Felixstowe F.3

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Felixstowe F.3
Felixstowe f3.jpg
Felixstowe F.3, Canada 1920
RoleMilitary flying boat
National originUnited Kingdom
Manufacturer Short Brothers
Dick, Kerr & Co.
Phoenix Dynamo Manufacturing Company
Malta Dockyard (23)
Canadian Vickers
Designer John Cyril Porte
First flightFebruary 1917
IntroductionFebruary 1918
Primary users Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Air Force
United States Navy
Number built182
Developed from Felixstowe F.2
Variants Felixstowe F.5
Felixstowe F5L

The Felixstowe F.3 was a British First World War flying boat, successor to the Felixstowe F.2 designed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe.

Contents

Design and development

In February 1917, the first prototype of the Felixstowe F.3 was flown. This was a larger and heavier development of the Felixstowe F.2A, powered by two 320 hp (239 kW) Sunbeam Cossack engines. [1] Large orders followed, with the production aircraft powered by Rolls-Royce Eagles. The F.3's larger size gave it greater range and a heavier bombload than the F2, but poorer speed and agility. Approximately 100 Felixstowe F.3s were produced before the end of the war, including 18 built by the Dockyard Constructional Unit at Malta. [2]

Operational history

The larger F.3, which was less popular with its crews than the more maneuverable F.2A, served in the Mediterranean as well as the North Sea.

In 1920, the Canadian Air Board sponsored a project to conduct the first-ever Trans-Canada flight to determine the feasibility of such flights for future air mail and passenger service. The leg from Rivière du Loup to Winnipeg was flown by Lieutenant Colonel Leckie and Major Hobbs in a Felixstowe F.3. Six F.3s served with the Canadian Air Force/Air Board between 1921 and 1923. [3]

On the 22 March 1921, a Felixstowe F.3 flying boat of the Portuguese Naval Aviation – crewed by the naval aviators Sacadura Cabral and Ortins de Bettencourt, naval navigator Gago Coutinho and aviation mechanic Roger Soubiran – performed the first flight between Mainland Portugal and Madeira.

Variants

Short F.3 Air Yacht (G-EAQT), on the Medway, 11 June 1920, before shipment to Australia. Short F.3 Air Yacht (G-EAQT).jpg
Short F.3 Air Yacht (G-EAQT), on the Medway, 11 June 1920, before shipment to Australia.
Felixstowe F-III
Canadian Vickers Felixstowe F.3 built for a transatlantic attempt.
Short F.3 Air Yacht
G-EAQT (ex N4019) and G-EBDQ (ex N4177) placed on the civil register and converted for private use. G-EAQT fitted by Short Brothers, including three lounges upholstered in green and grey for ten passengers. [5]

Operators

Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Felixstowe F.3 resting on the slipway at Kalafrana, Malta, c.1918. F.3s were operating throughout the Mediterranean by the end of the war. Felixstowe F.3 Kalafrana.jpg
Felixstowe F.3 resting on the slipway at Kalafrana, Malta, c.1918. F.3s were operating throughout the Mediterranean by the end of the war.
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States

Specifications (F.3)

RNAS Felixstowe F.3 general arrangement drawing showing interior details. F. 14 F.3 General Assembly Longitudinal Section BW 2.png
RNAS Felixstowe F.3 general arrangement drawing showing interior details.

Data from British Naval Aircraft since 1912 [6]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

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References

  1. Bruce 16 December 1955, p.897.
  2. Thetford 1978, p.197.
  3. John A Griffin fonds, 1 Canadian Air Division Heritage Office
  4. "A Converted F5 Flying Boat". Flight. Vol. XVI, no. 799. 17 April 1924. pp. 219–220 via Internet Archive.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Eyre, David C. (19 May 2019). "Felixstowe F.3". Aeropedia. Aeropedia. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  6. Thetford 1978, p.198.
  7. Ransom and Fairclough, S and R (1987). "English Electric Aircraft and their Predecessors". Their Fighting Machines. Putnam. Retrieved 7 January 2017.

Further reading