The Pemberton-Billing P.B.9 was a

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 ...

British single-seat open cockpit equal span

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 ...

scout aircraft built by Pemberton-Billing Limited, which later became the Supermarine Aviation Works. Only one P.B.9 was built.

Design and development

The wings had full span spars with the upper and lower wings connected by four pairs of interplane struts. Pegram, page 15. The fuselage had a fixed landing gear with a tail skid. While designed to allow the use of a Gnome 80 hp engine the prototype P.B.9 was powered by a 50 hp (36 kW) Gnome rotary engine taken from the company's prototype P.B.1. Using a set of wings that had been obtained from Radley-England (

James Radley James Radley (1884–1959) was one of the first English aviators, holding Royal Aero Club Aviators Certificate Number 12. As well as carrying out demonstration flights and competitions in aircraft, he also piloted a ballon in a number of ball ...

and Gordon England) it was designed, built and made its first flight within nine days, though for publicity reasons its designer

Noel Pemberton Billing Noel Pemberton Billing (31 January 1881 – 11 November 1948), sometimes known as Noel Pemberton-Billing, was a British aviator, inventor, publisher and Member of Parliament for Hertford. He founded the firm that became Supermarine and promoted ...

claimed it had taken a week (giving rise to the nickname "Seven Day Bus"). It was first flown in August 1914.Mason 1992, p. 31. Although the aircraft performed well only the prototype was built which was later used by the

Royal Naval Air Service The Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) was the air arm of the Royal Navy, under the direction of the Admiralty's Air Department, and existed formally from 1 July 1914 to 1 April 1918, when it was merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps t ...

as a trainer.

Operators

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Specifications

Notes

References

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Design and development

Operators

Specifications

Notes

References

See also