The Paterson Biplane was an early British biplane designed by Cecil Compton Paterson and built at the Liverpool Motor House, where Paterson was a director. It was later called the Paterson No. 1 Biplane to distinguish it from subsequent aircraft designed by Paterson.

Design and development

Built between 1909 and 1910, the Paterson Biplane was a similar design to the Curtiss Biplane. It was an open-framed pusher biplane with a main frame made from bamboo and a tubular steel

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

. It had a biplane front

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

and a single rear elevator with a rudder. It first flew from the beach at

Freshfield Freshfield is an area of Formby, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, situated at the northern end of the town. It has no local political distinction or representation and is included as part of the two council wards which ...

north of Liverpool on 14 May 1910. It flew a second time on 23 June 1910 but was damaged: after repair it was used by Paterson to obtain his aviator's certificate which was issued in December 1910. He built a second Biplane with a larger engine for Gerald Higginbotham, later called Biplane No. 2. This was completed in January 1911 . Both aircraft were based at Freshfield.

Variants

;Biplane No. 1 : Anzani powered early biplane. ;Biplane No. 2 :Similar aircraft with a

Gnome A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...

air-cooled rotary engine.

Specifications (No. 1)

References

Notes

{{refend 1910s British experimental aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1910