F.Manson British Bomber Since 1914 (Putnam)

Dyott Bomber

   George M Dyott gained his RAeC pilot's certificate on 11 August 1911 and almost immediately set off on a tour of North America, giving public demonstrations in a Deperdussin monoplane. On returning home he designed a small sporting monoplane, which he had built by Hewlett & Blondeau Ltd, and shortly before the War he designed a twin-engine biplane intended for exploration in Africa.
   This aircraft attracted the Admiralty's attention as a potential naval bomber and Dyott was prevailed upon to adapt it for Service consideration. Once again manufacture was the subject of a contract with Hewlett & Blondeau during the spring and summer of 1916, and the aircraft emerged as a well-proportioned biplane with parallel-chord, equal-span, four-bay wings outboard of the engines, which were located in the gap. Power was provided by a pair of 120hp Beardmore water-cooled engines without cowlings the only engines available to a relatively unknown aircraft designer on the fringe of the aircraft industry, and clearly unequal to the task of providing adequate power for a fairly large bomber.
   No fewer than five Lewis machine guns were carried, two being located to fire through ports in the sides of the nose; two spigot mounted on the front gunner's spacious cockpit and another on a gunner's position aft of the wings.
   After initial flights at Chingford, Essex, in August 1916, the first aircraft, No 3687, was delivered for trials at Hendon, while efforts were made to improve the design of the engine installations by introducing fully-cowled nacelles with frontal radiators. The nose contours were improved by straightening the top line of the fuselage and eliminating the slope upwards to the pilot's windscreen.
   No 3688 joined 3687 at Hendon at the beginning of September 1916. Both remained there until early October, when 3687 went to the Experimental Armament Depot on the Isle of Grain. After a period with the Design Flight at Eastchurch, No 3688 was transferred to Dunkerque for Service trials, but records suggest that it had been written off by March 1918.

   Type: Twin-engine, three-crew, four-bay biplane naval bomber.
   Manufacturer: Hewlett & Blondeau Ltd, Leagrave, Luton, Bedfordshire, to the design of George M Dyott,
   Powerplant: Two 120hp Beardmore six-cylinder water-cooled in-line engines driving two-blade tractor propellers. Later fitted with 230hp BHP engines.
   Dimensions (approx.): Span, 70ft; length, 50ft; height, 12ft; wing area, 800 sq ft.
   Weight (approx.): All-up, 7,800 lb.
   Armament: Gun armament comprised five Lewis guns four in the nose and one on midships gunner's cockpit. Details of intended bomb load not known.
   Prototypes: Two, Nos 3687 and 3688. No 3687 was flown at Chingford in August 1916.

P.Lewis British Bomber since 1914 (Putnam)

Contemporary with the Airco D.H.3 and D.H.3A was the twin-engine tractor Dyott Bomber, developed by G. M. Dyott from his pre-war project for a large biplane evolved for exploring in South Africa. Construction of each of the Dyott designs actually built - his monoplane of 1913 and the Bomber - was carried out by Hewlett and Blondeau. 3687, the initial prototype to the order of the Admiralty, was completed in 1916 with two 120 h.p. Beardmore engines installed as tractors between the equal-span wings. The crew numbered three, the gunners manning Lewis machine-guns disposed in the nose and in a cockpit in the top decking to the rear of the wings. Independent single-wheel undercarriage units were mounted between pairs of skids and struts beneath each engine, and the lengthy tailskid was balanced by a large nosewheel under the front cockpit. Second thoughts about the design brought cowlings to cover the hitherto bare engines, together with frontal radiators and a fore-deck of increased depth. Much heavier armament was fitted in the form of four Lewis guns disposed around the nose cockpit and a fifth carried in the cockpit amidships.
   3687 arrived at Hendon on 17th August, 1916, and 3688 - the second prototype - underwent R.N.A.S. trials at Dunkirk. The Dyott Bomber’s promising appearance, however, was not to result in a production order.

J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)

Dyott Bomber

  G.M. DYOTT was one of the pioneers of aviation in Britain: his Royal Aero Club pilot’s certificate was No. 114 and was granted on August 17th, 1911. Some eighteen months later he designed a neat little monoplane, powered by a 50 h.p. Gnome engine, on which he did a good deal of flying at home and in America.
  Just before the war he designed a large twin-engined biplane which was intended to be used for exploration work in South Africa. It appears that the Admiralty saw possibilities in the type as a bomber, and construction of a modified version of the design was undertaken in 1915 by Hewlett & Blondeau, Ltd., who had built the little Dyott monoplane two years earlier.
  The machine was never adopted for Service use, although it was flown at Chingford in 1916. It seems probable that the Dyott would be underpowered with no more than 340 h.p. provided by two Beardmore engines, especially as flown with all its defensive armament mounted. The retention of the jackets on the Lewis guns seems to indicate a low speed.
  The aircraft was a large biplane with wings of equal span. Upper and lower centre-sections spanned the distance between the engines; the outboard sections of the wings had four bays of bracing. The fuselage accommodated three crew members, and had a nosewheel directly under the front cockpit. Construction appeared to be conventional throughout, and the Dyott was quite a handsome aeroplane.
  The Dyott underwent several detail modifications during its existence. When it first appeared, its engines were uncowled and the radiators were installed as multiple elements above the engines. The long front cockpit was encircled by an elevated rail which connected six separate spigot-mountings for Lewis guns; abaft this cockpit the top-decking was flat and sloped upwards to the pilot’s cockpit.
  At a later stage frontal radiators were fitted, and the engines were cowled quite cleanly; exhaust manifolds were also fitted. The top-decking on the fuselage nose was deepened considerably and apparently came up to the level of the rail surrounding the nose cockpit. The top-decking continued straight back to the pilot’s cockpit.
  In this form the Dyott appeared with the heavy defensive armament detailed in the armament notes below. The nose armament of four Lewis guns was obviously unwieldy and could not have been used effectively in combat. The Dyott was sent to France for Service trials with the R.N.A.S. but did not prove to be sufficiently successful to merit adoption as a standard type.


SPECIFICATION
  Manufacturers: Hewlett & Blondeau, Ltd., Oak Road, Leagrave, Luton.
  Power: Two 120 h.p. Beardmore.
  Armament: Five free Lewis machine-guns. Four were in the nose: two of these were on spigot-mountings above the fuselage and could probably be moved from one mounting to another; each of the other two fired through a porthole on either side of the nose. The fifth gun was on a mounting in the cockpit aft of the wings.
  Serial Numbers: 3687-3688.

H.King Armament of British Aircraft (Putnam)

Dyott

   Dyott Bomber Sometimes styled 'Dyott Twin Bomber' and sometimes 'Fighter' this adventurous aeroplane was originally intended for exploration. Undeniably advanced though it was in design, its two engines delivered no more than 240 hp, and it is difficult to imagine any useful war load additional to the astonishing array of small arms undoubtedly fitted, but possibly never fitted. The Lewis guns had land-service cooling jackets and 47-round ammunition drums. Two were on spigot mountings above the fuselage and another two were stationed at portholes in the fuselage sides. A fifth was mounted aft of the wings. These five guns alone, without ammunition or fittings, would have weighed all of 130 lb.
   There were at least two versions of this aircraft. In the first a conspicuous feature was the gun-rail carried above the top decking of the fuselage and incorporating six spigot mountings, the two upper guns being interchangeable between these mountings. In the second version the decking was built up and the mounting(s) - for the gun installation may have differed from the original were no longer visible.

M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)