The White and Thompson No. 3 was a British

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. While the prototype was originally designed to compete in an air-race around the UK, eight more similar aircraft were built for 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 ...

Development and design

In 1914, the White and Thompson Company Limited of Bognor Regis, England, who had become exclusive licence holders for

Curtiss Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company (1909 – 1929) was an American aircraft manufacturer originally founded by Glenn Hammond Curtiss and Augustus Moore Herring in Hammondsport, New York. After significant commercial success in its first decade ...

flying boats for Great Britain the previous year, decided to build two different flying boats: a single-engine and a larger twin-engine machine. They were set to compete in the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' £5,000 Circuit of Britain race for seaplanes, scheduled to start on 10 August that year.London 1996, p. 71. The first to be completed was the single-engine machine, designated the White and Thompson No. 2 Flying Boat. This was a two-bay, uneven-span pusher

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 ...

Beardmore Beardmore can refer to: *Andrew Beardmore, better known as Andy Moor, English trance DJ, producer and remixer *Bob Beardmore, British rugby league footballer *Bud Beardmore (1939–2016), American lacrosse coach *Jim Beardmore, Former All-American ...

-built Austro Daimler engine mounted between the upper and lower wings. Its hull, the construction of which was subcontracted to

S. E. Saunders S. E. Saunders Ltd, was a British marine and aero-engineering company based at East Cowes, Isle of Wight in the early 20th century. History The firm was established in 1908 to continue the use of the lightweight Consuta material previously devel ...

, was of copper sewn

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

(or Consuta) over a wooden frame and carried a crew of two in a side-by-side cockpit. It first flew on 1 August 1914, but was impressed by the

owing to the situation in Europe, with Britain declaring war with Germany on 4 August. An order for eight similar flying boats followed, designated White and Thompson No.3. These had rounded wingtips and a larger tail fin, and had the central fin surface that was mounted above the upper wing centre-section on the prototype replaced by two smaller surfaces above the wings. The production aircraft were powered by a 120 hp Beardmore engine, although one aircraft was fitted with a 150 hp (112 kW)

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

Operational history

The prototype, fitted with bomb-racks, proved reliable and popular, and was operated by the RNAS until being wrecked in June 1915. The first production aircraft was delivered to

No. 1 Squadron RNAS 01 or 01 may refer to: * The year 2001, or any year ending with 01 * The month of January * 1 (number) Music * 01'' (Richard Müller album), 2001 * ''01'' (Urban Zakapa album), 2011 * 01011001, the seventh studio album from Arjen Anthony Lucas ...

on 7 February 1915. The No. 3 flying boats, which could be fitted with a Lewis gun on the port side of the cockpit were used for anti-

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

patrols from various bases both in the United Kingdom and France (with one force landing in the Netherlands and being interned) and latterly for training.Thetford 1978, p. 433.

Operators

; *

** No.1 Squadron RNAS

Specifications of prototype

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

*Bruce, J. M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London:Putnam, 1957. *Goodall, Michael H. ''The Norman Thompson File''. Tunbridge Wells, UK: Air-Britain, 1995. . * *London, Peter. "Island Pioneers; Aircraft Production Origins on the Isle of Wight". '' Air Enthusiast'', No. 56, Winter 1994. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. . pp. 71–77. *London, Peter. "Bognor's Boats: The Aircraft of Norman Thompson". '' Air Enthusiast'', No. 66, November–December 1996. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. . pp. 70–75. *Thetford, Owen. ''British Naval Aircraft since 1912''. London:Putnam, Fourth edition, 1978. .

External links

{{Norman Thompson aircraft 1910s British sport aircraft Flying boats Single-engined pusher aircraft N.T.4 Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1914