The Felixstowe Porte Baby (also known as the Porte F.B.2) was a British reconnaissance

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

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 ...

, first flying in 1915.

Design and development

The Porte Baby was designed by

John Cyril Porte Lieutenant Colonel John Cyril Porte, (26 February 1884 – 22 October 1919) was a British flying boat pioneer associated with the First World War Seaplane Experimental Station at Felixstowe. Early life and career Porte was born on 26 February ...

RN at the naval air station,

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

where the prototype was also built; ten more were made by May, Harden and May of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Between November 1915 and 1918 it was the largest flying boat built and flown in the United Kingdom. The aircraft was an unequal-span, three-bay biplane of wood-and-fabric construction, the hull being mounted below the lower wing. The engines, normally three

Rolls-Royce Eagle The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of oth ...

s, (but sometimes with a 260 hp

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

as the centre, pusher engine) were mounted between the wings; two in tractor configuration and the central one in pusher. The two pilots were in an enclosed cockpit, the three gunners had open stations armed with machine guns.Bruce 2 December 1955, p.845. The incongruously-named Baby was used to prove the concept of a larger aircraft carrying aloft and launching a lighter aircraft - in this case a

Bristol Scout The Bristol Scout was a single-seat rotary-engined biplane originally designed as a racing aircraft. Like similar fast, light aircraft of the period it was used by the RNAS and the RFC as a "scout", or fast reconnaissance type. It was one of t ...

- taking off carrying the Bristol and successfully releasing it on 17 May 1916, a technique which came to be known variously as 'composite' or 'parasitic'.

Operational history

The production Porte Babies were used to fly patrols over the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

from

RNAS Killingholme 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 ...

, Houton Bay,

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and Catfirth,

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

. Its slow speed and large size, however, made it vulnerable to fighter attack, and after one aircraft was almost destroyed by German aircraft, being forced down and having to taxi back from off the Dutch coast to England, the Portes were kept from patrolling areas where they could encounter enemy aircraft. The Porte Baby remained in service during October 1918.

Operators

; *

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 ...

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Specifications

Notes

References

* * *
Porte Baby
British Aircraft Directory

External links

* including Porte Baby aircraft at RNAS Felixstowe.
Sons of Our Empire
Film of the Royal Naval Air Service at Felixstowe, including a Porte Baby being hauled up a slipway, 1916.
Porte Flying Boat
Film of Porte Baby (9801) at

RNAS Felixstowe The Seaplane Experimental Station, formerly RNAS Felixstowe, was a British aircraft design unit during the early part of the 20th century. Creation During June 1912, surveys began for a suitable site for a base for Naval hydro-aeroplanes, with ...

and in flight, released 1917.
Flying boats over the Northern Isles
Article including the Porte Baby. {{Seaplane Experimental Station aircraft 1910s British military reconnaissance aircraft Flying boats

Porte Baby The Felixstowe Porte Baby (also known as the Porte F.B.2) was a British reconnaissance flying boat of the First World War, first flying in 1915. Design and development The Porte Baby was designed by John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air statio ...

Three-engined push-pull aircraft Biplanes Parasite aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1915