirty-six successive heavy landings in which it was deliberately stalled at some 10-12 feet above the water. An unusual feature of the design was the provision for the fitting of wheels to enable the machine to be flown from the deck of a carrier vessel; after take-off the wheels were jettisoned.
  The upper tailplane was of inverted aerofoil section and was mounted at a slightly negative angle of incidence, for it was thought that in the event of engine failure the reversed camber would prevent the tail from dropping. The lower tailplane, which was awash when the flying boat was taxying in heavy seas, was covered with plywood and was a watertight structure. The wings could be folded, presumably to conserve space when carried on board ship, but contrary to contemporary practice they folded forwards.
  One of the later production A.D. Flying Boats, N.1719, was used in experiments with hydrovanes. Two were fitted: one was just aft of the pilot’s cockpit, the other about six feet aft of the trailing edge of the wing. Each hydrovane was some 18 inches below the keel of the hull.
  In September, 1918, an A.D. Flying Boat was tested with the 200 h.p. Wolseley Python engine. The installation was experimental, and performance was not good.
  The A.D. Flying Boats did not distinguish themselves in any operational way during the war, but with the coming of peace they provided the basis for the successful Supermarine Channel type, which, powered by the 160 h.p. Beardmore or 230 h.p. Siddeley Puma, was one of the earliest commercial flying boats to go into service and was used in many parts of the world.

SPECIFICATION
  Manufacturers: Pemberton-Billing, Ltd. (later the Supermarine Aviation Works, Ltd.), Woolston, Southampton.
  Power: 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza; 200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza; 200 h.p. Wolseley Python.
  Dimensions: Span: upper 50 ft 3 15/16 in., lower 39 ft 7 1/4 in. Length: 30 ft 7 in. Height: 13 ft 1 in. Chord: 5 ft 6 in. Gap: 7 ft. Stagger: nil. Dihedral: mainplanes 4°, lower tailplane 2° 30'. Incidence: mainplanes 30, upper tailplane -0° 30', lower tailplane + 5°. Span of tail: upper 9 ft 10 in., lower 8 ft 4 in.
  Areas: Wings: 479 sq ft. Tailplanes: total 60 sq ft. Fins and rudders: total 40 sq ft.
  Weights (lb) and Performance:
Engine 150 h.p.
Hispano-Suiza 200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza 200 h.p. Wolseley Python
No. of Trial Report 8A - N.M.214
Date of Trial Report July 3, 1917 July 12, 1917 September 21, 1918
Type of airscrew used on trial A.D.645 A.B.6622
Weight empty 2,400 2,508 2,360
Military load 216 206 176
Crew 360 360 360
Fuel and oil 351 493 492
Weight loaded 3.327 3,567 3,388
Maximum speed (m.p.h.) at
   2,000 ft 91 100 87-5
   6,500 ft 83 99 87
   10,000 ft - 90 -
m. s. m. s. m. s.
Climb to
   2,000 ft 6 00 3 00 5 35
   6,500 ft 26 00 14 00 23 50
   10,000 ft - - 30 00 55 00
Service ceiling (feet) 7.500 11,000 8,800
Endurance (hours) 5 4 1/2 3 1/2| at 3,000 ft

  Armament: One Lewis machine-gun on movable mounting in bow cockpit. A small bomb load could be carried.
  Production: Serial numbers indicate that two prototypes and at least twenty-seven production machines were built. On April ist, 1918, when the Air Department handed over to the newly-formed Royal Air Force, eighteen A.D. Flying Boats were in service, nine were under construction or on order, and one had been written off.
  Serial Numbers: 1412-1413: ordered under Contract No. C.P. 109611/15. N. 1290-N.1299: ordered under Contract No. A.S.1449. N.1291-N.1299 were not built. N.1520-N.1529: ordered under Contract No. A.S.5388/17. N.1710-N.1719: ordered under Contract No. A.S.20798. N.2450-N.2455: ordered under Contract No. A.S. 18936.
  Notes on Individual Machines: N. 1525 had the 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine. N.1719 was experimentally fitted with hydrovanes below the hull.
  Costs:
   Airframe, including hull but without engine, instruments and gun £2,853 8s.
   Airframe without hull £1,925 0s.
   200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine £1,004 0s.


O.Thetford British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (Putnam)


A.D. FLYING-BOAT

   Two-seat patrol flying-boat designed by the Air Department of the Admiralty and constructed by Pemberton-Billing, Ltd (later Supermarine), at Woolston, Southampton. First flown 1917. Prototypes (1412 and 1413) followed by 27 production aircraft (N 1290, N 1520 to 1529, N 1710 to 1719 and N2450 to 2455). One 150 hp or 200 hp Hispano-Suiza engine, loaded weight 3.327 lb and 3.567 lb respectively. Span, 50 ft 4 in. Length, 30 ft 7 in. Maximum speed, 100 mph at 2.000 ft. Climb, 30 min to 10.000 ft. Endurance, 4 1/2 hr.


H.King Armament of British Aircraft (Putnam)


A.D. Flying Boat. A free Lewis gun pillar-mounted in the bow cockpit and a light bomb load (two 65-lb?) was the armament of this patrol and reconnaissance machine ol 1916. (See also Supermarine Channel.)


Supermarine

Channel. This was the name conferred by Supermarine on the A.D. Flying Boat constructed by them and offered for sale in 1919. A Scarff ring-mounting for a Lewis gun with 'single# ammunition drums was installed a short distance back from the bows as shown in a photograph herewith. This same picture suggests the presence of a four 20-lb bomb-carrier under the port wing, and the makers mentioned a possible load of two 50-lb or 100-lb bombs.


A.Jackson British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.3 (Putnam)


Supermarine Channel

   The A.D. two-seat patrol flying boat of 1916 was designed jointly by Lt. Linton Hope, Harold Bolas, Harold Yendall and Clifford W. Tinson and had a flexible wooden monococque hull which unconcernedly absorbed punishment from rough seas. The wings folded forward and construction took place at the Woolston, Southampton, works of Pemberton Billing Ltd. where 27 had been completed by the 1918 Armistice. A number of these were repurchased from the Air Ministry by the Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd., successors to the Pemberton Billing concern, and converted for civil use with 160 h.p. Beardmore engine driving a pusher airscrew and with the forward part of the hull seating two passengers in tandem with a third in the bows and the pilot behind.
   An initial batch of ten, redesignated Supermarine Channels, were registered to Supermarine as G-EAED to ’EM on 11 June 1919, three of which, G-EAED, ’EE and ’EK, still bearing R.A.F. serials, began pleasure flights along the South Coast with the first Cs. of A. issued to British commercial flying boats. Brisk business was done at Bournemouth Pier and chief pilot Cdr. B. D. Hobbs organised the daily positioning flight from Woolston into a regular service. During Cowes Week a Channel stationed on the Medina was chartered on 7 August for a flight round H.M.S. Renown as it left Portsmouth with H.R.H. the Prince of Wales aboard. Later in the month ’ED received a civic send-off at the inauguration of the world’s first international flying boat service to Le Havre and a local service to Cowes also began. The Channels taxied from the Woolston works to embark passengers at Royal Pier but ’EE overturned and sank during a pleasure flight at Bournemouth on 15 August and commercial operations ceased at the end of the season.
   In 1920 Channels G-EAEH, ’El and ’EL were despatched to Norway in crates for Norske Luftreideri’s mail and passenger service between Stavanger and Bergen. From difficult anchorages, over difficult terrain and frequently in marginal weather, they operated with 94-4% regularity until the company was wound up in December 1920. A fourth Channel, believed to have been G-EAEM, was a dual control trainer for the Royal Norwegian Navy based at Horten.
G-EAEF, 'EG and 'EJ were shipped to Bermuda in April 1920 and spent the following winter in highly successful pleasure flying operations with the Bermuda and Western Atlantic Aviation Co. Ltd. One of several novel charters involved overtaking and landing alongside a United States bound steamship and transferring actress Pearl White. Shortage of spares ended their careers within a few months but ’EG was shipped to Trinidad in March 1921 to join two Channel Mk.IIs G-EAWC and 'WP.
   Powered by the 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma, these had strutted wing tip floats and watertight camera doors let into the hull bottoms. Flown by С. E. Ward and F. Bailey of Bermuda and Western Atlantic Aviation Co. Ltd., they prospected for oil in the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela, under the direction of Major Cochran Patrick. Neither carried markings and one was detached later for the aerial survey of Georgetown, British Guiana, but sank in the River Essequibo after colliding with driftwood.
   In May 1921 another unmarked Channel, actually G-NZAI, was shipped to Walsh Bros, and Dexter for the New Zealand Flying School, Auckland. It was a hybrid with 160 h.p. Beardmore and Mk.H airframe and made the first ever Auckland-Wellington flight on 4 October 1921 piloted by George Bolt. Early in July 1922 it was shipped to Fiji for a two-week, 1,000 mile, survey of the main islands of the group, flown by Capt. A. C. Upham and on its return was fitted with a 240 h.p. Puma and remained in service until 1926. Its hull was still used as a boat in 1943.
   Six more Channel Ils received certificates of airworthiness in 1920-21 for export without markings, including four for the Imperial Japanese Navy taken out by the British Aviation Mission, and one each for Cuba and Chile.

SPECIFICATION
   Manufacturers:
   The Supermarine Aviation Works Ltd., Woolston, Southampton, Hants.
   Power Plants:
   (Channel Mk.I) One 160 h.p. Beardmore.
   (Channel Mk.Il) One 240 h.p. Siddeley Puma.
   Dimensions:
   Span, 50 ft. 4 in.
   Length, 30 ft. 7 in.
   Height, 13 ft. 1 in.
   Wing area, 479 sq. ft.
   *Weights:
   All-up weight 3,400 lb.
   *Performance:
   Maximum speed 100 m.p.h.
   Ceiling 10,000 ft.
   Duration 5 hours.
   * Channel Mk.I.
   Production:
   (a) Channel Mk.I Ten aircraft of British registry listed in Appendix E.
   (b) Channel Mk.Il Two aircraft of British registry and the following for export: (c/n 1037), un­registered, C. of A. 13.7.20, British Controlled Oil Field Co., Trinidad; (1142), G-NZAI, 17.12.20; (1148), Imperial Japanese Navy, 3.1 2.21; (1149), unregistered, 24.8.21, Cuba; (1150 and 1155), Imperial Japanese Navy, 17.12.21; (1156), Imperial Japanese Navy, 20.12.21.


Jane's All The World Aircraft 1919


This machine, with the exception of the hull, was completely re-designed by the firm and fitted with Hispano-Suiza engine. It carried 4 1/2 hours' fuel, wireless gear, Lewis gun and ammunition, pilot and passenger, sea anchor, ground anchor, 40 fathoms of line, etc. It is believed to have put up new world's records for flying-boats m March, 1917.


J.Forsgren Swedish Military Aircraft 1911-1926 (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 68)


Supermarine Channel II

  Only one Supermarine Channel II was used in Sweden. In 1921, the Swedish Navy dispatched two high-ranking officers to Great Britain was to examine flying boats suitable for the MFV. The Vickers Viking IV was briefly considered, but at the suggestion of Carl Clemens Bucker (a former German naval pilot who in 1921 had founded the company Svenska Aero AB) one three-seat Supermarine Channel II was ordered for comparative trials with the Caspar S.I (redesignated on December 1, 1922 as the Heinkel HE 1). Taken on charge in July 1921, the Supermarine Channel was assigned the serial number Fb 46. Before the proper commencement of the trials the Channel was written off in a crash at Harsfjarden on September 22, 1922.
  Two days later, on Sunday September 24, the newspaper Dagens Nyheter published a brief account of the crash.
  "Flying Boat crashes from an altitude of 30 metres
  On Friday, a nasty accident occurred at Harsfjarden, when one of the Navy’s flying boats crashed from an altitude of almost 30 metres, being severely damaged, with the pilot and passenger escaped without injuries.
  The flying boat in question, number 46, was piloted by Lieutenant Runius of the Coastal Artillery, presently attached to the gunnery school’s air detachment, who during a training flight all of a sudden suffered engine failure. Before the pilot was able to “get (the machine) upwards, it crashed at a terrifying speed towards the water surface. The accident was observed from the armoured ship Dristigheten (Boldness), which was located some 2,000 metres away from the site of the crash. The steam launches of Dristigheten sped to the rescue. However, it all ended better than originally feared by the spectators. When the site of the crash was reached, the pilot, Lieutenant Runius, as well as the observer, a naval corporal, were uninjured. The machine had been filled with water, but was still afloat, with the pair of aviators having suffered an involuntary cold bath.
  The Flying boat was then towed to Dristigheten, and subsequently hoisted aboard a barge, which transported it to the Harsfjarden air station. During the initial examination, it was discovered that the wings and hull had been severely damaged, while the engine was not at all damaged. Damage to the airplane was estimated at SEK 15,000, which was beyond economical repair.”
  The cause of the crash was due to engine trouble during take-off. The reason for this was assumed to be layers of soot on the spark plugs, or water-contaminated fuel. The high winds made the ensuing forced landing more difficult. Another view of the cause of the crash was that the change of centre of gravity which occurred when it was flown without the gunner/observer (or ballast) in the front cockpit. In any event, the pilot, Lieutenant Runius, received no blame for the crash.
  The 240 h.p. A.S. Puma engine (c/n 11432) was salvaged and fitted to a Heinkel HE 1 (Fb 40). This particular airplane later became S 2 serial number 240.

Pilot Impression

  One naval pilot to fly the Channel II was Albin Ahrenberg, who later wrote of his first, hair-raising flight in the flying boat in his memoirs Ett Flygarliv (A life in Aviation).
  “One day we went to Frihamnen (Stockholm harbour) to collect a huge packing crate, which contained the latest naval aircraft acquisition. It was a flying boat, a Supermarine, that had been purchased and test flown in England which we, according to available plans, would assemble. When the airplane was ready, I spoke to the officer who had been present in England when it was delivered, and asked if any particular pilot’s notes regarding the flying characteristics were available. He replied that he was not aware of any such information, but I nevertheless sat down and prepared to make taxiing runs, and then take-off in order to learn more about its performance.
  The construction of the hull was, from a maritime point of view, very appealing. It was extremely strong, built out of veneer, beautifully shaped and had the appearance of being seaworthy. The wings were located on the centre fuselage, with the engine being fitted between the wings. It was reminiscent of the Savoia (S 13) which I had flown previously, although the nose section in front of the wings was much longer, and contained three separate cockpits in a row. The pilot sat nearest the wings, ie most aft, with the radio operator in the middle seat and the gunner/observer up-front. As was common practice with all test flights, the pilot was the only one aboard. There wasn’t much fuel in the tanks, and she lifted off quickly, climbing seemingly with a mind of her own. I did not reflect about this state of affairs quickly enough, otherwise I would have cut the engine at the moment of lift-off. When I did begin to put my mind to it, I had already reached too great an altitude to safely cut the engine. It seemed as if the pusher engine was pressing the nose downwards. Attempting to experiment at low altitude would be life threatening. Better then to climb to have more room to manoeuvre. My thought was to cut the engine, and thus try to bring the nose down. At an altitude of about 500 metres the nose began to slowly turn downwards, and I eased off on the elevator. But, as I reduced the engine revs, the nose turned upwards. I flew around for about half-an-hour, thinking about how in the world I would bring this crate down without killing myself.
  Finally, I flew to Kanholmsfjarden, where the stretch of water was sufficiently long for the type of landing which I had arrived at as being the best, given the circumstances. I flew her down, close to the water, letting her touch the surface at full speed. The landing speed was likely to have been around 175 km/h, and I thanked God that the hull was so well constructed. The friction of the stem against the water provided a powerful braking effect, while the aeroplane at the same time risked turning over. I reduced the engine revs, finally cutting the engine when the speed had been reduced to around 80 km/h. The whole experience had been quite frightening, and I steered for land, attached the mooring rope, and proceeded to fill the front cockpit with rocks equating the weight of two grown men. I then took-off again, finding to my delight that she was one of the nicest machines I had ever flown.
  Following my experience during the test flight, I was able to issue instructions regarding the distribution of weight prior to a flight. The aeroplane was then assigned to serve in the Coastal Fleet, but despite a red warning note in front of the pilot’s nose, clearly warning to fly it without being properly loaded. The pilot panicked when he immediately following lift-off could not get the aeroplane to fly horizontally. He then cut the engine, which resulted in the nose pointing upwards, and the aeroplane falling over one wing from an altitude of 20 metres into the water. This rather strange landing made the hull break into three pieces”.

Supermarine Channel II Technical Data and Performance Characteristics
   Engine: 1 x 240 h.p. Armstrong Siddeley Puma
   Length: 9,14 m
   Wingspan: 15,36 m
   Height: 3,96 m
   Wing area: 42,07 m2
   Empty weight: 1,068 kg
   Maximum weight: 1,600 kg
   Maximum speed: 148 km/h
   Armament: -

C.Owers - The Fighting America Flying Boats of WWI Vol.1 /Centennial Perspective/ (22)
The Admiralty Air Department A.D. flying boat used the Linton Hope method of construction and represented the future type of wooden construction that was to be used on the first Supermarine Southampton flying boats post-war. Supermarine received a contract for A.D. boats, the hulls being delivered to this firm where the wings, etc., were added.The prototype 1412 is illustrated here. Supermarine sold versions of the A.D. Boat as their Channel seaplane post-war.
J.Bruce - British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 /Putnam/
A.D. Flying Boat No.1412, the first prototype.
Jane's All The World Aircraft 1919 /Jane's/
Three-quarter Rear View of a Supermarine-built A.D. Flying Boat of 1917 (prototype), with gunner in tandem in front of pilot. Pemberton-Billing went on to construct 27 for RNAS.
J.Bruce - British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 /Putnam/
A.D. Flying Boat No. 1413, the second prototype, with wings folded.
J.Bruce - British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 /Putnam/
A.D. Flying Boat. Production aircraft with 200 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine.
Once installed at the Admiralty, Harold Bolas became involved with design of the first A.D. flying-boat, a production version of which is shown here; N1522 of the RNAS.
O.Thetford - British Naval Aircraft since 1912 /Putnam/
J.Bruce - British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 /Putnam/
A.D. Flying Boat with 150 h.p. Hispano-Suiza engine.
The A.D. flying boat had a Linton Hope designed hull. Supermarine "built" the type under Contract AS5388/17, (N1520-N1529). N1525 bears Supermarine's logo on the anti-skid fins that were fitted between the interplane struts.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.3 /Putnam/
G-EAED/N1529, the first civil Channel, leaving Southampton on the inaugural flight to Le Havre, August 1919.
J.Bruce - British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 /Putnam/
A.D. Flying Boat with hydrovanes fitted to the hull.
H.King - Armament of British Aircraft /Putnam/
Supermarine Channel, with Lewis gun manned in bow. The gun has a 'single' (47-round) ammunition drum, and there are bomb-carriers under the wings.
Журнал - Flight за 1919 г.
Three-quarter front view of the Supermarine "Channel"-type flying boat which is being used for joy flips at Bournemouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight
Журнал - Flight за 1919 г.
The Supermarine "Channel"-type flying boat, with Mr. and Mrs. Harry Tate and Mr. R. Tate on board ready for a flight. Comdr. B. D. Hobbs, D.S.O., D.S.C., the pilot, is standing beside the engine
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.3 /Putnam/
Launching Channel G-EAEJ of the Bermuda and Western Atlantic Aviation Co. Ltd.
A.Jackson - British Civil Aircraft since 1919 vol.3 /Putnam/
A Supermarine Channel Mk.I N-9, formerly G-EAEH, moored in Bergen Harbour while in service with Norske Luftreideri in 1920.
G.Duval - British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 /Putnam/
Channel Mk.II (G-EAWP) taking off at Fiji, July 1921.
J.Forsgren - Swedish Military Aircraft 1911-1926 /Centennial Perspective/ (68)
Acquired for comparative evaluation against the Caspar S.I, the sole MFV Supermarine Channel II was written off in September 1922. Via Arlanda Flygsamlingar
C.Owers - The Fighting America Flying Boats of WWI Vol.1 /Centennial Perspective/ (22)
Hull Comparison of RNAS Flying Boats
C.Owers - The Fighting America Flying Boats of WWI Vol.1 /Centennial Perspective/ (22)
Details of L. Hope Hull Design
C.Owers - The Fighting America Flying Boats of WWI Vol.1 /Centennial Perspective/ (22)
Details of L. Hope Hull Design
G.Duval - British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 /Putnam/
Air Department A.D.
G.Duval - British Flying-Boats and Amphibians 1909-1952 /Putnam/
Supermarine Channel II