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Страна: Великобритания

Год: 1916

Single-engine, two-seat, three-bay biplane naval bomber

F.Manson British Bomber Since 1914 (Putnam)

Wight Bomber

   Although superficially appearing to be in the same general category as the Avro Type 528, Howard Wright's Wight Bomber was obviously superior, due principally to the choice of a 275hp Rolls-Royce Eagle engine, the increased power available making possible the lifting of four 112 lb bombs. Like the Avro aircraft, the Wight design possessed three-bay folding wings of about 65-foot span, but carried its bombs on conventional racks under the lower wings.
   Single-acting ailerons were fitted to the upper wings only, and the large upper wing overhang was wire-braced using kingposts. The usual box-girder fuselage was of small cross-sectional area, and the tall undercarriage was of simple V-strut configuration.
   The single Wight prototype was almost certainly ordered at about the same time as, and for comparison with, the Short Bomber, and was therefore at an immediate disadvantage owing to the latter's use of existing Short 184 components (being a direct development of that aircraft). Thus by the time the Wight Bomber first flew, late in 1916, the Short had already been ordered into production by several manufacturers. Nevertheless, while the Avro 528 was not considered worthwhile to develop further, successful development of the Wight resulted in production orders being placed by the Admiralty for a seaplane derivative.

   Type: Single-engine, two-seat, three-bay biplane naval bomber.
   Manufacturer: J Samuel White & Co, East Cowes, Isle of Wight.
   Powerplant: One 275hp Rolls-Royce Eagle II twelve-cylinder water-cooled in-line engine driving two-blade propeller.
   Dimensions: Span, 65ft 6in; wing area, 715 sq ft.
   Weights: Tare. 3.162 lb; all-up, 5,166 lb.
   Performance: Max speed, 89 mph at sea level; climb to 10,000ft, 34 min.
   Armament: One Lewis machine gun with Scarff ring on rear cockpit; bomb load, four 112 lb bombs.
   Prototype: One, N501, first flown in 1916. No production.


Wight Converted Seaplane

   The intensification of submarine warfare by Germany during 1917, to a degree that threatened Britain's ability to sustain her population and ultimately to continue the War against the Central Powers, concentrated the minds at the Admiralty to pursue all possible measures to protect Allied shipping round the coasts of the British Isles. Among these measures was the urgent strengthening of RNAS patrols by seaplanes. As the Short 184 came to provide the backbone of this effort, newer aircraft, such as the Fairey Campanias, were entering service in relatively small numbers. Another aircraft in this category was the Wight Converted Seaplane which, as its unimaginative title suggests, was a development of the unrewarded Wight Bomber.
   As it happened, this transformation was remarkably successful, and 50 examples were ordered, of which 37 came to be built. The design conversion was relatively straightforward, the seaplane retaining the basic wing and fuselage structure of the Bomber. Rectangular kingpost structures replaced the inverted vees of the earlier aircraft, being found to provide better torsional stiffness for the wing extensions, and double-acting ailerons replaced the single-acting control surfaces of the Bomber.
   The undercarriage consisted of a pair of boat-built, three-step floats which were of sufficient length to enable the aircraft to float tail-up, although a small buoyancy chamber was added under the rear fuselage. Small floats were also added to the lower wings directly below the outboard pair of interplane struts.
   Most of the Wight Seaplanes were powered by the 275hp Rolls-Royce Mk II, and this was regarded as the standard powerplant; however the incipient shortage of Rolls-Royce engines encouraged Wight (as it had influenced Fairey with the F.22) to adopt the Sunbeam Maori as an alternative, and once again the employment of a frontal radiator resulted in a generally neater installation.
   The normal bomb load carried by the Wight comprised four 100 lb anti-submarine bombs, although its maximum fuel capacity limited its patrol endurance to little more than half that of the Fairey seaplanes.
   Wight Converted Seaplanes entered service in 1917, flying coastal patrols from Calshot, Cherbourg and Portland - a grouping of Flights that was to become No 241 Squadron of the RAF in 1918. And it was a Wight Seaplane flown by Flt Sub-Lieut C S Mossop and Air Mechanic A F. Ingledew which, bomb - the first submarine to succumb to direct air action by a British aircraft in the Channel.
   Manufacture of the Wight Seaplane was abandoned when the company was persuaded to switch production to the Short 184. Only seven Converted Seaplanes were still on RAF charge at the time of the Armistice.

   Type: Single-engine, two-seat, three-bay biplane, twin-float patrol bomber seaplane.
   Manufacturer: J Samuel White & Co, East Cowes, Isle of Wight.
   Powerplant: One 275 hp Rolls-Royce (322hp Eagle VI); one 265hp Sunbeam Maori.
   Dimensions: Span, 65ft 6in; length, 44ft 8 1/2in; height, 16ft 0in; wing area, 715 sq ft.
   Weights: Tare, 3,578 lb; all-up (with four 112 lb bombs), 5,556 lb.
   Performance: Max speed, 84 mph at 2,000ft; climb to 6,500ft, 18 min 20 sec; service ceiling, 9,600ft; endurance, 3 1/2 hr.
   Armament: One 0.303in Lewis machine gun with Scarff ring on rear cockpit; bomb load of up to four 112 lb bombs carried on underfuselage racks.
   Production: Total of 50 Converted Seaplanes ordered, all built by White: Nos 9841-9860, N1280-N1289 and N2180-N2199. Some sources suggest that Nos 9841-9850 were completed as landplanes, but were converted to floatplanes before delivery, and that N2195-N2199 were delivered into storage without engines.
   Summary of Service: 'Converted' Seaplanes are known to have served at RNAS Stations, Calshot, Portland and Cherbourg.

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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)
  • O.Thetford British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (Putnam)