Wight Converted Seaplane

The Wight Converted Seaplane was a British twin-float patrol seaplane produced by John Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft).

Converted Seaplane
Wight Converted Seaplane (No. 9583)
Role Biplane floatplane
Manufacturer John Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft)
First flight 1916
Primary user Royal Naval Air Service
Number built 37

Design and development

Developed from the unsuccessful Wight Bomber for use as an anti-submarine patrol aircraft, the "Converted" Seaplane was a straightforward adaptation of the landplane bomber to a seaplane. The aircraft was a three-bay biplane with unswept, unequal span, unstaggered wings. It had twin floats under the fuselage and additional floats at tail and wings tips. Initial production aircraft were powered by a 322 hp Rolls-Royce Eagle IV engine mounted in the nose driving a four-bladed propeller, with later production batches being powered by a 265 hp (198 kW) Sunbeam Maori engine owing to shortages of Eagles.[1] Fifty were ordered for the RNAS, of which only 37 were completed.[2]

Operational history

The Converted Seaplane entered service with the RNAS in 1917,[1] operating from bases at Calshot, Dover, Portland and Cherbourg.[2] On 18 August 1917, a Wight Converted Seaplane flying from Cherbourg sank the German U-boat UB-32 with a single 100 lb bomb, the first submarine to be sunk in the English Channel by direct air action.[1] Seven remained in service with the RAF at the end of the First World War.

Operators
 United Kingdom

Specifications (Seaplane – Eagle engine)

Data from The British Bomber since 1914 [1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 44 ft 8.5 in (13.627 m)
  • Wingspan: 65 ft 6 in (19.96 m)
  • Height: 16 ft 0 in (4.88 m)
  • Wing area: 715 sq ft (66.4 m2)
  • Empty weight: 3,758 lb (1,705 kg)
  • Gross weight: 5,556 lb (2,520 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls-Royce Eagle IV V-12 water-cooled piston engine, 322 hp (240 kW)
  • Propellers: 4-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 84 mph (135 km/h, 73 kn)
  • Endurance: 3½ hours
  • Service ceiling: 9,600 ft (2,900 m)
  • Time to altitude: 6,500 ft (1,981 m) 18 min 20 sec

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related lists

References
  1. Mason, Francis K (1994). The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
  2. Thetford, Owen (1994). British Naval Aircraft since 1912 (Fourth ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
  • The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). Orbis Publishing.
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