Felixstowe F.5
| Felixstowe F.5 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Flying Boat |
| Manufacturer | Felixstowe |
| Introduction | post-war |
| Primary users |  U.K. (RNAS) U.S.A. [1]
|
| Developed from | Felixstowe F.3 |
| Wingspan | 31.6 m (103 ft 8 in)[2] |
| Engine | 2×325-350hp Rolls-Royce Eagle or 2×400hp Liberty 12 |
| Armament | flexible nose Lewis flexible rear Lewis 1 Lewis each waist 4×230lb bombs |
| Crew | 4-5 |
| Max Speed | 142 km/h (88 mph) [1][2] |
| Climb | 610 m (2,000 ft) in 4:00[1]-6:30[2] 2,000 m (6,500 ft) in 16:30[1]-30:00[2] 3,000 m (10,000 ft) in 38:00[1] |
| Service Ceiling | 2,100 m (6,800 ft)[2]-3,000 m (10,000 ft)[1] |
| Endurance | 7:00 [1] |
The Felixstowe F.5 was a refinement if the F.3 with a strengthened hull and balanced control surfaces. It arrived too late to see operational service in World War One.
In a strange twist, the F.5 was taken up and produced after the war in America, so the line of flying boats that started with the Curtiss H-12 "Large America" had passed from the F.2, F.3, and finally returned to the USA in the F.5. The American version used twin 400hp Liberty engines and was designed the F-5L. Fifteen F.5s were purchased by Japan in 1921. [1]
Large numbers of F.5Ls were ordered by the U.S. Navy: fifty from Canadian Aeroplanes; 480 from the National Aircraft Factory; and Sixty from Curtiss, but most were cancelled as the war concluded. The F.5 remained in service with the British through 1925 and even longer with the Americans. [3]
For more information, see Wikipedia:Felixstowe F.5.
References
- Citations
- 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