| Seddon Mayfly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Role | Experimental aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Accles & Pollock, Oldbury |
| Designer | Lieutenant John Wilfred Seddon, A G Hackett |
| Number built | 1 |
The Seddon Mayfly was a tandem biplane of unusual construction. It was designed by Royal Navy Lieutenant John W. Seddon and A. G. Hackett [1] and built by Accles & Pollock. When built it was the largest aeroplane in the world, [2] but it failed to fly when tested.
Design of the Seddon Mayfly began in 1908, with the intention of attempting to win the prize for a flight between Manchester and London given by the Daily Mail. The design was based on a paper model, and Seddon took leave from the Navy to design and build and test the aircraft. [3] It was built in Oldbury by Accles & Pollock, a company who specialised in the manufacture of steel tubing, and its structure made extensive use of intersecting pairs of steel hoops: over 2,000 ft (610 m) of steel was used in its construction [2] The aircraft had two sets of biplane wings, the front pair of greater span than the aft pair. Control surfaces consisted of a forward-mounted biplane elevators and a pair of diamond-shaped rudders mounted between each set of wings. The aircraft was intended to carry five passengers in addition to the pilot.
It was powered by a pair of 65 hp (48 kW) N.E.C. water-cooled engines mounted side by side between the two sets of wings. Each drove a single Beedle type tractor propeller. These were made of sheet aluminium, with the semi-circular blades supported at the ends by attachment to a radial tube. [4]
It was tested at the Midland Aero Club grounds at Dunstall Park near Wolverhampton [5] but damaged an axle [6] and failed to leave the ground. It was eventually taken apart by souvenir hunters.
Data from[ citation needed ]
General characteristics
Performance
The Boxkite was the first aircraft produced by the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company. A pusher biplane based on the successful Farman III, it was one of the first aircraft types to be built in quantity. As the type was used by Bristol for instruction purposes at their flying schools at Larkhill and Brooklands many early British aviators learned to fly in a Boxkite. Four were purchased in 1911 by the War Office and examples were sold to Russia and Australia. It continued to be used for training purposes until after the outbreak of the First World War.
The Bréguet Type III was an early biplane built by Louis Bréguet in France in 1910.
The Bristol Gordon England biplanes were a series of early British military biplane aircraft designed by Eric Gordon England for the Bristol Aeroplane Company that first flew in 1912. Designed for easy ground transport, the aircraft could be quickly disassembled.
The Bristol Scout E and F were a British single-seat biplane fighters built in 1916 to use newer and more powerful engines. It was initially powered by the Sunbeam Arab, but the third prototype was used as a testbed for the Cosmos Mercury, marking the start of Roy Fedden's association with the Bristol Aeroplane Company. The Armistice ended hopes of production.
The Boulton & Paul P.12 Bodmin was an experimental British twin-engined biplane bomber with its engines mounted in a fuselage engine room and with tandem pairs of tractor and pusher airscrews mounted between the wings. The two Bodmins built flew in 1924, proving the concept but the layout was not developed to production.
The Boulton & Paul P.10 was a two-seat, single-engined biplane built just after World War I to develop techniques for the construction of all steel aircraft. It is also notable for its first use of plastic as a structural material. Only one P.10 was built and it attracted much attention; but it probably never flew.
The Dunne D.8 of 1912 was a tailless swept wing biplane, designed by J. W. Dunne to have inherent stability. One example was supplied to RAE Farnborough. License-built Burgess-Dunne models were used by the US Signal Corps and United States Navy and the short-lived Canadian Aviation Corps. It was the latter's first and only warplane.
The Short S.27 and its derivative, the Short Improved S.27, were a series of early British aircraft built by Short Brothers. They were used by the Admiralty and Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps for training the Royal Navy's first pilots as well as for early naval aviation experiments. An Improved S.27 was used by C.R. Samson to make the first successful take-off from a moving ship on 9 May 1912.
The ASL Viking was a single-engined two seater biplane aircraft designed and built by Horatio Barber's Aeronautical Syndicate Ltd. at Hendon. It was first flown in January 1912.
The Cody Michelin Cup Biplane was an experimental aircraft designed and built in Britain during 1910 by Samuel Franklin Cody, a prominent showman and aviation pioneer. Cody had worked with the British Army on experiments with man-lifting kites and in October 1908 had successfully built and flown the British Army Aeroplane No 1, making the first officially verified powered flight in the United Kingdom. Cody broke the existing endurance record twice in the aircraft, the second flight, made on 31 December 1910, winning him the Michelin Cup for the longest-lasting flight made over a closed circuit in the United Kingdom before the end of the year.
The Bristol Racing Biplane was a British single-seat biplane designed to combine the performance of a monoplane but using the strength of the biplane. It was designed by Robert Grandseigne and Léon Versepuy, who were supervised by George Challenger for the British & Colonial Aeroplane Company of Bristol, it crashed on its first flight.
The Edwards Rhomboidal was an early British aircraft of extremely unorthodox configuration designed by E.W. Edwards.
The Radley-England Waterplane was a British floatplane designed and built by James Radley and Gordon England to take place in the 1913 Circuit of Britain race. Damaged before the start of the race, it was unable to compete and was subsequently rebuilt as the Radley-England Waterplane 2
The Bland Mayfly was an early aircraft constructed in 1910 by Lilian E. Bland in Carnmoney in Ireland. It is credited as the first aeroplane to be designed and constructed by a woman.
The Caudron Type A was the first successful aircraft built by René Caudron and his brother Gaston. During 1910 the Caudron brothers were briefly associated with the Société Anonyme Français d'Aviation (S.A.F.A.), and an example of the type was exhibited at the 1910 Paris Aero Salon as the S.A.F.A. Biplane.
The Voisin Type de Course was an early French aircraft built by Voisin Frères. It was first flown early in 1910.
The Paulhan biplane was a French experimental aircraft designed in 1910 by the successful aviator Louis Paulhan in collaboration with Henri Fabre. The prototype became the second aircraft bought by the British War Office: two further examples, differing in constructional detail, were built.
The Bréguet Type II was the second fixed-wing aircraft design produced by Louis Bréguet. Built during late 1909, it was soon discarded in favour of his next design, the Bréguet Type III
The Dunne-Huntington triplane, sometimes referred to as a biplane, was a pioneer aircraft designed by J. W. Dunne and built by A. K. Huntington. It was of unusual staggered triple-tandem configuration and an early example of an inherently stable aeroplane.
The Itoh Emi 3 was the first Japanese civil passenger carrying seaplane, flown in 1917 and used for commercial demonstrations and passenger flights.
Bibliography