Beardmore W.B.III

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Beardmore W.B.III
Role Reconnaissance
Manufacturer Beardmore
Primary user U.K. (RNAS)
Number built ~100[1]
Developed from Sopwith Pup
Wingspan 7.67 m (25 ft 2 in)[2]
Engine 80hp Le Rhône rotary
Armament top-wing Lewis
Crew 1
Max Speed 166 km/h (103 mph) [3]
Climb 1,500 m (5,000 ft) in 9:00[3]
1,800 m (6,000 ft) in 11:30[2]
2,000 m (6,500 ft) in 12:10[3]
3,000 m (10,000 ft) in 24:20[3]-25:00[2]
Ceiling 3,800 m (12,400 ft) [3]-4,900 m (16,000 ft)[2]
Endurance 2:45 [3][2]

Two previous attempts at Beardmore biplanes were not ordered, but the Beardmore W.B.III took the basic form of the Sopwith Pup and adapted it with folding wings for shipboard storage and an undercarriage that could be jettisoned or folded. Modest numbers of them were built. The type saw some action on early British aircraft carriers and some were bought by Japan. [3]

Performance was never great and the type did not see much use. At the end of the war, there were sixty-four survivors: twenty-eight at northern Fleet bases and the remainder in storage without engines.[1]

For more information, see Wikipedia:Beardmore W.B.III.

References

Citations
  1. 1.0 1.1 Nowarra, p.116.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Nowarra, pp.200-201.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Bruce'69, p.83.
Bibliography
  • J.M. Bruce. British Aeroplanes 1914-18. Great Britain: Funk & Wagnalls, 1957, 1969. ISBN 0370000382
  • Heinz J. Nowarra, Bruce Robertson, and Peter G. Cooksley. Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Letchworth, Herts, England: Harleyford Publications Limited, 1966. ISBN 0900435070