The Norman Thompson Flight Company was a British aircraft manufacturer specialising in the construction of flying boats. It was formed as the White and Thompson Company in 1912, and designed and built the Norman Thompson NT.4 patrol aircraft and the N.T.2B flying boat trainer for the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War, but production problems led to the company entering

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

in 1918, being

liquidated Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistr ...

in 1919.

History

In 1909, Norman Arthur Thompson, an Electrical Engineer born in 1874 at Streatham, London, became interested in the science and practice of Aeronautics after reading two books by the pioneer aerodynamacist Frederick W. Lanchester. Thompson, after securing finance from Dr Douglas White, a wealthy friend, approached Lanchester and persuaded him to collaborate on designing an aircraft.Goodall 1995, pp. 7–8.London 1996, p. 70. Lanchester designed a two-seat pusher configuration biplane powered by two 50 hp (37 kW)

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and its ...

s, the Thompson-Lanchester No. 1 Biplane or ''Gray Angel''. This was completed during 1910, but proved incapable of any more than brief hops, and was eventually scrapped.Goodall 1995, pp. 10–12. White & Thompson advertisement 1915

Despite these setbacks, which used up most of White's initial capital, Thompson and White set up a limited company, "White and Thompson" on 8 June 1912 to continue their aviation business.Goodall 1995, p. 8. In early 1913 Thompson, working on his own without the involvement of Lanchester designed a second aircraft, the Norman Thompson No. 1 Biplane, another pusher, this time powered by a single 100 hp (75 kW) water-cooled ABC engine, which successfully flew.Goodall 1995, pp. 15–17. This was not progressed further, however, as White and Thompson was hired to maintain a

Curtiss Model F The Curtiss Models F made up a family of early flying boats developed in the United States in the years leading up to World War I. Widely produced, Model Fs saw service with the United States Navy under the designations C-2 through C-5, later r ...

flying boat, and was appointed the exclusive European agents for Curtiss in February 1914. In the summer of 1914, White and Thompson designed and built two flying boats to compete in the '' Daily Mail'' £5,000 Circuit of Britain race for seaplanes, a single-engined flying boat, and a larger twin-engined aircraft. Although the race was cancelled owing to the outbreak of the First World War, the single-engined aircraft was successful, and a further eight were built for the RNAS as the White and Thompson No. 3, being delivered in 1915, as were 10 examples of the "Bognor Bloater", a single-engined landplane.London 1996, pp. 71–73. White left White and Thompson in 1915 to join the Royal Army Medical Corps, the company being re-organised as the Norman Thompson Flight Company, and expanding its factories to cope with increased demand for its aircraft, orders being placed for the N.T.4, a twin-engined patrol flying boat of similar size to the Curtiss H-4 ''Small America'', and the N.T.2B, a single-engined flying boat trainer.London 1996, pp. 73–74. A change in RNAS requirements lead to the sudden cancellation of orders for the N.T.4. however,Goodall 1995, p. 49. while engine problems caused delays to the delivery of N.T.2Bs.Goodall 1995, pp. 59–61. These problems caused Norman Thompson to go into

on 19 April 1918, an attempt to sue Curtiss over breaking the 1914 agreement for White and Thompson to have exclusive sales rights in Europe getting nowhere. The Norman Thompson Flight Company went into Voluntary liquidation on 12 July 1919, the company's factory and stock being purchased by Handley Page.Goodall 1995, pp. 78–83.

Aircraft

* White & Thompson No. 1 Seaplane * White and Thompson No. 3 *

White & Thompson Bognor Bloater The White & Thompson Bognor Bloater was a British First World War two-seat reconnaissance biplane. It was designed and built by White & Thompson Limited of Middleton-on-Sea, near Bognor Regis, Sussex for the Admiralty as a competitor to the ...

* Norman Thompson N.1B * Norman Thompson N.T.2B * Norman Thompson N.T.4

References

Notes

Bibliography

*Goodall, Michael H. ''The Norman Thompson File''. Tunbridge Wells, UK: Air-Britain, 1995. . *London, Peter. "Bognor's Boats: The Aircraft of Norman Thompson". ''

Air Enthusiast ''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...

'', No. 66, November–December 1996. Stamford, UK:Key Publishing. . pp. 70–75.

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