The Royal Aircraft Factory C.E.1 (Coastal Experimental 1) was a prototype

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

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 ...

. It was a single-engined

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

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 carry out coastal patrols to protect shipping against German

U-boat U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare role ...

s, but only two were built, the only flying boats to be designed and built by the

Royal Aircraft Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

Design and development

In February 1917, Germany restarted

unrestricted submarine warfare Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to sea ...

against Britain, France and their allies, resulting in heavy losses to unescorted merchant shipping. There was a shortage of maritime patrol aircraft as the large

Felixstowe F.2 The Felixstowe F.2 was a 1917 British flying boat class designed and developed by Lieutenant Commander John Cyril Porte RN at the naval air station, Felixstowe during the First World War adapting a larger version of his superior Felixstowe F. ...

s had not yet entered large scale service, and the

, despite the fact that most of its aircraft were intended for land service with the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

, decided to design and build a coastal patrol flying boat, the C.E.1 (Coastal Experimental 1) to help combat the U-boat menace.Hare 1990, p. 193.London 2003, pp. 35–36. Work started on the C.E.1, designed by William Farren, in July 1917, with two prototypes being built. It was a single-engined pusher, of similar layout to the pre-war

Sopwith Bat Boat The Sopwith Bat Boats were British flying boats designed and built from 1912 to 1914. A single-engined pusher biplane, the Bat Boat was the first successful flying boat and amphibious aircraft built in the United Kingdom, with examples used by ...

, but considerably larger, with a wooden hull featuring a single step, and the tail surfaces carried on tailbooms above and behind the hull. The aircraft's two-bay

wings folded rearwards for storage. The crew of two sat in tandem open cockpits, with a planned armament of up to three Lewis guns on pillar mountings, while bombs could be carried below the lower wings.Hare 1990, pp. 193–194.Bruce 1957, pp. 387–388. The first prototype, powered by a 230 hp (172 kW)

RAF 3 The RAF 3 was a British liquid-cooled, V-12 engine developed for aircraft use during World War I. Based on the eight–cylinder RAF 1 it was designed by the Royal Aircraft Factory but produced by the two British companies of Armstrong Whitworth ...

V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-cylinder piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more common than V10 engines. However, they are less common than V8 engines. The fi ...

driving a four-bladed propeller was completed at Farnborough late in 1917, being sent to

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near

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 ...

for final assembly and initial flight testing on 25 December.Bruce 1957, pp. 388–389. The C.E.1 made its maiden flight, piloted by its designer, on 17 January 1918. After modifications to its controls it was sent to the

Port Victoria Marine Experimental Aircraft Depot The British Royal Naval Air Service established an R.N. Aeroplane Repair Depot on the Isle of Grain on the River Medway Estuary in Kent in early 1915. As there was already a RNAS seaplane base on the Isle of Grain, the Depot was named Port Victori ...

on the

Isle of Grain Isle of Grain (Old English ''Greon'', meaning gravel) is a village and the easternmost point of the Hoo Peninsula within the district of Medway in Kent, south-east England. No longer an island and now forming part of the peninsula, the area is ...

for service trials in April, being quickly followed by the second prototype, which was powered by a 260 hp (190 kW)

Sunbeam Maori The Sunbeam Afridi was an aero-engine produced by Sunbeam during the First World War. Design and development Conceived to replace the Crusader/Zulu on the production lines, Louis Coatalen designed a companion engine for the V-12 Cossack, givi ...

engine. Trials showed that the C.E.1 was inferior to the larger and more powerful twin-engine Felixstowe flying boats, and no production followed, the two prototypes being used for hydrodynamic experiments to validate test data obtained from model tests in a test tank at the National Physical Laboratory.Hare 1990, pp. 194–195.

Specifications (Second prototype - Maori engine)

Notes

References

*Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–1918''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Hare, Paul R. ''The Royal Aircraft Factory''. London:Putnam, 1990. . *London, Peter. ''British Flying Boats''. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2003. . {{wwi-air Flying boats 1910s British patrol aircraft CE01 Single-engined pusher aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1918

Design and development

Specifications (Second prototype - Maori engine)

See also

Notes

References