The London and Provincial ''Fuselage'' Biplane was a British single-engined two-seat

training aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. While the aircraft demonstrated excellent manoeuvrability, only a single example was built.

Design and development

The London and Provincial Aviation Company was founded in September 1914 running a flying school at

Hendon Aerodrome Hendon Aerodrome was an aerodrome in London, England, that was an important centre for aviation from 1908 to 1968. It was situated in Colindale, north west of Charing Cross. It nearly became a central hub of civil aviation ("the Charing Cros ...

equipped with single seat

Caudron The Société des Avions Caudron was a French aircraft company founded in 1909 as the Association Aéroplanes Caudron Frères by brothers Gaston and René Caudron. It was one of the earliest aircraft manufacturers in France and produced planes for ...

biplane 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 ...

s, which it later built under license for use at the school.McKay ''Air Enthusiast'' January/February 2000, p. 70.Bruce 1957, p. 292. In 1916, A. Fletcher, previously employed at Martin & Handaside and responsible for the design of the

Martinsyde Elephant The Martinsyde G.100 "Elephant" and the G.102 were British fighter bomber aircraft of the First World War built by Martinsyde. The type gained the name "Elephant" from its relatively large size and lack of manoeuvrability. The G.102 differed fro ...

, joined London and Provincial.McKay ''Air Enthusiast'' January/February 2000, p. 71. Fletcher's first design for London and Provincial, known as the "Fuselage" biplane''Flight'' 27 July 1916, p. 623. or School Biplane was a single-engined

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

two-

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

Anzani 10-cylinder The Anzani 10 was a 1913 10-cylinder air-cooled radial aircraft engine. It powered several experimental aircraft and also the later production versions of the Caudron G.3 reconnaissance aircraft, the Caudron G.4 bomber/trainer and the first pro ...

engine. It was of wooden construction, with a rectangular section fuselage. It had a

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

, while

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s were fitted to all four wings.Bruce 1957, p. 293. It had two separate cockpits, with the pilot sitting in the rear one. The front cockpit could carry a single passenger, who was not provided with any flying controls. The first Fuselage Biplane made its maiden flight in July 1916. While it proved to have excellent manoeuvrability, being easily

looped ''Looped'' is a play by Matthew Lombardo about an event surrounding actress Tallulah Bankhead. It had a Broadway run in 2010, after two previous productions in 2008 and 2009, all three of them featuring Valerie Harper. Plot Based on a real even ...

, only a single example of the Fuselage biplane was built. Fletcher had produced a second design for London and Provincial, a single seat tractor biplane powered by a 50 hp (37 kW)

Gnome Omega The Gnome 7 Omega (commonly called the Gnome 50 hp) is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled aero engine produced by Gnome et Rhône. It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's ...

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

, intended as an intermediate trainer, but this was abandoned in October 1916 before completion, causing Fletcher to leave the company.McKay ''Air Enthusiast'' January/February 2000, pp. 71–72.

Operational history

Although the primary business of London and Provincial was training pilots for the British armed services, the Fuselage Biplane, lacking dual controls, was not used as a trainer, being used for joy-riding purposes and for parachute trials. Following the end of the war, the Fuselage Biplane was used as the basis for a new two seat aircraft, powered by a 50 hp Gnome. The new aircraft was of crude construction compared with the 1916 aircraft which had attracted praise in the aviation press, and rather than the individual cockpits of the earlier aircraft, it had a single large cockpit. Four of the new design were built, being used for joy-riding from London and Provincial's

Stag Lane Aerodrome Stag Lane Aerodrome was a private aerodrome between 1915 and 1933 in Edgware, north London, UK. History The land for an aerodrome was purchased by the London & Provincial Aviation Company (Warren and Smiles - Michael Geoffrey Smiles of Bonning ...

. The new, large cockpit proved to be a major weakness, as it weakened the fuselage, allowing it to bow in and out while taxiing. This, together with the use of the Gnome rotary engine, with only single ignition, resulted in the Air Ministry refusing a

Certificate of Airworthiness A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spraye ...

for the new aircraft.McKay ''Air Enthusiast'' March/April 2000, pp. 4–5. London and Provincial shut down in January 1920.McKay ''Air Enthusiast'' March/April 2000, p. 5 The original 1916 biplane, by now fitted with a 100 hp (75 kW)

engine and registered ''G-EAQW'', was sold, but was scrapped later that year.Jackson 1988, p. 259."Civil Aircraft Register - Great Britain:G-E"
. ''Golden Years of Aviation''. Retrieved 11 December 2010.

Specifications (80 hp Anzani)

Notes

References

*Bruce, J. M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft 1919–72: Volume III''. London:Putnam, 1988. . *McKay, Stuart. "Before There Were Moths: The Early Days of Stag Lane Aerodrome: Part One". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...

'', No. 85, January/February 2000. pp. 68–75. *McKay, Stuart. "Before There Were Moths: The Early Days of Stag Lane Aerodrome: Part Two". ''

'', No. 86, March/April 2000. pp. 2–5.
"The New L. and P. ''Fuselage'' Biplane"
''

Flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

'', 27 July 1916. pp. 623–628. {{refend 1910s British civil trainer aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1916