Wight Converted Seaplane

infobox Aircraft
name = Converted Seaplane
type = Biplane floatplane
manufacturer = John Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft)


caption =
designer =
first flight = 1916
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user = Royal Naval Air Service
more users =
produced =
number built = 37
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

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

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. Fifty were ordered for the RNAS, of which only 37 were completed Cite book |author=Thetford, Owen|title=British Naval Aircraft since 1912 |Edition =Fourth Edition |publisher=Putnam |location= London|year=1994 |isbn= 0 85177 861 5.

Operational history

The Converted Seaplane entered service with the RNAS in 1917 , operating from bases at Calshot, Dover, Portland and Cherbourg . 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 . Seven remained in service with the RAF at the end of the First World War.

Operators

;UK
*Royal Naval Air Service
*Royal Air Force

pecifications (Seaplane - Eagle engine)

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=The British Bomber since 1914 Cite book |author=Mason, Francis K |title=The British Bomber since 1914 |publisher=Putnam Aeronautical Books |location= London |year=1994 |isbn= 0 85177 861 5

crew=2
length main= 44 ft 8½ in
length alt= 13.63 m
span main= 65 ft 6 in
span alt= 19.97 m
height main= 16 ft
height alt= 4.88 m
area main= 715 ft²
area alt= 66.4 m²
empty weight main= 3,758 lb
empty weight alt= 1,708 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 5,556 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 2,525 kg
engine (prop)=Rolls-Royce Eagle IV
type of prop= V-12
number of props=1
power main= 322 hp
power alt= 240 kW
max speed main= 73 knots
max speed alt= 84 mph, 135 mph
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main= 9,600 ft
ceiling alt= 2,900 m
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=*Climb to 6,500 ft (2,000 m): 18 min 20 sec

*Endurance: 3½ hours
armament=

References

*cite book |last= |first= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)|year= |publisher= Orbis Publishing|location= |issn=

External links

* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=691 Wight Converted Seaplane]

ee also

aircontent

related=Wight Bomber

similar aircraft=Short 184

sequence=
Pusher Seaplane • Seaplane • Baby • Bomber • Converted Seaplane
lists=*List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm

see also=