The Westland N.1B 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, ...
single-engined
floatplane 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 ...
. The first aircraft to be designed by
Westland Aircraft
Westland Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer located in Yeovil, Somerset. Formed as a separate company by separation from Petters Limited just before the start of the Second World War, Westland had been building aircraft since 1915. D ...
, it was a single-engined
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 commo ...
biplane. Despite good performance, only two aircraft were built, the
Royal Naval Air Service operating landplane fighters from ships instead.
Development and design
In 1916, the
British Admiralty drew up Requirement N.1B for a single-seat floatplane or
flying boat fighter aircraft to operate from the
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 ...
's
seaplane carriers, demanding a speed of 110 mph (177 km/h) and a ceiling of 20,000 ft (6,100 m). Three companies submitted designs in response,
Blackburn
Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...
and
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of jet-powered fighter aircraft after World War II ...
with flying boats (the
Blackburn N.1B and
Supermarine Baby), while Westland proposed a floatplane, the Westland N.1B. Westland received an order for two aircraft.
[James 1991, p.69.]
Westland's design, which was the first original design built by Westland, was a single-engined tractor
biplane of wooden construction.
It had a deep fuselage, while its two-bay wings were designed to fold to save space on ship, and were fitted with trailing-edge
flaps. It was powered by a single Bentley A.R.1
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 ...
(later known as the
BR1) and carried a single
synchronised forward-firing
Vickers machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more men to move and o ...
on the nose, and a
Lewis gun firing over the upper wing.
[Mason 1992, p.117.][Bruce 1957, p.705.] The first N.1B was fitted with 11 ft (3.35 m) long
Sopwith main floats and a 5 ft (1.52 m) long tail float, while the second N.1B had much longer (17 ft 6 in 5.34 m) main floats, which removed the need for a tail float.
[James 1991, pp.70–71.]
The first N.1B,
serial number ''N16'' was first flown by
Harry Hawker
Harry George Hawker, MBE, AFC (22 January 1889 – 12 July 1921) was an Australian aviation pioneer. He was the chief test pilot for Sopwith and was also involved in the design of many of their aircraft. After the First World War, he co-fo ...
from Westland's
Yeovil
Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...
factory in August 1917.
[James 1991, p.71.] The two N.1Bs were evaluated at 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 ...
in October 1917,
demonstrating good performance and handling.
[James 1991, p.71.] By this time, however, the
Royal Naval Air Service was operating
Sopwith Pup
The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying character ...
landplanes from flying-off platforms aboard ships, which did not require the carrier to heave-to in order to lower a seaplane to the water, and was planning to carry out similar operations with the
Sopwith Camel
The Sopwith Camel is a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter aircraft that was introduced on the Western Front in 1917. It was developed by the Sopwith Aviation Company as a successor to the Sopwith Pup and became one of the ...
, and the N.1B programme was cancelled.
Specifications (Second prototype)
See also
References
*Bruce, J.M. ''British Aeroplanes 1914–18''. London:Putnam, 1957.
*James, Derek N. ''Westland Aircraft since 1915''. London:Putnam, 1991. .
*Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, USA:Naval Institute Press, 1992. .
External links
Westland History – Westland N.1B (1917)Agustawestland.
{{Westland aircraft
Floatplanes
1910s British fighter aircraft
N.1B
Biplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Rotary-engined aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1917