BAT Basilisk

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F.K.25 Basilisk
BAT F.K.25 Basilisk 010120 p19.jpg
Role Fighter aircraft
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer British Aerial Transport
Designer Frederick Koolhoven
First flightSeptember 1918
StatusPrototype
Number built3

The BAT F.K.25 Basilisk was a prototype British fighter aircraft of the First World War. A single engined biplane intended to meet a requirement to replace the Sopwith Snipe, the Basilisk was unsuccessful, only three being built.

United Kingdom Country in Europe

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a sovereign country located off the north-western coast of the European mainland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state, the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south and the Celtic Sea to the south-west, giving it the 12th-longest coastline in the world. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland. The United Kingdom's 242,500 square kilometres (93,600 sq mi) were home to an estimated 66.0 million inhabitants in 2017.

Fighter aircraft Military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, and small size relative to other combat aircraft.

World War I 1914–1918 global war originating in Europe

World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.

Contents

Development and design

In 1918, the British Air Ministry issued the RAF Type 1 specification for a single-seat fighter, powered by the new (and untried) ABC Dragonfly air cooled radial engine to replace the Sopwith Snipe. To meet this requirement, Frederick Koolhoven, (formerly of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft and before that Deperdussin) chief designer of the British Aerial Transport Company of London, designed the F.K. 25 Basilisk. [1]

Air Ministry former department of the British Government

The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State for Air.

ABC Dragonfly R-9 piston aircraft engine

The ABC Dragonfly was a British radial engine developed towards the end of the First World War. It was expected to deliver excellent performance for the time and was ordered in very large numbers. It proved, however, to be extremely unreliable and was abandoned when its faults were unable to be corrected.

Radial engine reciprocating engine with cylinders arranged radially from a single crankshaft

The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is called a "star engine" in some languages. The radial configuration was commonly used for aircraft engines before gas turbine engines became predominant.

Like Koolhovens earlier F.K.23 Bantam, the Basilisk was a two-bay biplane with a wooden monocoque fuselage, but was larger and heavier to accommodate the larger engine and the equipment required by the Specification. Armament was two Vickers machine guns mounted ahead of the pilot, and enclosed in a large fairing that formed the upper coaming of the pilot's cockpit. [2] [3]

BAT Bantam the FK-23, British 1920s biplane fighter aircraft designed by Fritz Koolhoven

The BAT F.K.23 Bantam was a British single-seat fighter biplane produced by British Aerial Transport Company Limited of London during World War I.

Biplane Airplane wing configuration with two vertically stacked main flying surfaces

A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage over a monoplane, it produces more drag than a similar unbraced or cantilever monoplane wing. Improved structural techniques, better materials and the quest for greater speed made the biplane configuration obsolete for most purposes by the late 1930s.

Monocoque Structural design that supports loads through an objects external skin

Monocoque, also structural skin, is a structural system where loads are supported through an object's external skin, similar to an egg shell. The word monocoque is a French term for "single shell" or "single hull". First used in boats, a true monocoque carries both tensile and compressive forces within the skin and can be recognised by the absence of a load-carrying internal frame.

Three prototypes were ordered in early 1918, and the first one flew in September 1918. [2] It was destroyed on 3 May 1919 when attempting to break the World altitude record, its engine catching fire and BAT's test pilot, Peter Legh, being killed after he jumped clear. [2] [4] [5] The second and third prototype were fitted with modified, horn balanced ailerons, with the second prototype tested at Martlesham Heath in October 1919. While its performance was good (although not as good as claimed by BAT), the Dragonfly engine was hopelessly unreliable, with further development or production abandoned earlier in the year, and the Basilisk was abandoned when Koolhoven left BAT at the end of 1919. [4]

Flight altitude record Wikimedia list article

This listing of flight altitude records are the records set for the highest aeronautical flights conducted in the atmosphere, set since the age of ballooning.

RAF Martlesham Heath

Royal Air Force Station Martlesham Heath or more simply RAF Martlesham Heath is a former Royal Air Force station located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south west of Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. It was active between 1917 and 1963, and played an important role in the development of Airborne Interception radar.

Specifications (Second prototype)

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919 [6] War Planes of the First World War: Fighters Volume One [4]

General characteristics

Performance

  • 154 mph (248 km/h; 134 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,048.00 m)
  • 141 mph (227 km/h; 123 kn) at 15,000 ft (4,572.00 m)
  • 132 mph (212 km/h; 115 kn) at 20,000 ft (6,096.00 m)
  • 10,000 ft (3,048.00 m) in 5 minutes
  • 20,000 ft (6,096.00 m) in 16 minutes 24 seconds

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Notes

  1. ↑ Lewis 1979, pp.128, 130.
  2. 1 2 3 Mason 1992, p.140.
  3. ↑ Bruce 1957, p.75.
  4. 1 2 3 Bruce 1965, p.64.
  5. ↑ Flight 8 May 1919, p.616.
  6. ↑ Grey, C.G. (1969). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1919 (Facsimile ed.). David & Charles (Publishing) Limited. pp. 81a to 83a. ISBN   978-0-7153-4647-1.

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References

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