The Port Victoria P.V.7 Grain Kitten was a prototype British Fighter aircraft 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 ...

designed and built by the Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot on the Isle of Grain. A very small and light

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 ...

intended to fly off platforms on

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s, it was unsuccessful, only a single prototype being built.

Design and development

Following

experience in operating land planes from platforms on ships, in late 1916, the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

came up with the idea of a lightweight fighter aircraft, capable of flying off short platforms on the

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...

of Destroyers in order to provide large numbers of aircraft at sea capable of intercepting and destroying German

Airship An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

s. It therefore instructed the Marine Aircraft Experimental Department at Port Victoria on the Isle of Grain, and the RNAS Experimental Flight at Eastchurch to each produce a design to meet this requirement.Bruce 1965, p.180. The Port Victoria aircraft, designed by W.H. Sayers, was designated P.V.7. It was a very small single bay

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 ...

, of ''sesquiplane'' configuration, with its lower wing much smaller than its upper wing. The wings featured the same high-lift section as used in previous Port Victoria aircraft, and were fitted with

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 only on the upper wing. It was intended, as was the competing Eastchurch design, to use a 45 hp (34 kW) geared

ABC Gnat The ABC Gnat was a 45 hp (34 kW) two-cylinder aero engine designed by British engineer Granville Bradshaw for use in light aircraft. The Gnat was built by ABC Motors, first running in 1916, production ceased in December 1918. 17 eng ...

two-cylinder air-cooled engine. Armament was a single Lewis gun mounted above the upper wing.Collyer 1991, p.52.Mason 1992, p.111. While the Port Victoria design was designed and built, the commander of the Experimental flight as Eastchurch, Harry Busteed took over command of the Port Victoria Marine Aircraft Experimental Department, taking the designer of the Eastchurch competitor and the part built prototype with him to the Isle of Grain, with the Eastchurch design gaining the Port Victoria designation P.V.8. The P.V.7 acquired the name Grain Kitten to distinguish it from the P.V.8, which was named the Eastchurch Kitten. The P.V.7 first flew on 22 June 1917, powered by a 35 hp (26 kW) ungeared Gnat engine, as the geared engine was unavailable. The P.V.7 proved to be tail heavy in the air and difficult to handle on the ground, with its sesquiplane layout and high lift wings being considered unsuitable for such a small aircraft. The Gnat engine proved to be extremely unreliable, with test flights being forced to remain within gliding distance of an airfield. When the P.V.8 first flew in September, it proved superior, although similarly hamstrung by the 35 hp Gnat. The P.V.7 was rebuilt with new wings of conventional aerofoil section, a modified tail and a new undercarriage to eliminate some of the problems found in testing. The low power and unreliability of the Gnat, however, prevented either aircraft being suitable for the intended use, and the P.V.7 was not flown after it was rebuilt.Collyer 1991, p.53.

Specifications

References

*Bruce, J.M. ''War Planes of the First World War: Volume One Fighters''. London:Macdonald, 1965. *Collyer, David. "Babies Kittens and Griffons". '' Air Enthusiast'', Number 43, 1991. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. . pp. 50–55. *Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland:Naval Institute Press, 1992. . {{Port Victoria Aircraft 1910s British fighter aircraft Sesquiplanes PV7 Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1917

Design and development

Specifications

See also

References