Seaplane
Wight Type 840 on anti-submarine patrol 1915
Role Biplane floatplane
National origin United Kingdom
Manufacturer J Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft)
Designer Howard T Wight
Introduction 1915
Retired 1917
Primary user Royal Navy
Number built 52

The Wight Seaplane was a British twin-float seaplane produced by J Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). It was also known as the Admiralty Type 840.

Design and development

Designed by Howard T Wright and built by the aircraft department of the shipbuilding company J Samuel White & Company Limited, the Wight Seaplane was a slightly smaller version (61 ft (18.59 m) span) of the Wight Pusher Seaplane. The aircraft was a conventional two-float seaplane with tandem open cockpits and a nose-mounted 225 hp (168 kW) Sunbeam engine. Fifty-two aircraft were built and delivered, and an extra 20 were produced as spares production being undertaken by Portholme Aviation and William Beardmore & Co., Ltd.[1]

Operational history

The Wight Seaplane served with the RNAS at Dundee Felixstowe, Scapa Flow and Gibraltar, being used for anti-submarine patrols between 1915 and 1917.[2]

Operators

 United Kingdom

Specifications (Seaplane)

Data from The British Bomber since 1914 [1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Length: 41 ft 0 in (12.50 m)
  • Wingspan: 61 ft 0 in (18.59 m)
  • Wing area: 568 sq ft (52.8 m2)
  • Empty weight: 3,408 lb (1,546 kg)
  • Gross weight: 4,810 lb (2,182 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Sunbeam 225hp V-8 water-cooled piston engine, 225 hp (168 kW)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 81 mph (130 km/h, 70 kn)

Armament

  • Bombs: 1x 810 lb (367 kg) Whitehead Mk.IX 14 in (356 mm) aerial torpedo or equivalent weight in bombs.

See also

Related development

References

  1. 1 2 Mason, Francis K (1994). The British Bomber since 1914. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. ISBN 0-85177-861-5.
  2. ↑ Thetford, Owen (1982). British Naval Aircraft since 1912. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books. p. 455. ISBN 0-370-30480-2.
  • Mackay, Chales Edward (2012). Beardmore Aviation: The Story of a Scottish Industrial Giant's Aviation Activities. A Mackay. ISBN 978-0957344303.

*The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.

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