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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 1772.PDF
FLIGHT, 16 December 1955 895 THE FELIXSTOWE FLYING-BOATS HISTORIC MILITARY AIRCRAFT, No. 11 (PART 2) J. M. BRUCE, M.A. THE production version of the F.2 was designated F2AIt had more powerful marks of the Rolls-Royce Eagleengine, and incorporated a number of refinements. From the operational point of view, one of its greatest assets was its gooddefensive armament. The design of the hull was such that two Lewis guns could be fitted, one on each side of the hull behind thewings. Each gun was mounted on a bracket which could be swung outboard through a side hatch; from that position the guns' firecould converge at a point only twenty feet behind the rudder Further guns were mounted on the bow and upper rear cockpits.A bomb load of 460 Ib could be carried, with fuel for eight hours at cruising speed; without bombs, flight endurance could be ex-tended to ten hours. Production F.2As began to appear late in 1917. Their appear-ance had been delayed by an official decision to replace the original 23in-diameter gun ring by one of 20in: this necessitatedstructural changes which held up production. The type was popularly known, like the Curtiss H.I2 before it and the F.3 afterit, as the Large America. This indiscriminate use of the name makes it difficult to distinguish one type from another in thenarratives of the actions in which the big boats participated so gallantly. Despite its shortcomings, the Curtiss H.I2 had clearly estab-lished the case for big flying-boats. The famous "Spider Web patrol flown by the boats of Felixstowe air station was begunby H.12s. On April 13th, 1917, the Curtiss H.12 No. 8661 made the first patrol over the octagonal figure which, centred on theNorth Hinder Light Vessel, effectively and drastically hampered the depredations of enemy submarines in the four thousandsquare miles of sea covered by the patrol. By the end of the month the H.12s had made 27 patrols, in the course of which theysighted eight enemy submarines and bombed three, and had an engagement with German destroyers. The patrol's first victimwas the submarine U.C.36, which was sunk on May 20th, 1917, by an H.12 (Fit. Sub-Lts. C. R. Morrish and H. G. Boswell). Zeppelins, too, fell to the attacks of the Curtiss Large Americas. THIS is the second instalment of Mr. Bruce's article on a famous familyof World War I flying-boats. Part I appeared on December 2nd. One of the many exploits of No. 8666 of Great Yarmouth airstation was the destruction of L.22 on May 14th, 1917; and No. 8677 of Felixstowe shot down L.43 exactly one month later. It seemed reasonable to assume that even more successes mightbe scored by the F.2As, since they could be flown in sea conditions beyond the capabilities of the H.12s. In July 1917 the Government decided to double the size ofthe flying Services. Some two months previously, the estimated number of flying-boats of the Large America type required tocarry out the 1918 programme had been set at 180, but that number was increased to 426. The average life of one of thebig boats was estimated to be six months. This meant that 852 aircraft would be required to maintain the establishment of426 throughout a period of twelve months. Not even the simplicity of the Porte system of construction could permit production onthat scale in the time available. The situation was relieved when the U.S. Navy Department agreed to equip five seaplane stations;it was also decided that the 60 flying-boats needed for the Medi- terranean area should be built at Malta. The establishments ofEnglish stations were reduced, whereupon the required number of Large Americas was correspondingly reduced from 426 to 234.(In March 1918, orders for the F.2A had totalled 161; and for the later F.3, 263. Of these, only ten F.2As and one F.3 werein service at that time.) But even the reduced figure of 234 was never realized. Demandsfor Rolls-Royce engines so far exceeded the supply that it was estimated that only 170 Large Americas could be completed by theend of May 1918. In point of fact, only 104 had been delivered by that date. These difficulties may have been responsible for therebuilding of several H.I2s with Porte-type hulls and F-boat tail units. When modified in this way they were indistinguishablefrom F.2As and could be identified only by their serial numbers. They were frequently—and officially—described as F.2As. Despite the fact that F.2As were never very numerous, thetype is now the best-remembered of the war-time F-boats. That this is so is probably attributable to the fact that it was a betteraircraft than the later F.3, and because the F.5 appeared too late to go into operational use before the Armistice. Furthermore,more than one writer appeared to regard all F-boats as F.2As, and some narratives have consequently to be treated with a certainamount of reserve. One of the first F.2As to be delivered to the R.N.A.S. stationat Great Yarmouth was N.4511, which arrived there in the first week of February 1918. In common with many of its kind,N.4511 had trouble with its fuel system. A partially choked petrol pipe delayed its take-off on February 5th, 1918, for a patrol toTerschelling; when the boat did become airborne, fabric stripped off one of the blades of the starboard airscrew, and the vibrationsent the F.2A down to a hurried landing. The same boat took off on the same patrol on February 16th,but one hour out from base a clogged filter in the gravity tank "Despite the fact that F.2 As were never very numerous, the type is now the best-remembered of the wartime F-boats." In the lower view is an F.2A with open cockpits, sometimes known as the F.2B.
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