Felixstowe F.3

infobox Aircraft
name = Felixstowe F.3
type = anti-submarine flying boat
manufacturer = Short Brothers
Dick, Kerr & Co.
Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company
Malta Dockyard

---

caption = Felixstowe F3
designer = J C Porte,
first flight = February 1917
introduced = 1917
retired =
status =
primary user = RNAS
more users = RAF
US Navy
produced =
number built = 182
unit cost =
developed from = Felixstowe F.2
variants with their own articles = Felixstowe F.5
Felixstowe F5L The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN of the Seaplane Experimental Station, Felixstowe the successor to the Felixstowe F.2

Development

The Felixstowe F.2a entered production and service as a patrol aircraft, with about 100 being completed by the end of World War I. In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. This was larger and heavier then the F.2, giving it greater range and heavier bomb load, but poorer agility. Approximately 100 Felixstowe F.3s were produced before the end of the war.

The Felixstowe F.5 was intended to combine the good qualities of the F.2 and F.3, with the prototype first flying in May 1918. The prototype showed superior qualities to its predecessors but the production version was modified to make extensive use of components from the F3, in order to ease production, giving lower performance than either the F.2a or F.3.

The Felixstowe was re-exported to America, and a re-jigged Felixstowe/Curtiss with the Curtiss Company, provided the basis for NC-4 which was the first plane to fly the Atlantic.Fact|date=May 2008

Operational service

The larger F3, which was less popular with its crews than the more maneuverable F2a, served in the Mediterranean as well as the North Sea.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Naval Air Service
*Royal Air Force
**No. 232 Squadron RAF
**No. 234 Squadron RAF
**No. 238 Squadron RAF
**No. 261 Squadron RAF
**No. 263 Squadron RAF
**No. 265 Squadron RAF
**No. 267 Squadron RAF
**No. 269 Squadron RAF
**No. 270 Squadron RAF
**No. 271 Squadron RAF;USA
*United States Navy

pecifications (F.3)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=British Aircraft Directory [* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=685 britishaircraft.co.uk - Felixstowe F.3] ]

crew=4
capacity=
length main= 49 ft 2 in
length alt= 14.99 m
span main= 102 ft
span alt= 31.10 m
height main= 18 ft 8 in
height alt= 5.69 m
area main= 1,432 ft²
area alt= 133 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 7,958 lb
empty weight alt= 3,167 kg
loaded weight main= 12,235 lb
loaded weight alt= 5,561 kg
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=
more general=
engine (prop)= Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII
type of prop= V12 inline piston
number of props=2
power main= 345 hp
power alt= 257 kW
power original=
max speed main= 91 mph at 2,000 ft
max speed alt= 147 km/h
max speed more=
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main= 8,000 ft
ceiling alt= 2,440 m
climb rate main= 5 min 15 sec to 2,000 ft
climb rate alt= 610 m
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
* Endurance: 6 hours
armament=
* Guns: 4 × Lewis guns (1 in nose, 3 amidships)
* Bombs: Up to 920 lb (418 kg) of bombs beneath wings
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=
*Felixstowe F5
*Felixstowe F5L
similar aircraft=

sequence=
Felixstowe Porte Baby -
Felixstowe F.2 - Felixstowe F.3 -
Felixstowe F.5

lists=

see also=

References

External links

* [http://www.willhiggs.co.uk/dundee/felixstowes.htm Felixstowe Flying-Boats]
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=685 britishaircraft.co.uk - Felixstowe F.3]
* [http://collections.nasm.si.edu/code/emuseum.asp?style=single&currentrecord=1&page=search&profile=objects&searchdesc=Felixstowe%20F5L&quicksearch=Felixstowe%20F5L&newvalues=1&newstyle=expanded&newcurrentrecord=1 Smithsonian National Air and Space article on the F5L]